Here's the December 2024 column:

 The War on Words

A monthly column in which we attempt, however futilely, to defend the English language against misuse and abuse

By Bob Yearick

Where Are the Editors?

• In a Jeff Neiburg story in The Philadelphia Inquirer, there was this two-fer subhead: “Who’s stock rose and who’s stock fell after the Eagles’ win over the Jaguars?” In both instances, it should be whose – the possessive. Who’s is a contraction for who is.

• And the WDEL website delivered this two-fer, according to Dr. Neil Kaye: “‘It exasperates the problems that we have with providing water and sewage services,’ Councilman Suchanec said when explaining his no vote on the car wash, adding that the extra sewage water would lead to extra costs for the city when its sent to New Castle County.” Problems are exacerbated, which exasperates people. And its is the possessive. Needed here: it’s – the contraction for it is. 

• A reader spotted a principals/principles problem in Sarah Mueller's article on the WHYY website: “For five years, Snyder-Hall headed the nonprofit organization devoted to principals including government accountability and transparency.” Those are principles; they are not heads of schools.

• The News-Journal recently published an obituary that described the male decedent as “a proud alumnae of Salesianum.” That is impossible in three ways: Sallies is an all-boys school and alumnae is the plural for female graduates. A male grad is an alumnus. 

• Reader Joan Burke spotted this murky sentence in “Outdoor Delaware” on the DNREC website: “McAvoy noted that rare plants and insects can frequently be found by Atlantic white cedars.” Substituting near or the somewhat old-fashioned hard by for by in the sentence would help dispel the implication that rare plants and insects are frequently discovered by white cedars. 

Department of Redundancies Dept.

• Reader Rick Straitman submits this Axios headline: “Harris calls Trump to concede election loss as Biden congratulates both candidates.” Conceding implies losing.

• This chyron appeared on NBC during the presidential campaign: “Voters focus in on the economy.” It’s not enough for them to focus; they must focus in. Incidentally, although it's usually used generically, chyron (pronounced KIE-ron) actually comes from the name of the corporation whose software enables television producers to add those crawling words, phrases, and images to their broadcasts. 

• Leah Reis-Dennis, Audacy’s vice president of podcast content strategy and business development, said this to The Inky: “I do think we have a big opportunity now, in this kind of cultural zeitgeist moment around women in sports. . .” Zeitgeist: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. 

• Matt Hayes, in USA TODAY: “Colorado . . . beat Baylor in overtime with the help of a prayer of a Hail Mary at the end of regulation.” A Hail Mary is, by definition, a prayer.

Literally of the Month

According to reader John McDermott, The Inky reported that Villanova basketball coach Kyle Neptune said point guard Jhamir Brickus can read ball screens “literally perfectly.” 

Fun fact: Dictating the past tense of to lead – led – into your iPhone will result in the misspelled lead – something many newspapers can relate to.

Term of the Month

Stalking horse

This metaphor is often used to describe situations where someone or something is used as a front for another person’s true intentions. For example, in politics, one candidate may be put forward as a stalking horse to test public opinion before another, stronger candidate enters the race. In some instances, the person who is the stalking horse may not know he or she is playing that role.

Buy The War on Words book at the Hockessin BookShelf, at Huxley & Hiro Booksellers on Market Street, or on Amazon. 

NEED A SPEAKER FOR YOUR GROUP? Contact me at ryearick@comcast.net for a fun and informative discussion on grammar.