Find the Error!

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Hey, It's annoying when I run across grammatical errors. It's grievous, however, when the error is committed by a "professional," such as a writer, talk show host or sign maker. Well, I think I'll post them here. If you run across any, please feel free to follow suit. I just ran across an error under Forbes Travel ( MSNBC.COM)...who can spot it? INQ????

The best double black diamond ski runs *** This is the title ***
The continent's top 10 cool and tricky slopes

***Here is the body with the error...hint: it's not a/an***
This unending bump run, Mak-M-Stairs-Plunge, in Telluride, Colo., is actually a combination of three different runs that drop from a 11,890-foot peak. By linking the runs Kant-Mak-M, Spiral Stairs and Lower Plunge, the Mak-M-Stairs-Plunge trifecta is a penultimate leg-burner, with giant moguls and a consistently unforgiving pitch.

[Inquartata]

Well, first of all:

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

Hey, It's

I know, I know, you're just trying to make up for all the other people around here who never capitalize anything.


For the rest, too many hyphens, and I don't think they really meant penultimate...

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

Well, first of all:



I know, I know, you're just trying to make up for all the other people around here who never capitalize anything.


For the rest, too many hyphens, and I don't think they really meant penultimate...

YES YES YES!!! How did I know Inq would know that the writer obviously does not know the meaning of the word penultimate??? Way to go, INQ! And thanks for catching my capitalization error.

[keith]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

YES YES YES!!! How did I know Inq would know that the writer obviously does not know the meaning of the word penultimate??? Way to go, INQ! And thanks for catching my capitalization error.

..nothing wrong with the usage. I always find the ultimate leg burner to be the one where you try and straighten the legs after sitting having few beers after a long days skiiing.

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by keith

..nothing wrong with the usage. I always find the ultimate leg burner to be the one where you try and straighten the legs after sitting having few beers after a long days skiiing.

As they would say in Maine, "Clevaaaaah!"

[Have At You]

Of course, you're merely discussing misused vocabulary, rather than grammatical errors. The wrong modifier is not the same as a misused modifier.

One grammatical error is the predicate of the sentence "this ... run ... is actually a combination of three different runs that drop from a 11,890-foot peak." It scans so that the verb "drop" is being acted by the singular "combination," which would be an example of poor conjugation. If read so that the verb is acted by the plural "runs," then the conjugation is correct, but the fact that the reader must stop to think before determining the correct reading makes the sentence unnecessarily vague. Vagueness is always a grammar sin.

So far as word usage goes, nothing can be "a" penultimate anything. It is either the last before the final, or it is not.* The writer appears to have intended to use the word to give the impression that the experience is truly an effective leg-burner. The writer may well similarly use "literally" when meaning "figuratively," "enervating" for "energizing," "helmet" for "mask," "foilist" for "fencer" and other common errors.

*...because tied-for-second-place really means third place, of course.

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Eeeeexcelent my young apprentices! (he says as he rubs his hands together greedily)

Now, have we covered the word "comprise" lately? Inq? This word has been so misused over the years, that an incorrect meaning has become accepted usage. Well, accepted by SOME...

[Lady Riposter]

You are my new best friends....

[fences_like_a_lemur]

Originally Posted by Lady Riposter

You are my new best friends....

I think somebody's an English major, or at least wants to be...

[Rabid Monk]

I've got a friend who failed a Co-Op report.
(Aside: Co-Op, or Work Co-Op, is an alternative to a thesis at my university. You complete 3 4-month work terms in industry, and have to write a reort on them, about what you did and why you used whatever methods you used.)

Why do I mention this here?
Well, to start, the professor who marked it commented on my friends "bad grammer".
And that was a minor issue.
The idiot marked correct grammar as being incorrect, and wrote down what he claimed were the "proper" ways, which were horribly wrong.
It really sucks, because the faculty was rather close-minded about the whole thing, and figured that since the prof said the report should be redone, it would have to be redone. After all, he's a professor. He must know what he's talking about.

[sabreur]

The "combination-drop" thing bothered me, and yes, "penultimate" means "next to the last" generally. The penultimate metro is the one just before "Le Dernier Metro....

Also, the sentence construction is generally klutzy, with far too many commas.

"Comprise" derives from Latin "embrace" and should be used in the following way:

The team comprises three sabreurs, three epeeists, and three of those weirdos who fence that really ugly, strange weapon.

[Rabid Monk]

Originally Posted by sabreur

"Comprise" derives from Latin "embrace" and should be used in the following way:

The team comprises three sabreurs, three epeeists, and three of those weirdos who fence that really ugly, strange weapon.

What would be wrong with "The team is comprised of..."?

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by Rabid Monk

What would be wrong with "The team is comprised of..."?

"Comprised of" is a clumsy and improper use of the word. Think of it this way:

"The United States comprises fifty individual states" is correct, while "the United States is comprised of fifty individual states" is not. If you ask 100 people to use "comprise" in a sentence, 99 of them will use it in place of "compose." If you check The Grammar Logs (I think it's www.thegrammarlogs.com), however, the second, improper use of comprise has started to gain acceptance. I hate that.

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by sabreur

The "combination-drop" thing bothered me, and yes, "penultimate" means "next to the last" generally. The penultimate metro is the one just before "Le Dernier Metro....

Also, the sentence construction is generally klutzy, with far too many commas.

"Comprise" derives from Latin "embrace" and should be used in the following way:

The team comprises three sabreurs, three epeeists, and three of those weirdos who fence that really ugly, strange weapon.

By the way, Sabreur, you may be as smart as Inq...even if you do play with a knuckle-dragger's weapon!

[Zilverzmurfen]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

By the way, Sabreur, you may be as smart as Inq...even if you do play with a knuckle-dragger's weapon!

...as opposed to Inq..?

Anyway, thanks for the grammar lesson. As a non-native english speaker/writer I think it's interesting to read your posts about peoples use and misuse of grammar and language.

I love doing the same in swedish, but then I actually know things, here I'm just trying to pick up knowledge.

[Rabid Monk]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

"Comprised of" is a clumsy and improper use of the word. Think of it this way:

"The United States comprises fifty individual states" is correct, while "the United States is comprised of fifty individual states" is not. If you ask 100 people to use "comprise" in a sentence, 99 of them will use it in place of "compose." If you check The Grammar Logs (I think it's www.thegrammarlogs.com), however, the second, improper use of comprise has started to gain acceptance. I hate that.

Thank you.
I've always figured it was "comprised of" or"comprises of", bcause that's how I'd heard it.
I learned something new today!

And I googled The Grammar Logs.
It's http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/grammarlogs.htm
But I'm not sure if that's the main page or not.
Looks like an interesting site.

[Inquartata]

Originally Posted by Zilverzmurfen

...as opposed to Inq..?

WHO is opposed to Inq?

[D'Art]

Originally Posted by Inquartata

WHO is opposed to Inq?

Everyone with good sense or taste.

[Inquartata]

Not true---I am not opposed to myself.