From the Grammar Police

Taking it on the…

Bob D’Angelo

Again: This is not a politics blog. It’s a grammar blog. During President Trump’s September 2025 visit to the United Kingdom, some critics accused him of violating protocol and etiquette. That would have made him a boor. Not a bore. It’s a common homophone error.

We’ve noted that we don’t make light of serious and tragic events. Just grammar. We’ve mentioned our dislike for “released.” We’ve argued it should be used only for people being freed from confinement. We say it doesn’t work for these poor hostages who already had died. Just say “turned over.”

TV producers: We know TV is instant. We know you’re in a hurry. Take 10 seconds. Make it “Former Lt. Gov.” Otherwise, this is the former Geoff Duncan.

If you’re going to self-deport, doggone it, do it during a Florida visit! Oh, those misplaced modifiers. Let’s try this:
“DHS Secretary Noem suggests during
Florida visit that undocumented
immigrants self-deport.”

For the eleventy-billionthed* time: Deadly means capable of causing death. A snake is deadly. A shooting where someone dies is not deadly. It’s fatal.

*Yes, we know that’s not a word. Just having fun. Happy, fellow nit-pickers?

And we go to the video archives! Click for Segment 1: Redundancies

Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com

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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!