Business Advice from CEOs You Should Consider

Do you like avocado enough to trade your house for it?

Some people face this choice every day, according to one prosperous CEO, Tim Gurner. In an interview with an Australian news show, the thirty-something millionaire blamed avocado toast and fancy coffee for this generation’s lack of funds.

“When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,” Gurner said.

The Internet responded with a roar of protests, from passionate defenses of the health benefits of avocados to calculations—forfeiting twice-weekly avocado toasts every month for five years will earn you an $11,000 dream palace.

To those millennials, here’s a promise: No avocados, or other superfoods, will be maligned in this article. If you are unwilling to give up your favorite snacks, let’s look at some of the best business advice that we found from other successful CEOs.

“When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts.”

This suggestion comes from billionaire Larry Ellison, the co-founder and former CEO of Oracle, a multinational computer technology company that is responsible for many platform services and cloud applications.

While working for IBM, computer scientist Edgar F. Codd invented relational database systems, but he concluded that the premise would see “no commercial potential.”

Ellison, on the other hand, saw the potential and ran with the idea all the way to the bank. He didn’t worry about the people who didn’t share his vision and neither should you.

Don’t be discouraged if you catch flak from doubters; you’re in good company. And what a story you’ll have to tell when you achieve your goals!

“Don’t be fungible.”

Is a definition in order? Probably so . . . Something fungible is replaceable or interchangeable with an identical item. You can thank Larry Summers, former U.S. Secretary of Treasury, for this wisdom.

Working in the treasury must have made Summers an expert in fungibility. Money, you see, is fungible. If you loaned twenty dollars to someone, you wouldn’t expect the debtor to return the exact bill you lent. Any twenty dollar bill will do, right? To advance in your career, however, you want to stand out from other employees.

Summers doesn’t leave you in the dark about how to differentiate yourself from a crowd of coworkers: “Have a distinctive expertise or perspective,” he said.

What’s your strength? Identify it as Summers noted, and let it shine!

“I don’t think it matters how small or how big the task is, if you can do it just a little bit better than what is expected, you will be noticed and rewarded.”

You don’t feel uniquely talented? Then, work harder than everyone else like Jeffrey Katzenberg, the co-founder of DreamWorks. Katzenberg’s production company is responsible for wildly popular films, including The Boss Baby, Shrek, and Kung Fu Panda.

According to Katzenberg, the mission of every DreamWorks film is to exceed the audience’s expectations. On your next project, ask yourself, “What you can do to take it to the next level?”

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t wow your colleagues every time. Even Katzenberg admits that not every movie is as successful as they’d like them to be. However, building a reputation for going the extra mile will ensure that people will want you on their team for the long run.

“Remember that you can do anything you want to do. Don’t let anyone say, ‘You’re not smart enough . . . it’s too hard . . . it’s a dumb idea . . . no one has done that before . . . girls don’t do that.’ My mom gave me that advice in 1973. And it allowed me to never worry about what others were saying about my career direction.”

Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard offers sage advice for anyone who feels inadequate or ill-prepared for a job because of gender or any other reason. Rather than avoiding challenging tasks, you should seek them. By doing so, you give yourself an opportunity to learn new skills, and you also learn more about yourself. Perhaps you are underestimating yourself! Of course, some abilities may lie beyond your scope. But you won’t know what your boundaries are until you push them. What goal can you stretch toward next? A good rule of thumb is to reach out just a little beyond what you’ve already accomplished for each objective.

By the way . . .

Medical News Today says that eating nutrient-rich avocados can “help to decrease the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and overall mortality while promoting a healthy complexion and hair, increased energy and overall lower weight.”

The money you probably save on doctor’s visits and medicine alone makes it worth the effort.

To be fair, Gurner admits it wasn’t only evading the temptation of smashed avocado toast with feta crumble that paved his way to property ownership. His boss invested in his first place, and he combined the profits from that place with a loan from his grandfather to fund his next venture.

What he really means to say is that you have to work hard and avoid unnecessary excesses if you want to save for a home or business. Let’s cut the guy a break and take inspiration from his counsel.

Smash your (preferably home-grown) avocados yourself and limit your discretionary spending. Soon after, you’ll be the one offering sage business advice as a CEO of a high-profile company.

What is the Most Maddening Writing Error? Misused Apostrophes

Grammarly’s cut-throat competition to determine the most “maddening” writing error concluded on April 6, 2014 with MISUSED APOSTROPHES crowned as the undisputed Grammar Madness bracket champion.

Tens of thousands of grammarians voted in 16 separate match-ups representing the most annoying errors in English writing.

According to one voter in the final match-up between YOUR/YOU’RE and MISUSED APOSTROPHES: “[I]t seems like there is a whole new wave of people who believe that you NEED an apostrophe and an ‘s’ to make a word plural.”

There’s no doubt that misused apostrophes are maddening to word enthusiasts across the globe. Institutions that have taken a stand on apostrophes continue to stoke the fire:

• The Domestic Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names doesn’t like apostrophes, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Cambridge City Council proposed to abolish the use of apostrophes on street signs (The Telegraph).
• The Internet doesn’t include apostrophes as part of Web addresses (for example: McDonald’s is mcdonalds.com).

Generally, an apostrophe is used to indicate possession – not plural – and to mark missing letters in contractions (for example: you are = you’re).

The Oatmeal has an amazing visual primer on how to use an apostrophe.

When in doubt, conventional wisdom tells us not to use an apostrophe in our writing. This may save us from any one of the following embarrassing – and very public – writing mistakes:

What’s the worst misuse of an apostrophe that you’ve seen in your daily life? We’ll post the best examples on our Facebook page for the consideration of more than one million actively engaged grammarians!

Disinterested vs. Uninterested—Are They the Same?

• Disinterested means “without a vested interest.”
• Uninterested means “not showing interest.”

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The words disinterested and uninterested are sometimes used as if they have the same meaning. But there is a difference, and to avoid confusion, you should be aware of what that difference is.

What Does Disinterested Mean?

When someone doesn’t have a vested interest in a matter, or doesn’t have a horse in that race, we can say that this person is disinterested. To be disinterested means to be impartial, which explains why this word, in its traditional sense, is often used in legal or business contexts:

Is the judge disinterested regarding this case or does she need to recuse herself?

However, writers sometimes use disinterested when uninterested would be more accurate:

He seemed disinterested in what was going on around him.

But, to avoid confusion, it’s best to preserve the distinction between these two words.

What Does Uninterested Mean?

If someone is bored, doesn’t care about something, or isn’t showing an interest in something, we can use the word uninterested to describe them:

He seemed uninterested in what was going on around him.

Sheila was uninterested in learning math; she preferred social studies.

Examples

The directors who consider the bid must be disinterested and not receive a benefit from the transaction, and they must be governed by an overarching duty of care owed to the association.

The Los Angeles Times

Criticism, in this light, is neither a mode of revelation nor of disinterested judgment.

The Brooklyn Rail

Unfortunately for City Hall’s exterminators, they also seemed totally uninterested in recently laid traps baited with poison.

New Zealand Herald

But we’re comparatively uninterested in buying health and beauty products online, despite spending 18 percent more this November.

Chicago Tribune

Aid vs. Aide—What Is the Difference?

• Aid (as a noun) means “help” or “assistance.” As a verb it means “to help” or “to assist.”
• An aide is an assistant.

Even though the words aid and aide have similar meanings, are written similarly, and are pronounced the same, they cannot be used interchangeably.

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What Does Aid Mean?

Aid can be a verb, a noun, or an adjective. It is synonymous with the words “help” or “assist” when used as a verb, and again “help” and “assistance” when used as a noun:

He stayed home so he could aid his aging parents.

The first round of financial aid was granted to the developing country.

The first in a series of aid packages has been green-lit.

What Does Aide Mean?

Aide is always used as a noun. It means assistant. Some dictionaries note that aid, used as a noun, can have the same meaning, but for the most part publications tend to use aide for assisant and aid for assistance:

We tried to get to the CEO of the company, but we were only able to talk with John, her aide.

Examples

Cuts to legal aid have created a two-tier justice system in “crisis”, a new report warns.

The Daily Mail

While there is some trepidation around the recent weakness in the yuan, some are looking at the bright side of a weaker currency aiding Chinese exports.

Reuters

This is at odds with government commitments to eliminating wasteful aid spending, imposing accountability and cracking down on tax havens.

Financial Times

Lord Sugar’s former aide on ‘The Apprentice’, Nick Hewer, might have been on the show for ten years, but that doesn’t mean he enjoyed it.

The Huffington Post UK

Presume vs. Assume

• Presume is a verb that means to suppose, to take for granted, or to dare.
• Assume is a verb that means to suppose, to take for granted, to take upon, to don, or to undertake.
• In the shared meaning of “to suppose,” presume is usually used when you suppose based on probability, while assume is used when you suppose without any evidence.

What’s the difference between “assume” and “presume”? “Assume” is to “presume” as a brother is to a sister. The previous statement is an analogy, a comparison of how two things relate to each other. Analogies are used to explain or to clarify. For those who confuse “presume” and “assume,” an analogy is just the thing!

Difference Between Assume and Presume

Just as a brother and sister have the same parents, “assume” and “presume” have the same etymological roots. “Assume” has Latin roots. It comes from a verb that means “to take up or adopt.” “Presume” derives from a Latin verb that means “to take upon oneself, to take liberty, or to take for granted.” Both Latin verbs can be traced to a common root, sumere, which means to put on or take up.

A brother and sister have similar features. “Assume” and “presume” are spelled in almost the same way, except for their prefixes. “Pre-” means “before.” The “as-” of assume might have been “ad-” originally. The “-ad” prefix means “to” or “up.”

A brother and sister are not interchangeable. Because of their unique personalities, parents may give them different chores. Assume and presume have different meanings and usages.

Assume Definition

To assume means “to take for granted or to suppose,” and this is the meaning that leads to the most confusion between assume and presume. But that’s not the only thing you could be saying when you say assume—to assume might also mean to take responsibility for a duty, to appropriate, or to undertake a task. The same verb refers to adopting qualities or pretending to do so. So, you can assume a different identity, but also assume guard duty. In this sense, assume is synonymous with “take on” or “take up.”

Presume Definition

To presume also means “to take for granted” or “to suppose,” and just like assume, it has another meaning as well. “To act or to undertake with undue boldness or without permission” is another meaning presume can take on. In law, it refers to accepting something as true in the absence of proof of its falsity.

Of course, brothers and sisters may share some responsibilities. Both “presume” and “assume” carry the thought of supposing or taking for granted that something is true. In that sense, presume is often used as another word for assume, and vice versa. But there is a slight difference even when they are used in this sense—when you presume something, it can be considered that you’re doing so on the basis of probability. When you assume something, you’re supposing without proof. After all, the adverb presumably means “by reasonable assumption.”

Examples: Assume and Presume in Sentences

Did the analogy help you learn the difference between “assume” and “presume”? Like brother and sister, they have the same parentage. While they share some definitions, they are unique as a brother and sister would also be. If this didn’t help, here are some examples of how assume and presume are used:

May’s deputy spokesman said Johnson would assume the position of duty minister after Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who took the role last week. —The Guardian

But even that argument is narrow-minded because it assumes women are monolithic and all have the same needs, interests and political positions. —Chicago Tribune

I hesitate to presume anything leggier than that, but a 2.8x multiplier like The Night Before gives Sausage Party a $37m debut weekend. —Forbes

Pressure has been mounting on policymakers to introduce presumed liability into civil law to protect vulnerable road users. —The Herald

Laying vs. Lying (Lay vs. Lie)–What’s the Difference?

What’s the difference between lay and lie?

You lie down, but you lay something down. Lie does not require a direct object. Lay requires a direct object. The same rule applies to laying and lying (not lieing—beware of spelling). The past tense of lay is laid, but be careful with the past tense of lie—there are two options. We’ll dive into them later.

When to Use Lay

To lay is to set (or otherwise place) something in a resting position. Here are a few examples of lay in a sentence.

I don’t like to lay my purse on the floor.

The dogs always lay their toys next to their water bowls.

How to Use Lie

A lie is an untruth. However, it’s the verb form of lie that people find difficult to distinguish from lay. The verb lie means to tell a falsehood. Here’s an example of lie in a sentence:

Sometimes children lie to get out of trouble.

If to tell an untruth were the only meaning of lie, using these two words properly would be less of a challenge. However, lie can also mean to recline or to rest in a flat position. Notice this example:

The fat cat likes to lie in the sun.

How to Remember the Difference between Lay and Lie

(pLAce) and (recLIne)

This mnemonic should help you remember that lay, which begins with the letters L-A, has a long A sound like its definition: to place. On the other hand, lie, which starts with the letters L-I, has a long I sound like its definition: to recline.

How Should I Use Lay vs. Lie?

Knowing what the words mean doesn’t mean you necessarily know how to use lay and lie. Again, here are a few rules to help you. In the present tense, you often use a direct object with lay. However, lie can’t take a direct object. Look back at the examples again to see these rules in play.

There’s still one more thing you need to know. When you are talking about reclining, the past tense of lie is lay! Here’s an example.

Yesterday, he lay down to sleep at ten o’clock. Tonight, he won’t lie down until midnight.[/example]

Laying Vs. Lying

Beware of spelling! The present participle of lie is not lieing. The I becomes a Y: lying. Here is a mnemonic from the website Primility to help you tell laying and lying apart:

“If you tell an untruth it is a lie, not a lay; and if you are in the process of telling an untruth you are lying and not laying.”

The delivery boy took pleasure in gingerly laying each newspaper on the stoop.

I can always tell when my friend is lying because she bites her lip.

I spend rainy days lying on my couch.

Don’t leave dirty clothes lying around the house.

The past tense of lie (as in, to tell an untruth) is lied. As you can see, the past tense of lie is lay, but the past tense of lay is laid, which is a recipe for confusion! To remember that laid (as opposed to lain) is the past tense of lay, just memorize this phrase:

Use a D when there is a direct object. Because you need a direct object only with lay, you will know that the past tense is laid.

Examples

I would like to lie next to him in the dark and watch him breathe and watch him sleep and wonder what he’s dreaming about and not get an inferiority complex if the dreams aren’t about me.

Rachel Cohn, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits.

George Orwell, Animal Farm

Did the examples help you figure out the difference between lay and lie? If you have mastered this commonly confused pair, try your hand at loose vs. lose and entitled vs. titled.

Mistake of the Month: Missing Commas

There are two types of writers in this world: those who use too many commas and those who use too few. While unnecessary commas can turn straightforward sentences into twisting labyrinths of syntactical confusion, missing a critical comma can change the entire meaning of your sentence.

Consider the headline from the now-infamous Rachael Ray cover of Tails magazine: “Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog.” While the line breaks of the original cover make it apparent what the editors meant to say, the lack of commas between the three items in the list—“cooking,” “family,” and “her dog”—caused Tails to accidentally portray Ray as a cannibal who gleefully cooks her family and dog. Wonder if she uses EVOO for that, too?

Here are some places in your writing where you should include commas:

1. After an introductory element. When complex sentences begin with a phrase or clause, a comma is required to separate the introductory element and the independent clause. The previous sentence demonstrates this rule, but let’s look at some more examples:

• Without a care in the world, Mildred raced down the hill on her brand-new velocipede.
• In an attempt to fix the TV, he smacked the side of the set.
• To her, Paris would always be the most magical city in the world.

Note that with shorter introductory elements—generally those consisting of four or fewer words—you can technically skip the comma. However, it’s never wrong to use a comma in this instance, and eschewing it can lead to confusion.

2. Around a nonrestrictive or nonessential element. Nonrestrictive elements provide added information, but without them the sentence would still make sense. For example, “My wife, Karen, bakes the best peach cobbler.” Presumably the speaker has only one wife, so telling us her name is a helpful but nonessential aside. This piece from the New York Times has more on the difference between essential and nonessential elements, but here are a couple of additional examples:

• My best friend, Jimmy Brown, always brings an extra pudding cup for me. (People can only have one best friend at a time, so his name is a nonessential element.)
• I played the game Settlers of Catan for six hours this weekend with my friend Parvati. (Here, neither Settlers of Catan nor Parvati should be set off with commas because there are more games and friends in the world other than the two mentioned in the sentence.)

That and which indicate essential and nonessential elements, respectively. When you use that, don’t use a comma, as in “The ants that have infested my kitchen show no signs of leaving.” In this example, we need to know which specific ants the speaker is talking about. However, in the sentence “Ants, which have infested my kitchen, are my least favorite insect,” the aside set off by commas is interesting, yet taking it out doesn’t change the core meaning of the sentence.

3. After the next-to-last item in a list. Among English enthusiasts, the Oxford (or serial) comma is one of the most frequently debated topics. (Ironically, British English doesn’t tend to use the Oxford comma as frequently as American English.) When you have three or more items in a list, you have the option to use a comma between the next-to-last and last items in that list. This can sometimes clarify potential confusion or downright awkward misunderstandings. Mental Floss has a collection of pro and con examples, so take a look and decide for yourself which one you want to use.

The important thing is to be consistent; while both styles are technically correct, switching between the two in the same piece of writing is a faux pas everyone can agree on.

Are you for or against the Oxford comma? Leave a comment below!

3 Cool Ways English Evolved in 2015

It’s hard to keep up with a language evolving as fast as English. Before you know it, a new turn of phrase has come and gone before you can say selfie. That’s so passé. Do try to keep up. Let’s have a look at some trends from 2015.

1 Portmanteaus, or word mashups

It’s been climbing the charts for a few years now, but in 2015, the portmanteau officially arrived. Portmanteaus are nothing new, but lately they’re “spiviralling” out of control. That’s a new one right there; we can’t break their stride. Originally meaning a suitcase with two equal compartments, portmanteau is now used to describe the merging of two words to create a new, unique meaning. Also known as a “word blend,” many are so baked into English we no longer notice the separate ingredients, as with brunch, motel, or workaholic. Often credited with switching on the blender in 1871 was Lewis Carroll. In his Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty explains the word slithy to a confused Alice:

Well, “slithy” means “lithe and slimy.” “Lithe” is the same as “active.” You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.

In recent years we’ve had a love affair with word mushing. Trendy business buzzwords like mompreneur (mom + entrepreneur) and guesstimate (guess + estimate) cropped up. Technology has presented us with new objects for which no words exist. And when we do try to describe them, we sometimes end up with creations like phablet, a mix of phone and tablet.

Similarly, as new conditions arise, a scramble to name them ensues and word blends are the choice of choice. A recent Wall Street Journal article ponders the phenomenon of people who text while walking—should they be named pedtextrians (pedestrians+texters) or wexters (walkers + texters)? Elsewhere, a suggestion to Oxford Dictionaries proposed they be described as moblivious (mobile + oblivious). Whatever it is, nothing less than a portmanteau will do. Hell, there are even guides on what makes a rough blend or a smooth blend.

In December, Oxford Dictionaries added twitterati (Twitter + literati) into its fold, and indeed it is the twitterati who cook up of many of these blends. Starting off with some portmanteau peeps—no celebrity couple is an item until they’ve had their names mushed together. We’ve all heard of Kimye ( Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) and Brangelina (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). But 2015 has seen the portmanteaus evolve from the Twittersphere slang to legitimate and political terms. From the US presidential race the words cuckservative and hispadering have emerged through Twitter. The former is an insult used within Republican debates and is a mix of cuckold (a husband whose wife cheats on him) and conservative. The latter was an accusation fired at Hillary Clinton after her attempt to appeal to the Hispanic vote, a mix of pandering and Hispanic.

The news coverage of countries possibly exiting the European Union was peppered with the terms Grexit (Greece + exit) and Brexit (Britain + exit). These terms were used widely without explanation or irony. Grexit was even shortlisted for the Oxford Dictionary word of the year.

2 Mx., a gender-neutral honorific

The new honorific Mx. (pronounced “mix”), has begun to take its place among the traditional Mr., Mrs., Miss, and Ms. It has emerged from obscurity to being used in an article in the New York Times in June and has been added to dictionary.com and Oxford English Dictionaries. The title has been adopted by transgender individuals, non-binary people, or those who don’t wish to reveal their gender. This sudden acceptance of a relatively unknown title reflects how 2015 has seen conventional gender identities reassessed.

According to Jonathan Dent, OED assistant editor, the honorific first appeared in the American magazine Single Parent in 1977. It was then mooted as an alternative to the standard titles. At that time, Ms. was entering the mainstream, allowing speakers to avoid the implications about marital status inherent in Mrs. or Miss.

Taking the lead among British institutions, The Royal Bank of Scotland provided customers with the option of Mx. when filling out forms. Others have followed suit. In the United States, the title is beginning to make itself known. Events such as the public transitioning of Bruce Jenner to Caitlyn Jenner and her appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair during the summer highlighted issues of gender and sparked subsequent discussions. About the same time, the New York Times tried out using the term Mx. In a later piece, Philip B. Corbett, an editor at the New York Times said that the paper is not entirely ready to roll out the red carpet for the title. “It remains too unfamiliar to most people, and it’s not clear when or if it will emerge as a widely adopted term,” he said.

However, this statement was published before Ms. achieved the milestone of entering the OED. Also, the Times, in turn, raised awareness of Mx. and prompted a further bout of media coverage explaining the title. It made its mark in 2015 and might be commonplace by the end of 2016. Watch this space.

3 Delicious words

In the year 2015, it was food o’clock. If you didn’t get your fair share of eats, you might be hangry about it now. Maybe you clock up a few food miles, or perhaps you’re more of a locavore? Or could it be that you’ve been living in a bubble and have no idea what any of this means? Well, food is trending—the way we eat, what we eat, where it comes from, and who it comes from. Again, the Internet has incubated many of these new phrases, as food bloggers and foodie users of Instagram and Pinterest all find each other and find terms for every kind of gastronomical state or niche.

Josh Friedland, a food blogger, says this “has spawned an ever-expanding vocabulary to capture our fast-moving edible landscape” and was compelled to compile a dictionary called Eatymology: The Dictionary of Modern Gastronomy. Dictionaries are trying to catch the trend, but it’s moving along swiftly and they are only grabbing the tail. Oxford Dictionaries named locavore—someone who eats only locally sourced food—as its word of the year in 2007 but has only included it in its dictionary in December 2015. However, Friedland’s blog lists farm drag as one of his favorite 2015 food terms. According to Friedland, the term is a reaction to locavorism, especially where it has been hijacked and made into a cliché by restaurants hoping to remain on-trend.

Another neologism linking food and environment is climatarian. Like locavores, climatarians aim to reverse climate change by avoiding meat and eating local. Food and emotion are found together in hangry, how we feel when we are hungry and angry. The obsession with photographing your dinner and uploading it to social media has created loads of foodspo, or food-porn.

Wine o’ clock or beer o’ clock, also added to Oxford Dictionaries in 2015, is when a person decides that it’s the correct time to have a glass of the drink in question.

Our appetite for food lore is not yet satisfied and looks to continue into 2016.

There Is vs. There Are: How to Choose?

• The choice between the phrases there is and there are at the beginning of a sentence is determined by the noun that follows it.
• Use there is when the noun is singular (“There is a cat”). Use there are when the noun is plural (“There are two cats”).

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There Is vs. There Are

You probably know that the choice between is vs. are depends on a noun. In most sentences, the noun comes before the verb. But in sentences that begin with there is and there are, the noun comes later.

There is a cat on the porch.

In the sentence above, cat is singular, so it requires there is.

There are many opportunities to learn at this company.

In the sentence above, opportunities is plural, so it requires there are. (Don’t let the word many throw you off—concentrate on the noun.)

There Is a Number of vs. There Are a Number of

There are a number of unnamed stars in our galaxy? There is a number of unnamed stars in our galaxy? It’s difficult to tease out whether you should use is or are in a construction like this. The verb is being pulled toward there, number, and stars all at once.

Here’s a tip: Sentences that begin with There is/are a number of… are almost always wordier than they need to be. Your best bet is to rewrite it: Many stars in our galaxy are unnamed.

But if you really can’t rewrite it, you’ll have to make a choice. Use is if you want to emphasize the group; use are if you want to emphasize the individual members.

It’s the same with other collecting phrases, like a variety of.

There is a wide variety of flavors to choose from.

There are a variety of unique destinations we can visit.

There Are a Lot of

Use there are when you’re talking about “a lot” of something.

There are a lot of people in this elevator.

There is a lot of people in this elevator.

There Is vs. There Are With a Series of Items

When you’re making a list of things, sometimes there are sounds wrong:

There are a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom in my apartment.

There are sounds bad because the noun that follows it, kitchen, is singular. Even though you’re really talking about multiple things, (a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom), it’s often better to use the singular verb is in a construction like this.

There is a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom in my apartment.

Some language commentators still insist on using are in sentences like this despite the awkwardness, but actual usage is extremely mixed. Remember, if the sentence sounds awkward either way, you can always rewrite it to avoid the “there is/are” problem altogether.

Grammarly Announces Add-in for Microsoft Office Suite

Today, the Grammarly team officially announced the availability of its Grammarly® Add-in for Microsoft® Office Suite. The add-in combines the power of Grammarly’s automated proofreading technology with Microsoft® Office Word™ and Microsoft® Office Outlook®.

In addition to checking for more than 250 common grammar errors and enhancing vocabulary usage, the Grammarly add-in offers unique features such as citation suggestions. Unlike the spell and grammar checking tools native to the Microsoft Office Suite, Grammarly provides real-time context for each suggested edit. Writers can easily select the type of errors they want to focus on, then edit their work throughout the entire writing process.

Check out a short video of the product in action.

To download the Grammarly add-in, visit http://www.grammarly.com/office-addin/. Immediately begin checking your text for potential writing errors by clicking the “Enable” button. Then, review errors as they appear in your text and decide whether, and how, to correct these issues based on the background provided by Grammarly.

See the full press release here, and let us know what you think!

 

Naughty or Nice Grammar Quiz

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The Mother of All Blog Posts

According to History.com, a woman named Anna Jarvis created the American version of the holiday in 1908, prompted by the passing of her own mother. It became an official holiday in 1914. Jarvis later denounced the commercialization of the holiday and tried to have it removed from the calendar!

Here are some fascinating facts about Mother’s Day:

• More phones calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year, with a spike in traffic of as much as 37 percent.

• According to CNN.com, Mother’s Day is big business. Approximately 65 percent of card sales are made five days prior to Mother’s Day and consumers spend more than $20 billion on the holiday.

• We all value our mothers, but do you know what a mother’s work at home is really worth? According to Insure.com, in 2013 the average value of an at-home mother was more than $59,000 per year!

Sure, Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate all-things-mom. But, it is also cause for a linguistic celebration. There are a variety of popular idioms that incorporate the word “mother.” Have you heard any of the following?

Failure is the mother of success.

You’d assume that this means failure breeds success, or that you can’t have success without failure. However, UsingEnglish.com translates the saying to “failure is often a stepping stone towards success.”

Similar idioms:

Diligence is the mother of good luck: This reminds me of the famous saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” which, according to LifeHacker.com, is attributed to Roman philosopher, Seneca.

Necessity is the mother of invention: According to GoodReads.com, this quote can be attributed to Plato.

Motherhood and apple pie.

This phrase is used to refer to something that is largely agreed upon by all. The idea is that most people approve of motherhood and we all like apple pie, right? Another meaning the phrase has taken on in later years is to refer to something that is quintessentially American.

MakingHeadsOrTailsOfIdioms.com provides interesting background on the origin of the phrase. Most people agree that the original saying came from soldiers at war telling reports what they miss most about home.

A face that only a mother could love.

This phrase doesn’t require much thought to understand. Let’s just say, I hope to never hear this one directed at me! If you need some help deciphering, UsingEnglish.com explains it here.

Shall I be mother?

This phrase is common to British and Australian English and is typically used in a humorous way to ask whether the speaker should serve food or drink. In today’s politically correct world, the phrase is arguably sexist, but generally no offense is intended. Find more on this phrase and other British gems on EffingPot.com.

Word to your mother.

Believe it or not, this slang phrase has origins in the Afrocentric movement of the 1980s and started as “word to the mother,” as a reference to Africa or “The Motherland.” The corrupted phrase, “word to your mother,” generally implies agreement with what was said just before. UrbanDictionary.com provides a pretty comprehensive overview.

In addition to idioms using the word “mother,” we also have a plethora of quotes about the dear women that brought us into this world. Psychology Today has a nice list including:

The phrase ‘working mother’ is redundant. – Jane Sellman

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. – Oprah Winfrey

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. – Jill Churchill

As Mother’s Day approaches, remember the ways that the mothers in your life – and in your language – make your days richer. And don’t forget to buy a card!

10 (More) Words That English Needs

You can’t leave the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows after reading only ten entries, and you can’t spread the word about one of the best websites on the Internet in just one article. So here we go, ten more words from the great fictional dictionary describing feelings and sensations you’ll recognize as soon as you read their descriptions.

Ambedo is the melancholic, almost hypnotic state you get into when you focus on sensory details like the flickering of a candle or tall trees swaying in the wind and you start thinking about the frailty of life.

Ellipsism is a sadness you feel because you will never know the answer to the question of our existence and you’ll never know how it all turns out in the end.

Apomakrysmenophobia is not a sorrow, it’s a fear—a fear that every connection you have in your life is, essentially, shallow.

We are but the smallest dots in the great and vast universe, and when you look at the night sky and feel slightly unsettled but also awed by the millions of miles separating huge stars, you feel degrassé.

Xeno is the tiniest measure of human connection you can actually feel, like when a person sends you a flirtatious glance, or when someone smiles at you passing by.

Every once in a while, you come across an author with whom you just connect, no matter how far in space or time they might be from you. That feeling of connection is called moledro

Chrysalism is the feeling of calmness you get while you’re indoors, listening to a thunderstorm happening outside.

Sonder will happen to you on the street, when you start noticing the people passing you by, and all of a sudden you realize that each and every one of them has a life that’s as vivid to them as yours is to you.

Catoptric tristesse is a sadness you feel when you realize that you’ll never really know what other people think about you.

On the day you turn 26, you have a midsummer—a feast that marks the point in your life when you can no longer use your youth as an excuse. It’s a time to buck up and start reaping what you sow, all the while noticing that the days of your life are becoming shorter.

Led or Lead—The Past Tense of Lead?

• Led is the correct way to spell the past tense of lead.
• Lead is a common misspelling of the past tense of the verb lead.

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The past tense of the verb lead is led, not lead. One reason for the confusion might be that a similar verb, read, has an infinitive that’s spelled the same as the past tense. But with lead, that’s not how things are.

Definition of Led

Led is the past tense of the verb lead:

She led the party through the marshland.

The accident led to an astonishing discovery.

They led us believe we were welcome guests.

By the way, if you see the word led written in uppercase—LED—it’s an acronym that stands for light emitting diode, which is, as its name says, a diode that emits light.

What Does Lead Mean?

Lead is also the name of a certain type of metal. However, when it’s used for the metal, the word lead is pronounced just like led, which can add to the confusion:

His legs felt heavy, like they were made from lead.

You should avoid getting lead poisoning.

The soft core of a pencil is also sometimes referred to as lead, even though it’s made out of graphite and doesn’t usually contain lead:

The lead in this pencil is too soft.

Examples

Beaming with pride, this is the inspiring moment heroic Frankie Sherwood led his beloved Newcastle United out in front of thousands of fans.

The Chronicle

Babar Azam led Pakistan’s fightback on day three with an unbeaten 90 as they went on to post 216 in their first innings following which rain played spoilsport restricting New Zealand’s second innings to just one delivery at stumps of the second Test in Hamilton.

Cricket World

Dr Andy Wakefield led the field research in a project supervised by Professors Gareth Jones and Stephen Harris from the University’s School of Biological Sciences.

Science Daily

The loss dropped the Heat to 4-10, with Haslem inserted late in a game the Pistons led by as many as 28 points.

Sun Sentinel

Not-So-Sweet 16 Game 7: Passive-Aggressive Notes vs. Loud Music

We’re nearing the end of the Not-So-Sweet 16, and so far, we’ve had some fierce battles over everything from emojis to interrupting your coworkers. But we’re not done yet! Today’s voting presents the last two battles of the season, and they’re both going to be nail-biters.

For this match, we have a classic debate between silent passive aggression and overtly aggressive, loud music. Which do you hate more? Make your point of view known (quietly) below.

Passive-Aggressive Notes:

We all know them. Some of us even make Tumblrs about them. These are the sticky notes on the fridge, your desk, or the snack area that say something that seems polite but is actually petty.

Loud Music

Not everyone enjoys music while they work, and no one likes listining to a second-hand beat buzzing indecipherably from a neighbor’s headphones. Heaven forbid, someone decides to turn the office into a club, blaring their music over speakers.

#GrammoWriMo FAQ

What is #GrammoWriMo?

In November 2013, in honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Grammarly has organized the largest group of authors to collaborate on a single novel—we’re calling the project #GrammoWriMo.

How many people are participating?

More than 750 people have signed up to participate in #GrammoWriMo. We’ve divided the novel into 30 chapters—between 25 and 26 writers have been assigned to contribute to each chapter. One person is assigned to contribute to each chapter per day (30 writers each day), so the entire novel will be written simultaneously.

How can I submit my entry?

You, along with the other 25 – 26 writers assigned to your chapter, should have received a link to a shared Google Doc for the chapter. Although you will be able to write in this document at any time, we ask that you only add your text to the chapter on the day you have been assigned to write.  (Please see the Rules of Participation for additional clarification.)

If you have questions or comments about another writer’s contributions, please feel free to use the comment feature in the shared Google Doc in real-time.

How do I comment on my chapter’s Google Doc?

If you would like to make an edit or suggestion, but it is not your turn to write, please use the comment feature. Here is a quick tutorial explaining how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOrdesAOqBQ

Can I delete or edit another writer’s writing?

No. You may add comments to your shared Google Doc, but edits are up to the discretion of the Grammarly team during the month of December.

Please see the Rules of Participation here.

Can I still sign up?

Sign-up for #GrammoWriMo 2013 has been closed. However, you may follow the story development in real-time here.

What if I can’t write on my assigned day?

If you are unable to write between one sentence and 800-words on your assigned day, please connect with others in your chapter Facebook Group to see if there is anyone who can switch with you.

If this is not a possibility, please let us know at socialmedia@grammarly.com.

I received a chapter assignment and a date to write. What do I do next?

There are up to 26 writers contributing to each chapter, so you are not independently responsible for the content in your assigned chapter. For this reason, it is important to write only on the day you have been assigned so that everyone has a chance to contribute.

You may watch your chapter unfold in real-time in your shared Google Doc, comment on others’ writing, and share ideas in your chapter-specific Facebook Group. When it is your turn to write, you may add your text directly to the shared Google Doc.

How much do I need to write?

You may write as little as one sentence or as much as 800 words.

What should I write about?

You can see the entire #GrammoWriMo Plot Summary here. This should give you some ideas about what to write about in your specific chapter.

How can I get in touch with other writers working on my chapter?

Follow the chapter development in your assigned chapter in Google Docs. Feel free to use the comment feature to comment on other writer’s work with suggestions and ideas. However, please refrain from writing or editing another writer’s work directly on the text page.

You may also connect with other writers in your chapter via designated Facebook Groups.

How can I get in touch with Grammarly?

You can reach us on Twitter at @GrammoWriMo, post to your chapter-specific Facebook group, or email your questions to socialmedia@grammarly.com.

POLL: What is the “scariest” writing issue that you see in professional emails?

All of us know that business emails should be professional, meaning they should be free of basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. Often, however, business emails are filled with errors. For better or worse, those errors make the writer seem not only unprofessional, but often also unqualified.

What do you think? 

Let us know and cast your vote!