“Whom” Comic

First the comic…

https://www.gocomics.com/rudypark/2019/06/27

Two lessons here. Maybe three.

  • First: first panel. She’s actually asking “Who is it?” That’s correct. “Who” is the subject of the implied sentence.
  • Next: third panel. He misstates her question, but “whom” is okay in his sentence. “Whom” is the object of the preposition.
  • Finally: Her displeasure is appropriate, I suppose, but she should have used “who” because it’s the subject of the sentence.

I guess the moral is to be careful about whom you play video games with.

A Grammar Lesson with Two Small Errors

This can be called a style issue, or maybe even a good taste issue, but it’s a readability issue.

Here’s the lesson. You probably won’t see the errors:

https://www.gocomics.com/darksideofthehorse/2019/06/22
  • First, you should put quotes around “Me” because you are referring to the word itself. Using italics is okay, too, depending on what your style guide says. The comic is funny because the cartoonist didn’t put the quotes around “me” in the first panel, leading you to think the horse was going to talk about himself, not the word.
  • Second, that slash between “him” and “herself.” Use “or.” (Or use “and” if that’s appropriate.) Many people use the slash when they can’t decide which conjunction to use. Don’t be lazy! Decide!
  • sigh. I may as well mention a third possible mistake. When you have two (or more) compound words and want to mention the second part only once, put a hyphen after that first separated part. Write “him- or herself.”

Grammar Wisecracks

An easy one for me today. Many, obviously, are examples of themselves. And puns. I’ll let you decipher them.

I got it from “The Digital Reader” on Facebook, dated May 26. Many of the comments are more examples of this type of humor.

An Example of Improving Conciseness

I know, the technical term is concision, but only we geek tech writers and English teachers use that term. Anyway, the third rule of good expository writing is to be concise—no extra words.

So here’s an example of someone promulgating the idea of not being wordy, (or over-written, as the commenter says elsewhere). The passage is in the comments to a review of Toy Story 4 in the Washington Post. (Edited for conciseness and punctuation.) It starts with a quote from the review.

The disaster, in this case, is 2019’s Summer of Sequelae, as dismal a movie season as audiences can remember as one spinoff has followed the other with a graceless thud. Thankfully, “Toy Story 4” arrives just in time to redeem filmgoers’ faith, if not in humanity, then at least in the humaneness of inanimate creatures who have more heart, pluck and conscience in their plastic pinkies than most real-life adults. 

How about this:

The disaster in question seems to be the entire blockbuster season of 2019; a string of graceless thuds. Thankfully, “Toy Story 4” arrives just in time to redeem film-goers’ faith — if not in humanity, then at least in character.

I think the passage could be more concise than that, even:

The blockbusters of 2019 are a string of graceless thuds. “Toy Story 4” arrives in time to redeem the season.
or even
Toy Story 4 redeems a season of graceless thuds.

That’s not as colorful as the original, but this site promulgates expository writing, whose goal is to convey the content, not the writing style—perhaps drier than necessary for a movie review.

PS—I ran into another article about the movie. This was the last sentence:

In a summer of stupid sequels, ‘Toy Story 4’ is a visually dazzling delight

Difference between Bone Marrow Transplant and Stem Cell Therapy

We often believe that there is a big difference between bone marrow transplant and stem cell therapy. However, if you look at it from close quarters and identify the differences, you can be sure that there are quite a few things similar between the two. In fact the only real distinction is the way in which the stem cells are collected. We need to bear in mind that stem cells are versatile and they have the ability to develop and divide and form into different types of cells. On the one hand hematopoietic stem cells have the capacity to produce red blood cells. These cells are oxygen-rich and deliver this life saving nutrients to various parts of the body. On the other hand, stem cells also have the capacity to produce white blood cells and as we all know, WBC play a big role in keeping our body healthy and ward off infections. Stem cells also produce platelets and these are needed for helping blood to clot and help in wound-healing process.

Where Are They Found

 It would be pertinent to mention that hematopoietic stem cells are available in the bone marrow. This is a spongy material inside the bones. Hematopoietic stem cells move from the marrow and into the bloodstream.  When such movement happens and when they are found in the bloodstream they are referred to as peripheral blood stem cells.

Radiation Therapy and Chemotherapy

 We need to understand that both radiation therapy and chemotherapy are extremely critical for treatment of various types of cancers. However, these high dose treatments can severely damaged and weaken the healthy stem cells. In such situations stem cells perhaps can help better in getting the patient back on his or her feet when compared to bone marrow transplant.

What Is The Basic Difference

 As mentioned above, both  and bone marrow transplant are the same in terms of the final objectives and results. Stem cell transplantation or stem cell therapy is the name given to a procedure where the cells are taken from the umbilical cord of the new born baby or also from adults. On the other hand when we talk about bone marrow transplant, healthy stem cells of the donor are transplanted into the bone marrow of patients who are suffering from cancer and other forms of illness. This process is done by injecting the stem cells into the bone marrow of the individuals through the spinal cord. It is a relatively simply process but it might take a few days to complete it.

The Risks And Benefits

There are risks as well as benefits associated with stem cell as well as bone marrow transplant. The biggest risk is rejection. Both these cell transplants are subject to the fear of rejection and when this happens it has to be managed effectively.  In fact umbilical stem cells are prone to more rejection when compared to bone marrow transplants. Further, both these forms of transplants and therapies could also lead to other side effects like infections and even development of new types and forms of cancer. Therefore the risks versus benefits of both the options must be weighed carefully before taking a decision.

Contact US:

Gift of Life Marrow Registry
Address: 800 Yamato Rd suite 101 Boca Raton, FL
Phone: (800) 962-7769

A New Contraction

When we take a letter out of a word, we replace it with an apostrophe, and call the result a contraction. Here’s a contraction I don’t think I’ve run into. Last panel…

https://www.gocomics.com/dogsofckennel/2019/06/19

I suppose you can delete the “h” from “him” and replace it with an apostrophe…

All You Need to Know about Youth Art Programs

Most of us enjoy arts in various forms including paintings, music, visual art, and theater, etc. They not only bring joy and a new point of view for us but also make our world look more beautiful. But, are you aware that art programs can also help in the development of youth.

Impact of art programs on youth

It has been proved through various researches that positive skills and capabilities can be developed in teens when they are exposed to different forms of arts. They will be appreciated by their employers, and leaders due to their skills of collaboration, persistence, problem-solving, creative thinking, and motivation, etc. Several other studies have also revealed that the academic performance and confidence of the teenagers can also be improved by their exposure to art programs.

The fate of art programs for youth

When the budget of the schools gets tight then PreCollege art programs are the first to cut. In fact, schools focus on investing in science, math, English lessons and history than on drawing, theater, and music when they are facing financial constraints. Actually, the decisions of this type are taken by the school supporting the children from the low socio-economic background due to their financial problems. According to studies, due to minimum resources, the schools supporting at-risk and under-served youth cannot provide quality art programs for their young students, who need them the most.

Benefits of Arts programs for At-Risk Youth

A study conducted in 2012 has revealed that the young adults and teenagers with low financial and social background have shown better results in their academics, work opportunities and achieving career goals when they were involved in arts-related activities. According to the report published after this study, arts can provide various benefits to the youth-at-risk like:

Better academic results: Young adults and teenagers with low status in the socio-economic world have shown better results in their academics due to their deep involvement in arts than those who are least involved in this field. They not only got better grades but also got the opportunity to attain higher rates in college enrollments.

Higher goals in career: The career aspirations of the students with deep involvement in arts was also higher than those who had no background in the field of arts. Most of the socio-economically weak students who are deeply involved in arts can make their career as a professional like medicine, law, management or education as compared to those with little involvement in arts.

Better engagement in public: The youngsters with intensive experience in arts during their high school show better behavior in public than those who were not related to arts. Whether they are voting, volunteering or engaged in the local school of politics their behavior is supposed to be better than others.

A national-level study conducted on more than 25,000 students of high school it has been revealed that the students from weak socio-economic background have shown better motivation, empathy, and self-confidence than others due to their long involvement in youth art programs of various types including music, theater, and drawing, etc.

Contact US:

Montserrat College of Art
Address:  23 Essex St
Beverly, MA
Phone: (978) 921-4242

About that Apostrophe

Okay, so where does the apostrophe go?

https://www.gocomics.com/looseparts/2019/06/17

Not before the “s,” not after the “s.” You remove it! This is another of those uncommon cases in English where you put the adjective after the noun, such as “court martial” and “attorney general.”

Can you think of any others?

Modern Parlance

I guess talking like a teenager is contagious, though I’ve heard adults use both “like” and “goes” for “said” for at least twenty years…

https://www.gocomics.com/daddyshome/2019/06/15

…though I’ve never heard anyone actually say “omg.”

Okay, where’s the lesson? Here:

Don’t use these expressions when you write to explain something, unless you’re quoting someone who talks like that.

Did I Win an Argument?

Several years ago I began to read Mike Peterson’s excellent daily essay (editorial? article? blog?) named Comic Strip of the Day. (Look for the ones that start with CSotD.) I read it as faithfully as I read A Word A Day. Mike and I don’t necessarily always see eye to eye on politics, but I think that reading material I don’t necessarily agree with keeps me open-minded, and his stuff is thoughtful and well written, not the opinionated drivel I see in places like comment streams.

Anyway, early on, I read a misuse of the expression “beg the question,” so I wrote him a note about it. He did me the courtesy of a reply, saying, if I remember correctly, that everybody uses the expression that way nowadays, so he felt okay with that usage. That was the end of it; we didn’t have an actual argument.

Recently I ran into this: (the italics are his)

This prompts ( but does not beg ) the question of why they would hire Molly Ivins in the first place. 

http://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/06/11/csotd-grey-lady-down/

Yay! To logicians and us curmudgeons, “prompts” is correct, “begs” is not. Good for him!

Here are a couple links to some of my posts on the subject in case you’re curious to know what I’m talking about:

What does “Beg the Question” Mean?
More Question Begging
Getting Things Right