GROWING GRAMMAR: Where were you on National Grammar Day?
In case you neglected to mark this on your calendar, and since Hallmark has not yet officially designated it a greeting-card holiday, you may have missed:
In the name of educational fun (and, no, that’s not an oxymoron), and to exercise your pointer finger, I’m providing the following links for your clicking:
The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG)
Fritinancy: a blog about names, brands, writing, and quirks of the English language
Figures of Speech Served Fresh: “rips the innards out of things people say”
Celebrity English: grammar glamour
Mighty Red Pen: because the red pen is mightier
Literally, a Web Log: a blog that tracks abuses of the word “literally”
And, finally, from SPOGG: Correct the Celebrity!
1. Which album title has the spelling error?
a. “Dutchess,” by Fergie
b. “Growing Pains” by Mary J. Blige
c. “Graduation” by Kanye West
d. None of the above
2. What’s wrong with this lyric by Justin Timberlake?
“When you cheated girl
My heart bleeded girl.”
a. It’s perfect as it is. Leave Justin alone!
b. “Bleeded” is not a word. “Bled” is.
c. There should be commas before and after “girl”
d. Both b and c are correct.
3. Circle the errors Paris Hilton made blogging about her new shoe collection. (Hint: there are at least four!)
“Don’t worry, if you arent in Orange County, you can also get the shoes at Kitson, Zappos.com, Endless.com, Bakers, Lord & Taylor and select specialty boutiques across the counrty
4. Correct the following movie titles:
a. How She Move
b. The Pursuit of Happynes
c. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
d. The 40 Year Old Virgin
5. Circle the error in this statement by Christina Aguilera:
Today is a very joyful
an> and special day for Jordan and I as we welcome our first son into this world.
6. What’s wrong with this David Hasselhoff quote?
“I am also doing a heart-rendering set on my life and the mistakes I have made.”
a. There should be a comma after life.
b. “heart-rendering” doesn’t need a hyphen.
c. “heart-rendering” should be “heart-rending”
d. The sentence is fine as is.
7. A boyfriend of Jessica Simpson’s dumped her via text message. The related headline contains an error. What is it?
Jessica Dumped in 118 Characters or Less
© 2008 SPOGG
