by Sharon Ernst | Feb 14, 2022 | Monday's Mistake
This Monday’s Mistake has an obvious punctuation error. Do you see it? More importantly, it is wrong overall in a much bigger way. Do you see why? First, the punctuation error: the comma before please. Verizon values your feedback and please take this 15-minute survey about your overall experience are two independent clauses. Neither needs the other. Therefore, we can’t use a comma. It should be a period and look like this: Verizon values your feedback. Please take this 15-minute survey about your overall experience. But the bigger...
by Sharon Ernst | Jul 19, 2021 | Monday's Mistake
This week’s Monday’s Mistake deals with a common error because we don’t seem to know how to properly capitalize the words in a title. As a result, I often see the word “is” lowercase when it should be capitalized because it’s verb…as just one example. Do you see the error in this title? “The” should not be capitalized. If the writer had capitalized “to” as well, it would be okay because we’d have consistency with every word capitalized. Then it would look like:...
by Sharon Ernst | Jul 12, 2021 | Monday's Mistake
Here’s yet another mistake from real life. Do you see the error? “It is true that if you are farming on the moon or in the desert, then hydroponics might make sense (If you have to grow in such a parched landscape.)” It’s a common punctuation error. And it’s about the period inside the parentheses. When you use parentheses, the period goes either inside or outside. How do you know which? If the words inside the parentheses are not a complete sentence, then don’t treat it as such and the period goes outside. If the words inside the...
by Sharon Ernst | Jul 5, 2021 | Monday's Mistake, The Copywriter's Corner
The mistakes, they are all around me! Even when I’m in the barn dishing up supplements, I’m confronted with lazy language! And that’s what we’ll tackle in this Monday’s Mistake. Do you see the errors in this? Note: This is from a horse supplements package, and the “blue and orange” wording refers to a map that was on the package. In the first sentence, the mistake is a missing comma after “area.” That’s simple enough. Then I have to admit that–on the surface–the second sentence is not technically wrong. I wanted to say...
by Sharon Ernst | Jun 14, 2021 | Monday's Mistake
What’s wrong with this sentence? “As interest in keeping her healthy increases, it bodes well for companies to do their part—for their customers, employees and their bottom line.” The writer got a little confused about the theirs, I guess. They didn’t need that second their before bottom line. It’s clutter. Plus it’s weird to put their before customers and bottom line but not before employees. That makes it seem like the employees could work for any company, I guess. The sentence is better without the extra their because it’s both...
by Sharon Ernst | Jun 8, 2021 | Monday's Mistake
I had an attack of acute gastritis a while back, although I didn’t know it at first. I thought I had a severely upset stomach, that’s all, although I was in a lot of pain and sleeping a lot. On the evening of the second day, I finally Googled my symptoms to learn it was acute gastritis. As much as I appreciated finding the information I needed so I could treat the ailment, I was distressed to see this crazy use of commas on a medical website: “There are several different types of acute gastritis. This is due to the fact that the...
