Try putting some of your posts through this grammar checker. See how your words match up to the standards of this on-line grammar Nazi. http://www.grammarly.com/?q=grammar&...FZMQtAodLTMAMQ I thought it had made an error when it said that it had detected plagiarism, but my words were already on sciforums, so it was correct. When I entered the words above, it came up with two mistakes. Commonly confused words Accidentally confused words Where did I go wrong?
Just looked at how much they charge for the software, which would probably tell me I've missed out the I've. How much does Grammarly cost? Grammarly offers a seven-day free trial, as well as the following subscription plans: Monthly - $29.95 Quarterly - $59.95 Annual - $139.95
What "words above?" Those two sentences, "Try putting..." and "See how..."? I suppose "match up to" should be "match up with," but as an editor I just don't waste time on that stuff. Everyone understands it, and a large percentage of the readers probably write it that way too. Frankly, "match up" is probably wrong. I suppose it should be "match the standards." "Match up" is pretty colloquial. Better yet, "meet the standards." That was their explanation for the alleged error? Indeed. I wouldn't pay that much for it. I don't understand that sentence. What does "the I've" mean???
"I've just looked" rather than "just looked". $139 per year is cheaper than an editor would be, It could cut down on an editor's work too. Most editors could soon be out of work if this catches on. You say: "Match up" is "pretty colloquial" But note that "pretty" is colloquial too, on this side of the pond at any rate. You should say simply '"Match up' is colloquial."Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
We do a lot more than correct grammar, and in fact that's the task that most of us enjoy the least. For example, we check for logic, concision, consistency of tone, and assumed level of familiarity with the subject matter. We'd be just as delighted with automated grammar checkers as we are with spelling checkers. I'm an American so I speak American English, one of the language's four acknowledged standard dialects. The others are British (R.P. or "Oxford/BBC English" as it's known over here), Indian and Australia/New Zealand. (I've never seen South African discussed. Rock stars who come here from that country, like Seether and Dave Matthews, seem to speak very much like us.) "Pretty" is quite acceptable on this side of the Whaleroad (eccentric use of obsolete British slang, but it's so cute Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!), although I would dither about its use in formal, edited writing. The reason is, obviously, its ambiguity: 10. fairly or moderately: "Her work was pretty good." 11. quite; very: "The wind blew pretty hard." No. I wanted the qualifier. "Match up" is only fairly or moderately colloquial, i.e., pretty colloquial. I would avoid using it in a training presentation, but other instructors would not.
I've had great benefit from the chrome spelling checker, which highlights words as you type. Often it is a matter of it picking up on fat finger mistakes, but occasionally it catches me out. I use thesaurus.com all the time too. A live grammar checker would be handy, but I wouldn't want it to be as strict as the Grammarly program. It picks up supposed mistakes all the time. Even with the above lines it has found one error. Again some colloquialism. "Handy" maybe? Do I really want to give up the word "handy"? It's so handy. A cliché checker should be mandatory for managers. Perhaps it could reward "push the envelope" and "blue sky thinking" with an electric shock.
Safari (at home on my Macintosh) and Internet Explorer (at the office on a PC) also do spell-checking. As does MS Word, of course. That's a great tool for those of us who are getting older and finding that words don't pop into our heads as quickly as they used to. If you have a big vocabulary then you can usually instantly come up with a word that is not really a synonym but close enough. The word you want is usually in the resulting list. What does it want you to use instead? "Handy" means (potentially) convenient, useful and easily accessible. The lead-in page of the Thesaurus does not list any words that cover all three of those properties. I might not use "handy" in formal writing, instead bloating the page count by writing "useful, convenient and easily accessible." But I would surely use it in a formal oral presentation. Have you played Bullshit Bingo? Everyone has a Bingo-style card, but instead of numbers, each square contains a managerial cliché. When one of the attendees has checked off an entire row, column or diagonal (as in traditional Bingo), he/she jumps up and yells "Bullshit!" At this point the speaker is (theoretically) so embarrassed that he/she slinks out of the room and the meeting is over. Obviously this doesn't work in government organizations because every word is bullshit. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
