When I teach advanced student writers, I always mention how the best nonfiction prose sticks close to idiomatic language while also avoiding clichés. That’s a tall order, for a number of reasons. For one thing, idioms and clichés sometimes overlap. [Read more…]

“We had a verbal agreement,” you hear people say all the time when they’re asked if they had a contract with someone. What the person usually means is, “We had an oral agreement.” That is, we had a spoken agreement. Oral is the antonym of written, but written isn’t the antonym of verbal. Both oral and written agreements are verbal, because verbal simply means “composed of words.” If you have a verbal agreement, it could be either oral or written. [Read more…]

Preparing a post for the other blog I write—about professor-on-student sexual harassment and assault—I was searching through Davidson College’s policy on faculty-student fraternization when I came upon this grammatical error from section 2.5.10.E.:

E. Employee / Student Dating and Relationships (also listed as part of the Consensual Relationships Policy)
In addition to the above restrictions on workplace dating and relationships, faculty members and staff are prohibited from dating students, asking students for dates, engaging in amorous or sexual activities with students, asking students to engage in amorous or sexual activities, or engaging in any activities designed to encourage or which does encourage an amorous or sexual relationship with a student when:
1. The student is enrolled in a course being taught by the faculty member; or
2. The student’s academic work, admissions, enrollment, athletic, or other educational participation or programming is being supervised or subject to review in any way by the faculty member or staff. (p.80)

The error (bolded) is one referred to as “agreement in number”: the “does” before the colon should be the plural “do,” since the noun it pairs with, “activities,” is plural. [Read more…]