Downer New Zealand’s Dunedin-based bid co-ordinator, Monique Milne, is among the readers of my newsletters who’ve emailed me their thoughts on grammatical gaffes:
“Hi Jordan,
“You invited us to offer our own lists of ‘personal non-favourite’ grammar gaffes, so here’s mine:
- Writing ‘utilise’ instead of the simpler and more appropriate ‘use’.
- Over-capitalisation of nouns (engineers are especially guilty of this). In English, only proper nouns should be capitalised.
- Use of American English (there’s a setting on Word to avoid this).
Regards
Monique”
Reader Richard Morwood, Industry Director – Integrated Project Delivery, AECOM, shared his thoughts:
“My ‘personal non-favourite’ is the frequently confused and incorrect employment of ‘complementary’ and ‘complimentary’. I’ve given up on ‘program’ (correct) versus the French word ‘programme’ (even Shakespeare used ‘program’).”
Meantime, here are two random examples of an incorrect grammar practice I’ve pointed to on a number of occasions. Both examples are from emails received by me in the course of general business. They serve to illustrate my concern over the fact that the comma is, increasingly (and incorrectly), being used to replace the full stop.
Email from a 50-something professional in the engineering industry:
“We’ll add you to our list to receive information, I’ve attached examples of the forthcoming training in Sydney for your interest.”
Email from a 25-year-old administration support contractor:
“It’s necessary, it’s a guide that shows you everything to do with your ezine styles.”
