Gem found online

Mother love

A Reddit poster wrote, "My Mom like's to paint rocks!"

Mom should also take a look at her kid's writing.

Back to the Future: the Manuscript

This excerpt from my freelance book editing colleague:

"Assuming his battle guard was no larger than what it was later, it numbered at most a thousand men."

That one shorts out my flux capacitor.

The it's/its confusion has me in a snit!

The results are in, and this week's most-often corrected word is it's incorrectly used in place of its.

Coming in second was there/their, with the ever-popular assure/ensure just a hair behind in third.

The multiple offenses were in a proposal for Office of Management and Budget IT support. I'm starting to think that the geek writers whose work I review hacked their grade records for English and skipped those classes.

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep me from my editing.

At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, I’ll just say that the author of the manuscript I’m currently working on appears to be a northern Norwegian blown my way on the wings of a Nor’easter.

He neither has an understanding of the correct use of nor, nor hesitates to throw in nors willy-nilly.

Apparently either his English teachers got it wrong or he missed the class on the use of nor. Somehow he arrived at the understanding that in choosing between or, or nor, the culprit in question here is always selected if it’s preceded by any negative construction.

Here are a couple of examples: (1) He also had no memory of Palmer nor of Andrews. (2) There is no river nor railroad trestle in the story.

I wouldn't be surprised if the author's kids are named "Nora" and "Norman."

The interview question that probably cost me a job

It’s reasonable to expect editors to be grammar experts. After all, correct grammar usage is one cornerstone of good writing.

But like some teachers who know their subject but have trouble teaching it (i.e., they’re not good lecturers), there are editors who sometimes can’t explain grammar very well. There have been instances when I have had that problem. One such occasion probably sank my chances for a job I applied for.

After successfully navigating my way through the telephone-screening interview, I had my face-to-face interview with the person to whom I would report.

The interview proceeded without a hitch. And then I had a “deer in the headlights” moment. From out of the blue she asked, “What is a gerund?” (A gerund, I shall never forget, is a noun formed from a verb, e.g., “swimming.”)

I don’t remember my exact response. It was doubtless some attempt to finesse my momentary ignorance.

Lesson learned: Regardless of how good you can walk the walk, never underestimate the importance of also being able to talk the talk.