Manage those modifiers!
by Doug Smith
"Mills was generally a conservative and favored keeping government expenditures in check. But because Mills was from a poor state where many received substandard health care, Goss said Mills wanted to create a government program that would assist the elderly."
"Labeled Obamacare by detractors, repealing the mandate for health coverage was a major part of Mitt Romney's campaign for the presidency."
"Because Mills was from a poor state" is why he wanted to create a government program. It's not why Goss said he wanted to create a program. "Repealing the mandate for health coverage" was not labeled Obamacare; the mandate for health coverage was labeled Obamacare. All that's needed for correction in the first case is a comma after "said" or moving the "Goss said" to the end of the sentence, with a comma in front of Goss. In the second case, you'd need to do some rewriting, such as "The mandate for health coverage was labeled Obamacare by detractors. Repealing it was a major part of Mitt Romney's campaign."
These dangling phrases or misplaced modifiers have always been troublesome. I was tempted to say that they're becoming even more common, but then I saw an example in Success With Words that was written by C.S. Forester in the Saturday Evening Post, and both Forester and the Post have been gone for awhile: "A sailor of vast experience, this was by no means the first convoy which he had escorted to Murmansk." "A sailor of vast experience" belongs with "he."
"There is even a 12-step group for people addicted to 12-step groups — which is very Fight Club, but surely only a small step away from one's head disappearing entirely up one's own fundament."
This is from a British newspaper. The use of fundament to mean "anus or buttocks" is probably more common in Britain than America. Fundament can also mean "a base or basic principle; foundation."
I only wear them on Jodhpur Fridays:
Browsing through Garner's Modern American usage, I find that I've always mispronounced a certain word. Fortunately, it's a word I seldom have occasion to pronounce so maybe I haven't embarrassed myself too much.
Anyway, I thought those pants Cecil B. DeMille wore were called jod-furs, but according to Garner and the dictionary, the correct pronunciation is jod-pers. The correct spelling is "jodhpurs." Apparently, I and a lot of other people see that "hp" as "ph" and pronounce it accordingly. The error is common, according to Garner. Jodhpur is a city in India.
More by Doug Smith
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Illegal motion
"Opponents complained that most of the critical testimony was silenced when a member of the committee motioned for immediate consideration, a nondebatable procedural maneuver that brought public input on the bill to a halt."
- Apr 25, 2013
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Lighten the load
"It quickly became apparent that the Hastings Cutoff was no place for ladened wagons."
- May 30, 2013
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Latest in Words
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To Of and Of Not
Elaine Scott spotted what she tactfully calls "an unfortunate juxtaposition" in the May 23 Arkansas Times. Sitting right next to the "Words" column was an ad that said, "Thank you to all of our sponsors, audiences and volunteers for an amazing 7th Annual LRFF! We couldn't of done it without you!"
- Jun 13, 2013
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Goodbye, Old Paint
I've read that the abbreviation "GOP," short for "Grand Old Party," a nickname of the Republican Party, may be on the way out, some newspapers now banning it.
- Jun 6, 2013
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Lighten the load
"It quickly became apparent that the Hastings Cutoff was no place for ladened wagons."
- May 30, 2013
- More »
Event Calendar
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Re: Pryor and the politics of provincialism
Maybe. Depends on who his oppostition will be on the GOP side. I usually vote…
- on June 17, 2013
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Re: Pryor and the politics of provincialism
So Steven, does that mean you'll be voting for Pryor in the next election?
- on June 17, 2013
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