Pedant Central – a Blog for Grammar Nerds and English Language Obsessives

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This is a spot for pedants to vent over the ever-increasing mangling of language currently afflicting the English-speaking world. Whatever your gripe – grammar, punctuation, syntax, pronunciation, word abuse through misuse or over-use – now is the time and here is the place to air it. If this prospect prompts a response even slightly more positive than a hippo yawn, this is your place – welcome home!

If you spot a clanger in the mainstream media, in an ad, or from any “writer” who should know better, email the link (with an incriminating snapshot of the offence if possible) so I can post it on public display for us grammar nerds to fuss and cuss over.

Hark – what’s that I hear? Collective hearts beating as one in feverish anticipation with all the might and drama of the Energizer bunny’s drum?

Regular contributors will be rewarded with administrative rights to the Pedant Central blog. Yes, that means you gain admission to the bowels of this bunker via your own secret password, enabling you to write posts, to rail against linguistic atrocities as they happen, to publicly chastise and hold to account those who defile and demean the English language, and hopefully to educate some of these great unwashed. You will not find a more exciting proposition this side of the next annual International Linguistic Association conference.

For your sake and mine, and the civilized English-speaking world’s, check back here for opening posts. Its It’s time to take a stand.

Journos demonstrate fine prophesy skills!

Hot off the press from thewest.com.au this morning, this sensational report attributed to Canberra-based journos Andrew Probyn and Shane Wright (how does this double-act work, I wonder – first Andy types a word, then Shane?), which actually predicts, verbatim, Energy Minister Martin Ferguson’s speech later today!

So confident is this dynamic duo that they have enclosed Ferguson’s future utterances in quote marks, which arouses suspicion that they may have bypassed the crystal ball for a time machine! What other explanation makes sense…other than, perhaps, poor phrasing? You be the judge. Here’s the evidence:

Teacher says:
Poor phrasing. Sloppy! Should know better at this stage. Acknowledge source of quote. Future tense not appropriate. Re-phrase. Resubmit. Fail.