21 February 2019
It’s fascinating how even quite common words can find themselves overshadowed by new arrivals, or by words which begin to trespass on to their territory.
A widely found example today is the increasing use of ‘multiple’ to mean ‘many’. Neither Chambers nor Collins gives ‘many’ amongst the – hmm – multiple meanings of ‘multiple’, though Chambers does give ‘manifold’, which in turn is defined as ‘many’. The usage of ‘multiple’ to mean ‘many’ appears to have originated in the US (as is often the case with these new usages).
‘Multiple’ derives ultimately from a Latin root, so you might expect me as a classicist to prefer it; but there’s a lot to be said for not forgetting the other sources of our language, not to mention the value of shorter words, so I’m going to keep using the Old English-derived ‘many’ as often as possible.
20 September 2018
I refer elsewhere on this site to the fact that scam emails – perhaps fortunately – don’t employ proofreaders. So it wasn’t difficult to ignore an email which purported to come from “Microsft Team” and urged me to click on a link to correct email problems, in which case they assured me that my “messages will be successfully deliver”.
22 August 2018
This morning I received an email inviting me to subscribe to a journal which proudly described itself in the title as “The independant, professional publication for senior … ”. I’ll spare their blushes by omitting the rest of it. The email went on to say that this edition would “cover a select (sic) of projects”. They also spelled the name of one of their interviewees incorrectly.
I have offered my services to proofread future marketing communications from the journal, but have sadly yet to hear back …
10 August 2018
This story on the BBC website perfectly illustrates why employing a proofreader is always a good idea …
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-45136508
1 August 2018
Commercial vans and lorries are a fruitful source of cringe-making puns and unimaginative advertising claims. Logistics firms are particularly blameworthy: “Make it a moving experience with Miggins” …
So I was delighted this morning to spot a van transporting fresh produce which bore the message: “No tomatoes are left overnight in this van.”
