The Vine: March 4, 2003
Hey Sars,
I hope you can address a grammatical issue for me and my advisor. It’s about the article before an abbreviation. One abbreviation that we commonly use in our business is MIC (mean inhibitory concentration). Of course, one would always record a mean inhibitory concentration. The question is: Does one record “a MIC” or “an MIC”? There are quite a few terms that seem to want to change their article when they are abbreviated. Any insights into this issue would be greeted with much rejoicing around here.
Also, what is your “10C”?
And if I might add my pet language peeve (as most other folks do), it’s filler phrases that mean nothing, specifically “in any way, shape, or form,” and “for all intents and purposes.” Instant bruxism on my part. Just had to get it off my chest.
Thanks —
Writin’ that dissertation
Dear Writin’ & Cryin’,
The 10C is the Webster’s Tenth Collegiate Dictionary.
As to your actual question, it depends on whether your business pronounces the acronym “mike” (or “mick”) or says all the letters “em aye see.” If it’s the former, “a MIC” is indicated. If it’s the latter, use “an MIC.”
And don’t dismiss the phrases you cite so quickly. Some people overuse prepositional tags like these and turn them into filler, but they do have meaning — they serve as qualifiers that shade the information you get in the rest of the sentence.
Sars,
I have pretty much accepted that the American public decided, without me, to phase out the adverb. As much as it bothers me to read the classifieds searching for a new car that “runs good,” I truly no longer cringe. There’s even a sort of sweet Midwestern simplicity to the adjective as adverb (I’m a born-and-bred Illinoisan). Lately, an entirely new phenomenon is driving me nuts. When did the word “impact” become a verb? It sounds, to me, so very motivational speaker, so college sophomore’s résumé, so…well, wrong.
So, last night, I’m mindlessly watching TV and I hear a journalist/interviewer/whatever ask an interviewee (Jay-Z) what “impacted” him most about his childhood. This is 60 Minutes II; it’s network television. I hear it EVERYWHERE! So, Ms. Bunting, is “impact” now accepted as ANY part of speech? Can, say, a car now “run impact”? OR are both my ex-English-teaching mother and my recently graduated English-major self just nuts? Does this bother you? Am I entirely too snotty? I’m beginning to have a physiological reaction to a word. That can’t be good.
Not Speaking The Language In Chicago
Dear Not,
I haven’t made my contempt for “impact” as a verb a secret. To my ear, it smacks of pretension, of an attempt to sound smarter.
But the sad fact is that “to impact” is accepted usage, and my research suggests that use of the word as a verb actually predates its use as a noun; the 9C lists the verb as the first definition.
My point still stands; I still believe that most people who use “impact” as a verb, at least in a news setting, don’t give a fig about the etymology and only substitute it for “affect” in order to sound more erudite, which is annoying for sure but not incorrect.
Sars,
I am really enjoying your website. I got there via a search for what
I think is a grammatical error — “off of” — but the search actually found
your website, because you used that phrase in a sentence. Tell me, please,
if you know where I can find out if the phrase is allowable in genteel
society (just kidding — I work in a law office in higher education!).
Thanks so much for your very entertaining website. I have forwarded it to
several of my friends. In fact, I forwarded it to a friend who wrote a song
a few years ago entitled “She Thought Irregardless Was A Word.”
C.S.
Dear C.S.,
My pleasure.
“Off of.” Hmm. Time for another dollar bet with myself. [rustles around in pocket] Okay, one Washington says that, although I use “off of” myself because “off” on its own sounds too colloquial to me, that’s incorrect. Garner?
Crap. Garner doesn’t address the issue in a specific entry, or in his entry on prepositions; Choose The Right Word, The Writer’s Encyclopedia, and the Chicago Manual are equally unenlightening. The 9C doesn’t say that “off of” is wrong, but nor does it include an “of” in any of the snippeted usage examples it provides, and neither does the 10C (although, on the plus side, now I know how to address a Navy seaman recruit in a letter…whew!).
It is my sense that that the “of” in the phrase is implied, and therefore extraneous, but I can’t find any specific rule to that effect. “Jumped off of the roof” does sound more correct to me for formal writing than “jumped off the roof,” but maybe it’s a matter of retraining my ear so that I don’t commit the sin I complained about in my answer to the previous letter.
Hi.
I have a grammar problem I’d like to ask you about. I’m taking a
linguistics class that I love, except that my professor’s a moron — I
think.
We’re studying constituent analysis, which I understand well —
there are four tests you apply to a phrase to see whether it is in fact
a constituent. One of the tests is to see whether it can be replaced by
a single word. The sentence my professor gave us was, “I gave Mary a
pearl-handled revolver.” The phrase in that sentence which we were supposed
to test was “a pearl-handled revolver.” My professor says that it can be
replaced by “it,” which would make the sentence “I gave Mary it.”
I admittedly don’t have as much experience in the field of linguistics as
she does, but I think I more or less know my stuff. And I think she’s
wrong. I asked her, and she said yes, it sounds weird, but there’s no
reason that “I gave Mary it” is grammatically incorrect. So? Is she a
moron, or am I?
Thanks so much,
About To Use That Pearl-Handled Revolver Against Her
Dear Against,
It’s not incorrect; it’s just awkward — or, in some cases, colloquial (kids say “gimme it” all the time).
“I gave it to Mary” sounds better, obviously, but I don’t think your professor suggested that you actually use that construction in a piece of writing, so don’t worry about it.
Dear Sars,
I regard as you as a grammar and usage guru, so I was hoping
you could answer a question for me.
I’m editing a text at work, and my supervisor has informed me (snottily, I
might add) that “Then write an essay of at least 200 words” is not a
complete sentence. Isn’t “then” an adverb that modifies “write”? I see it
as the grammatical equivalent of “Quickly write an essay of at least 200
words,” which is a complete sentence. She doesn’t seem to have a reason for
saying this; she just thinks that a sentence beginning with “then” is a
fragment. Who’s right?
Thanks!
Grammatically Challenged Jen
Dear Jen,
Yes, “then” is an adverb; it modifies the verb by answering the question, “When?” But “then” isn’t the issue here. The issue here is that your supervisor doesn’t understand the imperative verb tense. In the context of the sentence, “write” is a command, with “you” as the implied subject (or “you must” implied as the rest of the phrase — whatever, same thing). The use of “then” has no bearing either way on its status as a complete sentence.
She’s wrong.
Tags: grammar
