Tag Archives: controversial usage

Grammar Matters: The Social Significance of How We Use Language

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Heather

Recommended Read Ghomeshi, Jila. Grammar Matters: The Social Significance of How We Use Language. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring, 2010. [ISBN-13: 978-1894037-44-0] If English is going to hell in a hand basket, how is it that there are so many rigidly prescriptive grammar guides … Continue reading →

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The Prodigal Tongue

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Heather

Recommended Read Abley, Mark. The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches from the Future of English. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008. [ISBN-13: 978-0-679-31366-3] Take a moment to be astonished at how much English has changed in the 600-odd years since Langland wrote Peirs Plowman: In … Continue reading →

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Compose vs. Comprise

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Heather

Lexical Vexations Compose v. 1. to make up, to constitute. Comprise v. 1. to include  2.  to compose or constitute. The second definition of comprise is considered by many to be incorrect, though it has been used in this way … Continue reading →

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