Will you respond “short” or “shortly”?

The word “short”, while being relative (how short is short?) confuses when the more apt meaning may be “shortly”.

1. “The money in the till is short for the third day in a row,” yelled the manager.
2. The new clerk, a short guy called “Shorty”, would be asked some questions shortly.
3. “Don't be short with me,” the clerk begged. “My bank account was short of funds.”
4. The manager responded with a short remark, “You’re fired.”

#1 short money (adjective)
#2 short guy (adj.) asked shortly (adverb)
#3 be short (adv.); short funds (adj.)
#4 short remark (adj.) with double meaning: The remark was brief and indicated annoyance.

As an adjective, short means “less than, smaller than, not as long, not as much”. It also means “abrupt”.
As an adverb, shortly means “soon, in a small amount of time”, also “a manner of speaking abruptly”.
Shorty is just a nickname.


*For even more meanings, check out your dictionary.

I Hate To Harp (Actually, I Love It), BUT...

Listen closely; I may not repeat this message.

I’ve screamed, I’ve hollered, I’ve cried, I’ve whispered, and I’ve cursed. Still, I receive questions about using an apostrophe to make a noun plural. No, No, a thousand times NO! A bunch of apples has no apostrophe! Only the apple’s core or the apple’s peeling or the apple’s blossom rates the apostrophe.

An apostrophe indicates two things: 1) in the cases of the core, peeling, and blossom (above), it shows possession. 2) The other use is to indicate something left out, f’r cryin’ out loud! Don’t you see that?

IS NO ONE LISTENING?

Do You Feel Persecuted or Prosecuted?

The answer depends on whether or not you’re in court yet. You can feel persecuted (annoyed, bothered, discriminated against, or harassed) without a lawyer, but if you’re being prosecuted, best to hire that lawyer (you could be in deep doo-doo).

Are you “beside” yourself?

“Love Me Like a Man...” Really?

There’s a song that Diana Krall sings that drives me up the wall when I hear it. Sung by a woman, she is asking, “Love me like a man...”. Now I have to wonder: does she want someone to love her as a man would love her, or is she asking someone to love her as if she were a man? Gender issues are difficult enough to unsnare without them bubbling over into song!

BYAM — an excellent guideline

Trouble remembering whether it’s “between you and I” or “between you and me”? Use the BYAM mnemonic tool and you’ll never be wrong again. I could tell you why, but then it wouldn’t be fun!

Who Changed Brit-English to U.S.-English?

No, it wasn't The Grammar Anarchist, although the need persists. (Will we never learn?)

ANSWER: Noah Webster. Yup! Back BEFORE the U.S. Constitution was finalized, he taught school and realized the blasphemy of teaching British words to kids whose parents were overthrowing the king. He wrote the Blue-Backed Speller for his students and published it in 1783. He followed that with a grammar book in 1784 and a reader in 1785.

Still, we insist on spelling honor with a “u” and center with the “er” reversed!

Time to Get To Work

“The holidays have passed”, says the Spirit of Holidays Past. Time to paste in some more cheery words as a pastime for the grammar geeks.

On the cusp of a new year, we use words such as “passed, past, pastime” and often mix up the spelling. Careful, Writer, even the experienced ones do it! You’re not the only one to muck up your memories of yore. There are many who mix their words as they’re concentrating on the melody.

Oops is a 4-letter word! Avoid having to use it.