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TRUMPING DONALD’S GRAMMAR

Last night on “Celebrity Apprentice,” Donald Trump corrected Cyndi Lauper’s grammar. She said “I feel bad.”

He said it’s “I feel badly.”

He’s wrong.

If you are expressing an emotion, it’s correct to say “bad.”

Saying “I feel badly” means you can’t physically feel things very well – your sense of touch is off. Your fingers don’t work well.

Remember: you wouldn’t say you “feel madly” or “feel sadly,” right?

This applies to other verbs that describe senses, e.g. taste and smell. “Smell bad” means you stink; “smell badly” means your sense of smell is off.

Donald, you’re fired as a grammar coach.

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I.E. versus E.G.

In honor of the third annual National Grammar Day celebrated on March 4, let’s take a look at “i.e.” versus “e.g.” I’ve seen even professional writers get this one wrong.

Let’s start with “i.e.” As I remember from my high school Latin classes, it stands for “id est,” which literally means “that is.” If you think of it as “that is” or “in other words,” you’ll be fine.

Now, “e.g.” is Latin for “exempli gratia,” or in plain English, “by way of example.” So, think of it as meaning “for example.”

So, they should be used in this way:

We should all strive for good grammar on this greatest of all holidays, i.e., National Grammar Day.
Content Strategy yields a number of deliverables, e.g., content audits, editorial styles guides and gap analyses.Note:

  1. “i.e.” and “e.g.” are abbreviations, so don’t forget the period after each letter.
  2. Use a comma after both “i.e.” and “e.g.”
  3. Use a comma before both “i.e.” and “e.g.” (unless it is at the beginning of a sentence – and yes, it’s okay to begin a sentence with either “i.e.” or “e.g.”)
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Veterans Day, Possessives and Attributive Nouns

As we honor our veterans today, I got to thinking about the name of the day itself.

Which is correct: Veterans’ Day, Veteran’s Day, Veterans Day?

To figure it out, we need to examine each term.

  • Veterans’ Day is a plural noun in the possessive case
  • Veteran’s Day is a singular noun in the possessive case
  • Veterans Day is a plural noun, not possessive case (that is called an attributive, meaning it serves as a modifier and does not need to be possessive).

In deciding what is the correct term, we need to decide if the term “Veteran” should be possessive or if it is a modifier. To make things more complicated (ah, the complexity of the English language), there is no one rule here. So the best way to determine what term to use is to consult a dictionary or a style guide. Webster’s goes with “Veterans Day” as does the AP Stylebook. A quick look at today’s newspapers confirms the widespread use of “Veterans Day.”

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