Month: January 2024

Nother

Posted on by Mark DuPré

Nother is not really a word, but is used informally and only should be used in speech, if at all. We understand what a person means when they say something like, “It was a whole nother thing.” That may work in conversation, but not in writing or any kind of formal communication. In that case, “It was a whole other thing” is what is needed.

Most of us have figured out that the word nother comes from another (with the drop of the first letter), and that another comes from adding an to other. But sometimes when another word wants to make its way into the expression, we rightly say a, but then add the dropped n to other. It seems the n sound just wants to connect with other so much that it insists on connecting itself where it doesn’t belong.

Everyone knows what a person means when they say nother, but we shouldn’t use it when we write. And really, it makes us sound smarter if we never say it either.

Date and Time: Plural or Singular?

Posted on by Mark DuPré

Is the phrase “date and time” plural or singular?

If you Google this question, you’ll get a number of conflicting answers, so I will simply offer my best thoughts on the subject.

On the surface, when someone asks you to verify a date and time, or suggests one, it seems logical to some of us to say that “the date and time are” because they seem to be two separate items. Wouldn’t we say “the trees and flowers are…” or “the table and couches are…”?

But the phrase “date and time” is becoming a singular item in our thoughts and communications, and it’s fine now to say “the date and time is…”.

Think of it this way: The date is the broader term, and the time is a subset of the date; the time is set within the date. So we are expressing a single moment— a time that happens to be set within a certain date, and this is therefore a single entity.

English is such a fluid language, and we must realize we’re in the middle of a transition from a plural to a singular. (Some folks are used to considering them as two separate entities, so they will continue to use the plural. Be kind to them.)

But for the rest of us—the date and time is….!

My thanks to Clint Morgan and his daughter Michelle for this wonderful suggestion!

That is, for example….

Posted on by Mark DuPré

There are two abbreviations that often get confused: i.e. and e.g. Some folks use them interchangeably; unfortunately, that’s not correct.

I.e. is short for the Latin phrase id est, which means it is. It indicates that an explanation, or restatement, or related idea, is about to be presented. For instance:

She didn’t have a second date with Jim, i.e., she found him pretty boring.

Or….

We decided not to go out to dinner with them, i.e., we ended up eating at home after all.

E.g., on the other hand, is an abbreviation of a Latin phrase, exempli gratia, which means for example.

For instance:

I love old Hollywood classics, e.g., Casablanca and Gone with the Wind.

Or

Liz Taylor had a lot of husbands, e.g., Richard Burton, Eddy Fisher, Michael Wilding and Nicky Hilton, among others.

One crude but easy way to differentiate the two is that e.g., if put together as letters instead of abbreviations, sounds something like the beginning of the word example. Also, some have suggested that since i.e. can mean in other words, you just have to remember that phrase when you see the letter i in i.e.

And…I hope that you receive all you ask for this year, e.g., clothing, jewelry, gift cards, or precious time with family and friends.