The Grammar Cop didn’t have to travel very far this time to find the Language Crimes of the week. Fittingly, they occurred in our local weekly rag, er, newspaper. Truly, folks, proper language usage is languishing. Ahem.
- First up is that perennial eyesore, “reigned” used incorrectly as follows: “The Marois government finally reigned in the OQLF when Quebec faced worldwide embarrassment because of…” No, the king and queen were NOT involved. (Mme Marois is a sovereigniste, not a royaliste!) The correct word here should be reined. I explained this in a previous Friday Follies.
- “…the move was perfectly comfortable thanks to the years of wisdom imparted on him by none other than Clint Eastwood.” No, we don’t impart wisdom ON someone. Well, at least, we Grammar Cops don’t. 😉 We impart wisdom TO someone. A sample sentence from a popular online dictionary: “impart a new skill to the students.”
- This last blooper is found in a piece about the Grévin Museum in Montreal. It says, “There is even a small tribute to Belmont Park, the former Laval amusement park.” Only one problem. Belmont Park was NOT in Laval at all. it was actually in an area of Montreal called Cartierville. I should know, having written a piece on this iconic playground myself, which was published in our daily English newspaper in 1992 (and reprinted in this blog as “Belmont Park.”)
My advice is:
- Fact-check like crazy.
- Edit like there’s no tomorrow.
- Proofread like the Grammar Cop is going to read your article.
Crossed Eyes and Dotted Tees 
I’m so glad you are on duty!
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Only thing is, I’m getting mighty pudgy from all the doughnuts… 😜
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When I read “Belmont Park,” I blinked. In New York, Belmont Park is a racetrack. I grew up next to it!
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Oh, right, haha! I must’ve fooled many American readers on that!!
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Good catches! When I’m editing a UK English text (my native English is American), I have to wonder whether what seems like an odd preposition choice, as you describe in #2, is peculiar to the variety of English. Do you know of any resources that lay out differences in preposition use between US and UK English?
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Hi, thanks! Okay, first of all, I don’t think that was a British thing. The writer is Canadian and he works for a Canadian weekly. We Canadians don’t use “on” with “impart.” So it’s just plain wrong, from my standpoint. As for your last question, no I don’t. Wow, that would really be a ‘niche’ type of book, wouldn’t it? Have you checked with Mr. Google? Or maybe Amazon? Me, I just use my brain which seems to be hardwired to recognize goofs wherever I see ’em. I just… can’t… help it! 😀
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