Greetings Friday Folliers! Welcome to another installment of language blunders.  The Grammar Cop’s finds this week would each rate at least an Honorable Mention in the FF Hall of Shame.

All of today’s gaffes are from that lovely local weekly, The Suburban (which still resists my offers of proofreading… granted, the offers aren’t free, but are at low! low! rates).

1. Ad for HAPPY FEET: “Corns, ingrown toenails, callouses, trimming thick nails…”
2. “So that ‘never again’ does not become an idol slogan…”
3. “She got to spend time in the Dominican Republic with he and his family, and she visited…”
4. [Bonus blooper – different source!] IR.NET [“Independent Reporter”]: “Given that this appears to be a ‘sealed indictment,’ the target letter that Trump received probably infers that the investigation has been ongoing for some time now.”

The corrections are:

1. Nice try, Happy Feet. But “callouses” are not too happy being misspelled. The word should be calluses (plural of callus.) Yes, there is a word “callous,” but it’s an adjective meaning uncaring or cold.
2. An “idol” slogan? Would that be, say, “Justin Bieber is Canada’s mistake”? Or: “Bruce Springsteen is the Boss of me”? Nooooo not that kind of “idol.” The intended word in the sentence is idle. An idle slogan in this context implies a meaningless expression. (Of course idle can have many other meanings too – just to confuuuse us. The dictionary is our friend.)
3. Did you spot it? It sticks out like a sore… pronoun! It should be him, not “he.” The simple reason is that him and his family are the objects of the preposition with.  Try it without the and his family part. We would never say “She got to spend time with he.” Right? No, we’d say spend time with him. I rest my case.
4. No, not “infers.” The word needed is implies. A common mix-up. What’s the difference?  Infer is what you do when you figure something out from the clue(s) you are given. Imply is what you do when you indicate or suggest something. (In fact, I used it just that way in correction #2 above.)

I am going to lie down now. This implies that I am tired. Have a wonderful, carefree Memorial Day weekend, my American friends! Take it easy in the ol’ hammock; give your calluses a break.