The Grammar Cop is delighted to see you at the start of eggnog season. Remember, you can’t drink and drive, but you can laugh and point at these silly language slip-ups. 😄

1. “Despite being about two months her senior, they were similar in size.”
2. “Growing up in a dysfunctional family, the local hockey rink in Greenfield Park had become his refuge and the countless hours spent there had translated into results.”
3. “The Home Alone franchise has certainly been a stable in Christmas pop culture since the year of its release…”

The corrections:

1. This statement about kittens leaves a lot to be desired, namely, proper grammar! The phrase, “Despite being about two months her senior,” is intended to describe one of the kittens – the one that’s older. But what does the rest of the sentence start with? “They”! This is wrong. It must say he (or she), for that is what the phrase is describing: the older kitten. The sentence must be rewritten: Despite being about two months her senior, he was similar to her in size.
2. Here’s yet another example of a dangling participle. Was it the hockey rink that grew up in a dysfunctional family? Of course not, yet that’s what the sentence now implies. It needs to be rewritten so that the one doing the “growing up” is made the subject of the main part of the sentence. This is one way to do it: Growing up in a dysfunctional family, he turned the local hockey rink in Greenfield Park into his refuge, and the countless hours he spent there had translated into results.
3. I wonder if the nativity scene will be depicted in this “stable.” 😂 Of course the word should be staple. This looks like a voice-to-text error, doesn’t it? In any case, it’s a chuckle-worthy way to end this week’s grammar post!

See you next week; take care to have a blooper-free bunch o’ days!