Welcome back, FF fans! The Grammar Cop has juggled so many citations lately, she had to leave some for future examination. Meanwhile, check these out!

1. She contracted polio just before the Salk vaccine came out as a toddler, and…
2. Swissport and its workers reached an agreement in principal on Dec. 21, but the deal was subsequently rejected by union rank and file.
3. Also since all items are handmade, the real bag could vary slightly in color and texture then the product pictured.

BONUS: She always had a smile and a friendly hell when you came in.

The corrections:

1. Here’s a perfect example of a dangling modifier. The phrase “as a toddler” is in the wrong place. Right now it looks as though it was the vaccine that “came out as a toddler.” But the phrase was obviously intended to describe the subject of the sentence, which is “She.” I would rewrite it as: When she was a toddler, she contracted polio just before the Salk vaccine came out, and…
2. Did you spot the misspelled word? It should say: an agreement in principle. It means you agree with the overall idea of something, but you just want to iron out some details. The word “principal,” on the other hand, means – well, look here, if you’d like to see what the dictionary has to say.
3. The big problem in this sentence is “then.” When we are comparing something to something else, we must use than. However, with the verb vary, the Grammar Cop would be happier to see from used instead. Vary from is correct; “vary than” is not.

BONUS: You’re right! Friday Follies normally disdains the mention of typos. But this one is really funny! Don’t you agree? 😄

Hope you folks suffering freezing temperatures get through it all right, and hope you other folks sweating in a heat wave get to cool off really soon! (Maybe you should switch places? 😬) See you next week!