Quick Quiz: Can You Identify the Egregious Grammatical Error in the Video Clip?

This is a really easy one, hence the target audience is those who are “grammatically challenged.”

In the 47-second video clip below, taken from the July 5 edition of “Washington Week in Review,” there is an egregious and unforgivable grammatical error uttered by ABC News Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny, as he responds to host Gwen Ifill’s lament that gun control is not going anywhere despite all the “door-to-door campaigning by the weeping parents from Newtown.” Can you identify the blunder?  I say “unforgivable” because, until this past January, Zeleny was the national political correspondent for the prestigious New York Times!

[For readers from foreign countries: Gabby Giffords--whose name you’ll hear in Zeleny’s response--is the Congresswoman from Arizona who was shot in the head outside a supermarket in January 2011.]

Tune in to this blog tomorrow for the answer.

© Copyright 2013  V. J. Singal

Quick Quiz: Can You Identify the Egregious Grammatical Error in the Video Clip?

In the video clip below, there is an egregious and unforgivable grammatical error uttered by reporter Paris Schutz, who is in background. Can you identify it?

Tune in to this blog tomorrow for the answer.

© Copyright 2012 V. J. Singal

You can Predict the Success of a Couple’s First Date by Analyzing their Language

Just in case you missed today’s edition of NPR’s Monday morning “health blog”: You can predict the success of a couple’s first date—and thus the probability that they will still be dating several weeks later—by analyzing their language. According to UT psychologist James Pennebaker, when there is a match in the language style of two people who are speed dating--in other words, “when they used pronouns, prepositions, articles and so forth in similar ways at similar rates--they were much more likely to end up on a date.”

This piece is really worth a look.

The Case of a Dangling Modifier; Egregious Syntax Error by NPR Host Steve Inskeep

While interviewing Dallas businessman Ray Washburne earlier this month, NPR Morning Edition cohost Steve Inskeep put the following question to his guest:

“Let me ask another thing. As a Texan who has been very active in the Republican Party and has raised many hundreds of thousands of dollars, I assume you're acquainted with your governor, Rick Perry?”

Many of my readers will instantly recognize a grammatical blunder in the long second sentence. The opening clause “As a Texan who has…….thousands of dollars” is meant to modify the “you” or the object in that sentence (i.e. guest Washburne) and not the subject “I” because it is not Inskeep who is the Texan and active in the Republican Party. But, because an opening phrase or clause always modifies the subject that immediately follows, the above sentence ends up either confusing the reader or listener or creating unintentional humor. [To check it out for yourself, click here: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/13/141303832/romney-camp-is-slow-to-attract-former-bush-donors]

I realize the above is basic grammar, but if the highly experienced and talented Inskeep can make such an egregious error, I suppose so can anyone else if they lower their guard.

BTW, one way to correct the syntax in the above complex sentence would be to rewrite it as follows: “As a Texas who has been very active in…… and thousands of dollars, you’re acquainted with your governor, Rick Perry, I assume?”

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

My Appearance on Houston’s Channel 39 (KIAH-TV) Earlier This Month; The Consequences of Egregiously Bad Grammar During Job Interview

In a post three weeks ago, I wrote that Houston’s Channel 39 had interviewed me with regard to how poor language skills can obliterate one’s chances of success during a job interview or sales call. Well, the station did broadcast segments of that interview a few days later and you can see what they aired by clicking on the one-and-a-half-minute video clip below. Of particular interest to job seekers: My comment on how the use of typical text-messaging lingo during an interview might portray you as someone who is much too cavalier or irresponsible to handle serious tasks and who therefore cannot be entrusted with big-time responsibility.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal

The Consequences of Grossly Abusing Grammar During a Job interview or While Talking to a Client or Customer

This morning, I was interviewed by award-winning journalist David Solano for his upcoming story on how extremely poor language skills can sharply diminish one’s chances of success during a jon interview or sales call. [The story is to be aired early next week on Solana’s station KIAH-TV -- Houston’s Channel 39.]

Here is what I said with regard to the severe consequences stemming from egregious grammar errors:

During a job interview or while making a sales call, murdering grammar can be lethal! [Some examples of outrageous grammatical errors: subject-verb disagreement; using first person subject pronoun “I” when it should be object pronoun “me” and the vice versa; wrong tense or wrong verb form; uttering "aks" instead of "ask."] Among the many reasons why such gross abuses of grammar can sharply diminish your prospects of being hired or of consummating a sale:

1. Unless the listener is intimately familiar with your educational background and the many college degrees you have amassed, he or she will conclude that you are poorly educated.

2. You will give the impression of being a slow, unenthusiastic learner--someone who will have difficulty quickly adapting to a potential employer's workplace culture or way of doing things.

3. As a potential employee, you will be viewed as more of a liability than an asset because:
(i) Your conspicuous grammar missteps are likely to be such a serious distraction--even an annoyance--that listeners will be unable to stay focused on your message, and
(ii) You could even end up becoming a laughing stock among not only your would-be peers but also among clients, thus severely tarnishing the company's image.

© Copyright 2011 V. J. Singal