A nondisputable truth?

Perhaps a good spell checker would have questioned this one, but the current issue of 280 Living has a column about "calm assertiveness" that includes this sentence:

Lastly, realize there is a nondisputable truth regarding the human body.

Whoops! The correct word here is INDISPUTABLE. I checked three dictionaries and ran an online search to be sure my Grammar Glitch instinct was correct. This goof points out that, when you want to make a word negative, you can't just tack any old negative prefix on the front. You need to take the time to find out which negative prefix has been declared official and, therefore, will be recognized by your readers.

What you don't want is for your astute readers to react the way I did when I read this column: What? Is that a word? That distracts me from your message and also gives me the impression that you are not careful with language.

This sentence should read as follows:

Finally, realize that there is an indisputable truth regarding the human body.

BONUS POINT #1: The word FINALLY is a much better choice than LASTLY at the beginning of this sentence.

BONUS POINT #2: Although I often recommend getting rid of extra THAT phrases and clauses in sentences, I think the addition of the word THAT in this sentence makes it read more smoothly.

BONUS POINT #3: I changed "a" in front of "nondisputable" to "an" in front of "indisputable" because the first letter of the word changed from a consonant to a vowel.


NOTE #1: If you are wondering what that indisputable truth about the human body is, the author of the article, Marlene Buckler, says it is that the body's God-given intelligence is genetically programmed to strive for health, balance, and homeostasis. That sounds good to me.


NOTE #2: If any of my readers would like a copy of my workshop handout on the "THAT PASTURE," which gives examples of THAT clauses that can be omitted and those that should be kept, just send me an e-mail, and I will send you that file.