AFFECT? EFFECT? Still Not Clear

The Birmingham News published an excellent article titled "Interview body language" in its Sunday edition (October 11). Based on interviews with Mark Hickson, professor of communication studies at UAB, and Lana Thompson, founder of Thompson and Associates, an HR consulting, training and coaching firm, it offered many tips on appropriate body language for job interviews.



Unfortunately, the author of the article used "affect" incorrectly in the very first paragraph, detracting quite a bit from the professionalism of the message. She wrote:



"What affect can body language have on your job interview?"



Oops! She needed the noun form EFFECT in this slot of the sentence. EFFECT is almost always a noun, and AFFECT is almost always a verb. If you remember that, you will be correct at least 90% of the time, as in the sentence above. (NOTE: If you want to know the unusual circumstances EFFECT can be a verb, send me a comment, and I will do a column just on that.)



This sentence should read as follows:



What effect can body language have on your job interview?



That said, there were still some good tips in the article. Here are several examples:



1. Sit up straight, place your hands in your lap or on the chair arms, and keep your forearms slightly away from your body.



2. Take a file folder with you so you have something to hold. You can put an extra copy of your resume in it.



3. Lean forward a bit when the interview is speaking. Take a breath and lean back when you begin to speak.



If you want to see more of this article, go to al.com and search for the title "Interview body language."

More Subject/Verb Agreement Confusion

A recent request in the local "Good Neighbors" column here in Birmingham contained a sentence that read as follows:



M. R. wanted to buy one of the pink and white commemorative plates that was given to adults who were in attendance when South Avondale Baptist Church held its last service.



At first glance, this sentence might appear to be correct. The verb "was" is singular, and the word "one" is singular, so they agree. BUT, read it again. M. R. only wants to buy ONE plate; however, many more than ONE were given out on the day of the last church service.



In this case, the clause "that WERE given to adults who...." describes PLATES (more than one) not the ONE plate M. R. wanted to buy.



The sentence should read as follows:



M. R. wanted to buy one of the pink and white plates that were given to adults when South Avondale Baptist Church held its last service.

Verb Agreement Mixup in The Denver Post

Yesterday's The Denver Post carried a sentence about the Mideast conflict that offers a good example of poor subject/verb agreement. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that is one of my pet peeves.

Here is the sentence:

He did not disclose what kind of action Netanyahu recommend be taken.”

Subject/verb agreement is always difficult when the sentence has more than one clause--more than one subject and more than one verb. In this sentence, there is the added difficulty of the "be taken" tacked onto the end.

The second clause is basically saying "Netanyahu recommends" action, but the reporter doesn't know what kind. Netanyahu is one person (singular), so the verb should be "recommends," which is singular.

Addiing to the confusion and awkwardness is the phrase "be taken," which serves no purpose whatsoever in the sentence. If it's action, it's being taken, so that phrase is implied.

I would suggest that the sentence reads correctly and much more smoothly this way:

He did not disclose what kind of action Netanyahu recommends.”

Grammar Glitches Elsewhere in the Country

I am on the road this week, but that hasn't stopped me from spotting grammar glitches in what I've had time to read. My Alabama readers will be happy to know that other parts of the country goof, too. Of course, that's not an excuse to ignore careful proofreading!

Here is a glaring example of an apostrophe error that appears in the 2009 Tulsa Visitors Guide. It appears in a letter of welcome from the mayor of the city. I won't speculate on whether the mayor goofed, somebody who keyed in her letter goofed, or the proofreader goofed. It might have been all three.

Here is the offending sentence:

One of the best western art collection's in the nation is housed in oil magnate Thomas Gilcrease's former property, the Gilcrease Museum, just north of downtown.

Only one of the apostrophes in red above is correct. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know that the primary purpose of an apostrophe is to SHOW POSSESSION. The primary purpose of an apostrophe is NEVER to show PLURAL.

Therefore, collections is plural (add JUST the s). However, Gilcrease's indicates that the property once belonged to (SHOWING POSSESSION) Thomas Gilcrease, so it needs the apostrophe.

The sentence should read as follows:

One of the best western art collections in the nation is housed in oil magnate Thomas Gilcrease's former property, the Gilcrease Museum, just north of downtown.

Hope this is helpful. Check again tomorrow to see what I caught in Sunday's The Denver Post.

Denists? Wal-Mart Bag Says They Recommend Colgate Total!

My husband picked up a prescription at Wal-Mart the other day and left the bag sitting on the kitchen table. Apparently my subconscious likes to proofread as much as my conscious mind because while we were discussing something else, my eye caught the misspelling shown here at the left and set off alarm bells. "Dentist," of course, has a "t" after the "n."

I would imagine that Wal-Mart and Colgate would both prefer that I remember them for their good products and customer service, NOT for a spelling blooper in an advertisement on one of their bags. I wonder how long it will be before this one is corrected.

PLEASE remember to proofread anything that will be read by large numbers of people. Accuracy goes hand in hand with professional image.

Ooops! Setting the "reccord" straight?

That old saying about people in glass houses not throwing stones should apply to copy editors as well. The small correction notice on the second page of a local newspaper last week carried the following headline:

Setting the Reccord Straight

Hm-mmm. Seems to me if you are going to correct someone else, you should first proofread your own copy! The article noted that someone had given the wrong figure for how many home sales would be triggered by an extension of the $8,000 federal homebuyer credit, but the copy editor misspelled "record" in his own headline!

Bad Grammar Best Clue to Bogus Offers

If you don't want your hard-earned money to fly away on the next bogus scheme for easy riches, keep a sharp eye out for messages written in poor grammar. Whether these come from faraway places like Nigeria or a remote village in the UK or just some basement near you, they are usually created by people who didn't bother to learn how to communicate well and people who use phrases that are not natural to American English.

Here is a choice example I received recently. It claims to be from Bank of America and even includes a "Click here to continue" link and a link to "sign in to Online Banking." If I were to click on either of these spots, I am sure I would be asked to provide sensitive security information that could then be used to empty my account. Before scrolling on down, see how many errors you can spot in this message:

...We are unable to active your account because we have upgraded our online services, we are sorry for that but you have to reactive your BofA online bank account to be able to send and recive money online.....Your account might be place on restricted status....To lift up this restriction, you need to login into your account (with your username or SSN and your password)....All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until you have reactive your billing information on file.

How many errors or oddities did you spot? I've reprinted the same message below with the corrections in red:

...We are unable to activate your account because we have upgraded our online service. We are sorry for this inconvenience, but you must reactivate your BofA online account to be able to send and receive money online....Your account might be placed on restricted status....To cancel this restriction, you need to login to your account (with your username or SSN and your password)....All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until youhave reactivated your billing information on file.

Beware the bank notice that is filled with errors like the ones above.

NOTE: If you are a regular reader of this blog, I apologize for the almost three-week hiatus in posts. I had to be away and did not have good access to the Internet. Hopefully, I can resume a regular posting schedule now.