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Great Day in American Literature
Today, September 17, we commemorate Constitution Day in the United States. The Constitution of the United States of America would never pass a spell-check today. Back then, words were spelled in various ways, and grammar rules were lax. For example, "chuse" is written for today's "choose." And some people think it would be nice to get the original framers to rewrite some of the early amendments! Nevertheless, the Constitution is one of the greatest documents in the world, worthy of celebration. Why not get your own pocket-size copy by clicking the image here. You can even get a copy in Arabic...imagine that!
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Constitution Day!
We the people of ProofreadNOW.com, Inc., in order to form a more perfect document, establish quality, and insure [sic] marketing tranquility, provide for the common rule of grammar, promote the general Rules, and secure the Blessings of Quality to you and your posterity (not to mention your readers), do ordain and establish this Vocabulary Test for the United States of America and English readers everywhere.
1. writ: (a) to decide or rule upon as a judge; (b) an oral or written legal objection; (c) an order or mandatory process in writing issued in the name of the sovereign or of a court or judicial officer commanding the person to whom it is directed to perform or refrain from performing an act specified therein; (d) past tense form of write.
2. pro tempore: (a) for the time being; (b) in favor of temperance; (c) positive tempo; (d) for the common good.
3. quorum: (a) one quarter of an assembled group; (b) the number (as a majority) of officers or members of a body that when duly assembled is legally competent to transact business; (c) two-thirds; (d) a simple majority.
4. emolument: (a) the returns arising from office or employment usually in the form of compensation or perquisites; (b) the ending of the observance or effect of; (c) high praise; (d) dissolution.
5. habeas corpus [ad subjiciendum]: (a) (capitalized) the first chief justice of the Supreme Court; (b) the body of law; (c) a writ for inquiring into the lawfulness of the restraint of a person who is imprisoned or detained in another's custody; (d) all the above.
6. ex post facto: (a) in advance; (b) concurrent with; (c) the mailing of the fact; (d) retroactively.
7. bill of attainder: (a) a legislative act that imposes punishment without a trial; (b) receipt; (c) an indictment before it is found or ignored by the grand jury; (d) a document containing a formal statement of rights.
8. letters of marque: (a) a letter evidencing the right of an administrator to administer the goods or estate of a deceased person, especially a deceased person named Mark; (b) a license granted to a private person to fit out an armed ship to plunder the enemy; (c) a formal document attesting to the power of a diplomatic agent to act for the issuing government; (d) 18th-century typography.
9. attainted: (a) arrived; (b) identified; (c) misled; (d) infected; corrupted.
10. appellate: (a) lower-order; (b) having the power to review the judgment of another tribunal; (c) an individual cited or appealed to as an expert; (d) having power to compel or constrain.
At ProofreadNOW, we believe you have a constitutional right to high-quality documents. We are bound to deliver on that belief, and we will do all in our power to extend the life of your proposals, brochures, white papers, and advertisements. We bring liberty to your documents, freeing them from the oppressive presence of mistakes. And we will pursue the ultimate happiness of your readers.
Answers: 1:c 2:a 3:b 4:a 5:c 6:d 7:a 8:b 9:d 10:b Rate Yourself: Guilty of treason against the written word.
3 to 5 correct: An indictment is pending.
6 to 7 correct: You are in the majority.
8 to 9 correct: You could write your own constitution.
All 10 correct: Let's have a convention and elect you the vocabulary president!
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| Weekly Grammar Tip |
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Comprise, Is Comprised Of, and Include...and more
COMPRISE, IS COMPRISED OF, and INCLUDE: Filling Up
Guideline: Use comprise when you mean to "consist of" (as opposed to "are the elements of"). Use include when you are mentioning or listing some or most (rather than all) of the items in a series. Think twice before using is comprised of for anything.
The new water ski package comprises [consists of] a pair of Voit skis, a deluxe rope and handle, a ski vest, and (get this!) a shiny MasterCraft ProStar 190 ski boat.
or:
The new water ski package includes [has, in addition to other things,] a ski vest.
But not:
The new water ski package is comprised of [should be is composed of] a pair of Voit skis, a deluxe rope and handle, a ski vest, and (get this!) a shiny MasterCraft ProStar 190 ski boat.
A closer look. Is comprised of has become so commonly used as a synonym for "consists of" that many [inferior] guides now consider the phrase standard.
COMPARE TO and COMPARE WITH: Side by side
Guideline. Use compare to when your purpose is simply to liken--to point out the similarity (or dissimilarity) between--two things. Use compare with when your purpose is to analyze two things on the basis of their similarities or differences.
You cannot begin to compare [liken] wakeboarders to water skiers.
I would like to begin my speech by comparing [weighing one against the other] this year's water skiers with the water skiers we had last year.
From Grammar for Smart People by Barry Tarshis.
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| Word of the Week |
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obfuscate
Pronunciation: OB-fuh-skayt
Function: verb
Etymology: Late Latin obfuscatus, past participle of obfuscare, from Latin ob- in the way + fuscus dark brown
Date: 1577
Definitions:
transitive verb 1 a: darken b: to make obscure; "obfuscate the issue"
2: confuse; "obfuscate the reader"
intransitive verb: to be evasive, unclear, or confusing
Example: "It's to be expected that teams' publicity departments do a little spin-doctoring and enhance their players' performances by using numbers that appear to be impressive, so it's up to the commentators to determine if those stats have validity or are meant to obfuscate poor performances."
-Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans by Tim McCarver
Source: Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary
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Copyright 2008 by ProofreadNOW.com, Inc., 447 Boston Street, Topsfield, MA 01983 USA. Published weekly (we try) by the editors at ProofreadNOW.com, Inc. and sent to customers of record and to opt-in guests. Many readers find it is best to read a portion, put it aside, then come back and read more.
Please rate this GrammarTip (10=high, 0=low):
10 - Like having all your picks win the bowl games.
8 - Like having half the day off after New Year's Day.
6 - Like finding a parking space at the mall.
4 - Like finding a parking space near the mall--across the street.
2 - Like working all day the day after New Year's Day.
0 - Like staying home and forgetting the office was open all day the day after New Year's Day...until they tracked you down.
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