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Wear the ProofreadNOW T-shirt Everywhere!
If you're a customer of ProofreadNOW.com and you do not have our latest long-sleeved, navy-blue designer t-shirt, let us know! And if you do have a ProofreadNOW t-shirt, send us a photo of you in it, somewhere cool. We're making a page on our site showing the shirt worn in exotic places. Identify where the photo here was taken, and we'll send you a shirt (while supplies last), even if you are not (yet) a customer! Write to contests@ProofreadNOW.com. Hint: It's somewhere in Europe, but NOT in France. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)
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Thanksgiving in America
Even if you're not in America next week celebrating Thanksgiving, some of these words may come in handy for expressing your appreciation for family, friends, and good things that have come your way. Others are simply seasonal and presented for your intellectual edification. Umm...You're welcome!
1. votive: (a) a vote of thanks or confidence; (b) offered or performed in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude or devotion; (c) appealing to or expressing emotions of thanks; (d) giving a suggestion.
2. gramercy: (a) an (archaic) expression, used to express gratitude or surprise; (b) the characteristic system of inflections and syntax of a language; (c) a grammar based on a theory in which grammatical relations (as subject or object) are primitives in terms of which syntactic operations are defined; (d) an (archaic) expression, meaning "you're welcome."
3. mahalo: (a) conscious of benefit received; (b) unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification; (c) the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful; (d) "thank you" (Hawaiian).
4. thank-you-ma'am: (a) what you say to your hostess when handed a third helping of pumpkin pie; (b) a bump or depression in a road; (c) both of the above; (d) none of the above.
5. unstinting: (a) concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself; (b) not restricting or holding back; giving or being given freely or generously; (c) having qualities that inspire hope; (d) conscious of benefit received; expressive of thanks.
6. Wampanoag: (a) the name of the area in which the Pilgrims landed; (b) the leader of the American Indians who greeted the Pilgrims; (c) beads of polished shells strung in strands, belts, or sashes and used by North American Indians as money, ceremonial pledges, and ornaments; (d) a member of an American Indian people of Rhode Island east of Narragansett Bay and neighboring parts of Massachusetts.
7. samp: (a) short for sample; (b) title given to the leader of the Puritans in early America; (c) a Native American word for a thick porridge made from coarsely ground Indian corn; (d) a fleshy North American seacoast plant of the carrot family that is sometimes pickled.
8. succotash: (a) lima or shell beans and kernels of green corn cooked together; (b) cornmeal dough rolled with ground meat or beans seasoned usually with chili, wrapped usually in corn husks, and steamed; (c) a thick sauce of meat and chilies; (d) Sufferin' S. (1584-1621), the preeminent cook and member of the Pilgrim contingent aboard the Mayflower.
9. boon: (a) a forked bone in front of the breastbone in a turkey consisting chiefly of the two clavicles fused at their median or lower end; (b) worthy of thanks or gratitude; (c) a timely benefit; blessing; (d) receive gladly into one's presence or companionship.
10. chuffed (British): (a) spoiled by indulgences; (b) quite pleased; delighted; (c) stuffed, as if by overeating; (d) stuffed, as a turkey is with dressing.
At ProofreadNOW, we're thankful for our customers who put their trust in us every day of the week. We're also thankful for the great skills of our fabulous professional editors who really know how to find mistakes. Let us help you! When it comes to producing high-quality documents, we'll help you make sure the turkeys don't leave your office!
Answers: 1:b 2:a 3:d 4:c 5:b 6:d 7:c 8:a 9:c 10:b Rate Yourself: Turkey's still frozen.
3-4 correct: Turkey's still raw.
5-6 correct: Turkey's not quite 165 degrees.
7-9 correct: It's looking tasty.
All 10 correct: Ready for the table!
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| Weekly Grammar Tip |
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Writing in Flu Season
It's a fallen world; sickness is common. Sometimes you have to write about it. Wash your hands, get your flu shot, and keep your punctuation sharp and healthy with these tips from the Chicago Manual of Style.*
Diseases, procedures. Place names of diseases, syndromes, diagnostic procedures, anatomical parts, and the like in lower case, except for proper names forming part of the term. Acronyms and initialisms are capitalized.
- acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS
- Alzheimer disease (see below)
- Asian flu (caused by a mutant strain of the influenza virus isolated during the 1957 epidemic in Asia)
- computed tomography or CT
- Down syndrome (see below)
- finger-nose test
- islets of Langerhans
- non-Hodgkin lymphoma (see below)
- ultrasound; ultrasonography
The possessive forms Alzheimer's, Down's, Hodgkin's, and the like, though rarely used in medical literature, may be preferred in general context.
Infections. Names of infectious organisms are treated like other specific names. Names of conditions based on such names are neither italicized nor capitalized.
- Microorganisms of the genus Streptococcus are present in the blood of persons with streptococcal infection.
- The larvae of Trichinella spiralis are responsible for the disease trichinosis.
*If your job has you writing medical literature, you will want to switch to the American Medical Association Manual of Style.
Source: The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition.
Note: Click the graphic for important info regarding the flu and flu shots.
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| Word of the Week |
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plinth
Pronunciation: 'plin(t)th
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin plinthus, from Greek plinthos
Date: 1601
Definition: a usually square block serving as a base
Example: "Facing the vehicular onslaught from Flatbush Avenue at the plaza's northern tip stands a perplexing object: a 7-foot-tall, gray-granite plinth. It has no inscription. 'We just call it the monument,' said Jonathan Tuczynski, who was doing maintenance work in the plaza one day. 'I've been wondering: What's it for?'"
- Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19, 2008, p. 1.
Definition 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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