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Readers: We spend a lot of time explaining grammar goofs. Today we highlight words and phrases that appear to be wrong, or which have been pointed out as wrong, but really are correct! Most of these are alleged oxymorons.
Assistant supervisor: You can have various levels of supervisors. Probably more than you need.
Uninvited guest: If he’s in your house, he technically is a guest, whether you invited him or not.
Dry lake: OK as long as it once was a wet lake.
Forward lateral: The quarterback intended it to be a lateral. Instead, it was a penalty.
Jumbo shrimp: This gets into the very nature of size adjectives. It describes an item only in relation to like items! Small shrimp. medium shrimp, large shrimp, jumbo shrimp. A skirt is much bigger than a shrimp. But no one has a problem with “miniskirt.”
Highly depressed: See “jumbo shrimp.”
Clearly confused: His confusion might not be clear to him, but it’s clear to you!
Open secret: The phrase snidely points out that it was supposed to be a secret.
Peaceful protest: Who said all protests must be violent?
A small crowd: Crowds can be eight people or eight thousand.
Watch this on video: https://youtu.be/12-t1jqtMEw
Next time: Hundred-dollar words and ten-dollar words
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong," features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police:” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we properly can credit you. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!