We’re starting our fifth year!

C’mon. Lay. Lie. Lay. Lie.

We covered this way back in our fourth segment, in February 2021. Authorities have identified the person. They know who he is. They just haven’t told the public.

We first covered this in August 2022, and we still are amazed by the tone-deafness of it. You get home from work. You don’t know when the spray was applied on your lawn. Or you’re a neighbor walking your dog and it steps on this lawn. The question is: When is the lawn dry? How do we know when it’s dry? Some signs say “Dry in four hours” but don’t say when the stuff was applied. So is it dry? Heck. The worst that happens is that we get deadly pesticide on our hands or our dog’s tongue. That’s all. How hard would it be to grab a marker and write: “Dry 4:30 p.m?” Like this:

This is a favorite that probably belonged in our July 2024 segment on movie tropes. Of course, it’s not a desert island. Look at the photo. The word folks should be using is deserted.

We recently saw a TV commercial that said with a certain amazing drug, you’d lose a remarkable amount of weight in a short time. “With diet and exercise.” The with is key. Sure, the drug won’t work by itself. But you could run an ad that says, “You’ll lose weight if you just eat M&Ms. And diet and exercise.” Readers: Do your research before you buy a product that goes into your body.

Items before the Assizes:
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez! On the docket:
Longtime reader and occasional contributor Dr. Baruch Kahana submits: “Among my favorite redundancies is, ‘I personally think …’ How does “personally” help here?”
The Rules Committee opines: “He is not wrong.” CONCUR.

And we go to the video archives for Segment 80: What's My Line?: https://youtu.be/JOHeh2FbItA?si=A48Xvi4ti5HZHvS2

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, menus, TV news graphics, 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 can credit you properly. 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!