Another of my certainties has been shattered. Like anyone who has tried to explain why we do not say “Jack and me went to France” or “They invited my wife and I to the party,” I have always used the same approach. Incorrect use of object pronoun form as subject Person says: Jack and me … Read more
A recent post about legal terms in the news drew several interesting comments from readers, prompting this addendum. One reader pointed out that I’d omitted the term “stare decisis.” As I recall, “stare decisis” is the very term that led me to write the post in the first place, but somehow, I managed to leave … Read more
Including an extract from Boris Johnson’s recent resignation speech, a reader suggested that a post on the expression “them’s the breaks” might be in order. I was a bit puzzled, considering that the expression is quite common. I was surprised that the out-going British Prime Minister, a classical scholar, graduate of Oxford’s Balliol College, would … Read more
One of my favorite go-to news sources is the BBC Daily News. Reading an account of a shooting in Norway not long ago, I came to this sentence: King Harald, Norway’s monarch, said him and his family were horrified. The BBC is an institution I have long admired. During the seven years I lived in … Read more