January 20 at 10:47am
- Ayushman Baruah I remember I asked you this question in class once...a miscreant means an evil doer...and this word does exist. So is it really wrong to use it?January 20 at 11:33am
- Ramesh Prabhu Ayushman: Read veteran journalist Jyoti Sanyal's views on the subject: "Who's this 'miscreant'?": http://goo.gl/HWBGhJanuary 20 at 1:41pm
- Ramesh Prabhu Also, if you read my original rant, you will understand: Why are some (many?) of our newspapers so fond of using the non-specific and often inappropriate word "miscreant" in crime stories when there are perfectly serviceable equivalents, which are not only specific but also appropriate?January 20 at 1:44pm
- Ramesh PrabhuMy point, Ayushman, is that "miscreant" is not specific. In good writing, certainly in journalism, it is the specifics that enable easier and quicker understanding. How tall is a "tall" man? Get it?
Also, as you have pointed out, "miscreant"... means "evil-doer". Should we then write "A city corporator was shot dead by seven evil-doers on Sunday"? Absurd, isn't it?See MoreJanuary 20 at 7:46pm - Prashant Nahata Ramesh, after going thru your rants, on the appropriate use of the english language I feel as if I am attending a daily refresher's course.But please keep up the good work as the ilk of your students generation needs it and we guys also need to be periodically given primers for our own perusal.January 21 at 1:45am
- Prashant Nahata Feel scared of voicing our thoughts before you as we are more likely to be caught wrongfooted with the use of the "ENGLISH "languageJanuary 21 at 1:48am
*** - Ayushman Baruah @Ramesh: I knew about this and also follow it myself but I am not clear about the explanation. Can you help?January 25 at 6:11pm
- Shiv Sujir The usage of 'a' and 'an' depends on the vowel sound at the beginning of the word and not on the vowel itself.January 25 at 7:47pm
- Ramesh PrabhuAyushman: Shiv has got it.
For example, "unscrupulous" would take "an". "He is an unscrupulous man."
But "university" would take "a" because, phonetically, "university" begins with a "you" sound.
For more details (and additional clarity), go to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/591/1/. January 25 at 8:19pm
*** - Ramesh Prabhu Ayushman: "Use 'everyone' for people when you are talking about all of them ('Hello, everyone!'). Use 'every one' when you are talking about the collection of each individual person or thing (I bought a package of potato chips and every one was broken')." -- From http://www.english-test.ne
t/forum/ftopic34853.html January 27 at 1:22pm - Ramesh Prabhu "No one" is always two words now, though when I first became a journalist in 1981, the Mid Day reporters used to write it as "no-one".January 27 at 1:24pm
- Ramesh PrabhuAdditional notes:
The one-word modifier everyday and the two-word phrase every day are not interchangeable (despite store ads that say, "Lowest prices everyday" – incorrect).
Everyday (one word) is an adjective meaning "encountered or used typically or routinely; a synonym is ordinary.
Every day (two words) literally has the same meaning as "each day."
A simple way to test which is appropriate is to substitute "each day" in place of "every day / everyday." If "each day" works, we want to use every day (two words); if "each day" does not work, we want everyday. For example, "We have low prices every day" = "We have low prices each day"; therefore, every day is correct – and everyday is incorrect. On the other hand, since we may not correctly rephrase "This is an everyday event" as "This is an each day event," the one-word adjective everyday is correct. (From the net.)January 28 at 10:52am - Ayesha Tabassum Ramesh Sir... I don't know how to thank you enough... I too have corrected so many people every day... ;)January 28 at 3:11pm
BETTER: "[A city corporator] ... was shot [dead] by a seven member gang in broad daylight on Sunday...." (DNA, Jan. 17)
Read veteran journalist Jyoti Sanyal's views on the subject: "Who's this 'miscreant'?": http://goo.gl/HWBGh
Mini-rant: In the DNA report, it should be "a seven-member gang" -- the sub has left out the hyphen. Also, "broad daylight" is one of the oldest of cliches. Wouldn't "Sunday afternoon" have sufficed?