It’s been a long time since I delved into the world of grammar, or more accurately, the mechanics of writing in this blog. As copy chief for a group of magazines for nine years, I learned a great deal about mechanical niceties that contribute to the craftsmanship of articles. In all media, I constantly encounter bastardizations of words, inappropriate usage, non-standard punctuation, grammar errors, and redundancies. This blog is a way of exorcising my frustrations over such trivialities. You might find it useful. Just don’t become anally retentive like I (yes I, not me. Think: like I am, not like me am).

I can’t list all of them, with examples, in one article, but will deal with a few of the most common or most egregious.

In the egregious category, here’s one that pops up occasionally. From a Weiss investment newsletter in December 2023 (did I say it has been a long time) comes this sentence: “This small Chicago company runs AI tools to pour over huge reams of data …” That begs the question: What are these tools pouring over these data? Not coffee or orange juice, I hope. A word to the copywriter of this article is in order. The word hesh (my unpatented gender-neutral pronoun) wanted was “pore.”

See if you can spot the error in this sentence from a stock investment newsletter adviser: “Millionaire tech investor, Luke Lango predicted the global domination of AI back in 2021 …” Among the many writing foibles The Grammar Grouch chafes at, this one is perhaps the most annoying. Don’t copywriters ever notice how journalists address the comma situation with adjectives before a name? These adjectives should be treated as titles, with no comma before or after the name. You wouldn’t write: “Current President, Donald Trump, has made positive changes.” Right? I suppose if you’re a MAGA person you might, but when (not if) you experience the effects of his inflationary policies, I doubt you will. But I digress into the political arena.

Obviously, the sentence pertaining to the president should contain no commas. If the definite article “The” preceded “current,” yes, those commas would be appropriate. The president, (who is) Donald Trump, has made …” Applying this principle to the example addressed, “Millionaire tech investor, Luke Lango, predicted …,” the phrase would be “Millionaire tech investor Luke Lango predicted …”But if the indefinite article “a” preceded Millionaire tech investor, the commas would be needed: “A millionaire tech investor, Luke Lango, predicted …”

The only media where I find this punctuation issue properly handled are newspapers and magazines. (And yes, “media” is plural, although it’s almost universally treated as singular these days.)

One more, the redundancy “help.” Dr. Frank Shallenberger wrote this on Feb. 28 about liver spots that occur with aging: “Licorice root can also help improve the appearance of age spots.” I don’t know how that works – maybe you just rub licorice over the spots to get a polka dot effect that looks like intentional decoration, such as with a tattoo or a ring in the nose. The point is that “help” is unnecessary. “Improve” suffices quite well, thank you. Thus: “Licorice root can also improve the appearance of age spots.”

Similarly, this note to authors from the BookSweeps promotion service: “We believe this new process will help simply prize distribution.” The process simplifies prize distribution; it’s that simple. “Help” is superfluous.

This example of excess word use is epidemic. Here are other instances.

This one is from Review Scout on Feb. 15: “Through their single clinical study, the manufacturer claims that Prevagen helps improve cognitive function and memory.” Aside from Consumer Lab’s finding that the supplement has little cerebral effect, the claim can do without “helps,” whereupon “improve” would become “improves.” By the way, the allusion to the manufacturer should use the possessive pronoun “its” rather than “their”: “its single clinical study.”

Another, from a Feb. 18 promotional email by Dr. Al Sears: “The ‘Sugar Destroyer’ can help promote healthy blood sugar.” That anti-sugar warrior sounds pretty powerful to me, and doesn’t need any help.

Review Scout was in a generous mood Feb. 15, with a double dose of assistance: “On the other hand, supplementing choline into your daily regimen can help improve memory and attention in healthy adults. Also, taking choline may help reduce the changes in the brain.” The writer apparently felt “improve” and “reduce” needed help with their services.

But in the category of redundancy, one phrase tops them all, at least in frequency: “any given.” We’ll attack that one in a later letter.