Weekly, it seems, we are told that grammar standards are falling all over and we should just give in.
Nope. Not here!
1. "Hopefully" does not mean "I hope." It means "with hope." As in, "Tilda, you're going to bring those lemon cookies, aren't you?" the Young Relative asked hopefully.
2. "Impact" is not a verb unless you're talking about a bomb exploding; "impactful" is even worse. Use "influence" or "affect" and "influential" or "meaningful."
3."Is comprised of" does not make sense. "Comprise" means "consists of"; the whole comprises its parts. As in, "Downtown Unionville comprises the post office, the elementary school, the fire house, Catherine's, and the feed store (for a little while longer, at least)."
4. Sensitive readers may want to skip over this final one (I know at least two English teachers who are Tilda readers). In an editing project yesterday I came across this sentence: "In this chapter I shall attempt to center-stage the argument that..." I suggested to the author that "center-stage" is not really a verb, and perhaps "highlight" or "focus on" or "develop" might be better?
Eek! So glad you made that suggestion. I made a face when I read that sentence.
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