When you live and work in Oklahoma, a fair amount of the writing you do is bound to be about weather. After all, as the state's own Will Rogers once famously said: If you don't like the weather in Oklahoma, wait a minute and it'll change." Anyone who has lived here knows that weather can be big news in the Sooner state, so you can imagine how … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Is it Freshman or Freshmen?
My student editor scurried across the hall from the Newsroom to my office, holding a proof of a newspaper page. "Is it the freshmen class or the freshman class," she asked. "Freshman," I responded with confidence. She nodded her head and started back across the hall. But, wait! Was that correct? Suddenly freshmen sounded right too. "Wait! … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Using A or An
It's just a single letter, but the differences regarding when to use a or an can be confusing. Most of us learned to use an before words that start with vowels and use a everywhere else. For example, She ate an apple. I want a prize. Honestly, this is a pretty good rule, and will serve you well most of the time. The problem arises when … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Using Its Correctly
This Nerd Note addresses one of my biggest pet peeves—the inappropriate use of the possessive its. It's means it is or it has. For example, It's cold outside. There is no possessive form of its. So, unless you mean it is or it has, you never use the apostrophe with its. For example, Is the sock with its mate? Remember that … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Writing Web Words
We don't really call the Internet the World Wide Web anymore, but we do still write a lot of web-related words. For example, website, webcam, webcast, and webmaster all are one word. If you are including a website's address (URL) in a story, use the entire address. For example, https://www.profkrg.com. But Web is capitalized when referring to … [Read more...]
Nerd Notes: Please Submit Your RSVP
It's one of my favorite times of year. It's time for warm drinks and festivities with friends. It's time for holiday parties! Chances are you'll be attending them, hosting them and probably even writing about them. If you're a good guest, you'll RSVP so your host knows you're planning to attend and can plan accordingly. RSVP is the … [Read more...]
Nerd Note: Writing about Media
Media are supposed to report the news, not be the news. But every once in a while you find yourself writing about them anyway. When you do, a question is likely to arise about whether media is singular or plural. In other words, for example, do you write "media is" or "media are" when you're writing about media? The answer is pretty simple, … [Read more...]