Jim Baumann
-
Grammar Moses: A February unthaw?Feb 26, 2024 12:30 pm - I know you’ve all been enjoying the balmy weather of late, despite all of the sports-related injuries caused as people shrug off their wintry cocoons to go hard on the go...
-
Grammar Moses: Ocaydoquay!Feb 18, 2024 12:05 am - I rarely dip my toe into the pronunciation pool because there is so much variety, much of it owing to the speaker’s place of birth and upbringing. However, if you’re one ...
-
Grammar Moses: Read this column, if you’re so inclinedFeb 09, 2024 12:21 pm - Is “vernacular” in your vernacular? While it was part of my mom’s, “funicular” wasn’t. Those mountain-climbing trains — and really anything that climbed higher than a fli...
-
Grammar Moses: Animal husbandry and youFeb 03, 2024 12:55 pm - Last week we were talking about shooting photos for a story about a family of foxes living in a Northwest suburban backyard. I made the point that it’s not often we’re ab...
-
Grammar Moses: I won’t buffalo you. We monkey with animal names all the timeJan 29, 2024 6:28 pm - Last week I wrote about animal names that also can be used as verbs. Merriam-Webster came up with a list of nine: ferret, fox, ape, parrot, weasel, rat, badger, snipe and...
-
Grammar Moses: Close, but no cigarJan 20, 2024 6:07 pm - I received a public relations dispatch recently that had nothing wrong with it, but it did remind me how similar words can work in a sentence. “Please find a press releas...
-
Grammar Moses: Upbraiding is not a good lookJan 13, 2024 1:43 pm - I once came across the word “upbraid” in my readings and smiled because teenage me saw this word differently. I confess that many years ago when I first saw the word comp...
-
Grammar Moses: Avoid cliches like the plagueDec 29, 2023 11:37 pm - “When do idioms devolve into clichés?” Tom Connelly writes. Tom’s question is an interesting one. His verb choice hints at one of the main differences between the two: Id...
-
Daily Herald opinion: When considering a pet, consider its suitability and your ability to care for itDec 22, 2023 6:41 am - Every so often we’ll publish a story about an exotic pet on the loose that leaves us all wondering what the owners of such a pet were thinking. The latest story started j...
-
Grammar Moses: Lowercase ‘iPhone’? A capital ideaDec 18, 2023 6:32 am - Riddle me this, grammarians: What do Amazon, Hulu, Citibank, Facebook, Macy’s, Lenovo, EBay and Android have in common? Each of their corporate identities actually begins...