The file is overflowing, so we’ll go straight to this week’s grab bag of grammar, style and other missteps from recent editions of The Times, compiled with help from colleagues and readers.
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The S.E.C. does not have the authority to issue subpoenas to obtain customer information from foreign banks and brokerage firms like it does in the United States, and it will have to rely on foreign regulators who may be unwilling to push hard to obtain the records.
In formal writing, avoid this colloquial use of “like†as a conjunction. Make it “as it does.â€
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As formerly boho environs of Brooklyn become unattainable due to creeping Manhattanization and seven-figure real estate prices, creative professionals of child-rearing age â€" the type of alt-culture-allegiant urbanites who once considered themselves too cool to ever leave the city â€" are starting to ponder the unthinkable: a move to the suburbs.
From The Times’s stylebook
due to. Careful writers avoid this phrase unless due functions as an adjective, with a specific noun to modify: The shutdown was due to snow (with shutdown as the modified noun). But not The schools were closed due to snow; make it because of snow instead. As a test, mentally ask each time: “What was due to an illness [or an emergency, etc.]†If the sentence offers no single noun to answer the what question, use because of. At the start of a sentence (notably the infamous Because of an editing error), the needed phrase is nearly always because of.
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On Tuesday, that trend took another strange turn when Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, firmed a deal to rename its football building GEO Group Stadium.
Make it “firmed up.â€
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The Sistine Chapel may be off-limits, but not Raphael’s papal rooms, like that of Heliodorus.
The stylebook wants no hyphen in this expressi! on except as a preceding modifier.
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When it comes to this recent crop of historically informed movies, these eternal conundrums have been intensified by an acute contemporary anxiety about the truth that has less to do with how rightly or wrongly “Argo,†for instance, gets its facts than with the crumbling monopolies on the truth held by institutions like the government and the press.
These should be adjectives â€" you get the facts right, not rightly.
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On the day they were granted a free-agent audience with the self-styled King, a wheelchair-bound Donnie Walsh, their team president at the time, came away with the intuitive clarity that James would never set up shop at Madison Square Garden.
His temporary need for a wheelchair was in the news when this meeting took place nearly three years ago, but the use of “wheelchair-bound†in this article is irrelevant, and potentially misleading.
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Joseph Frank, whose magsterial, five-volume life of Fyodor Dostoevsky was frequently cited among the greatest of 20th-century literary biographies, alongside Richard Ellmann’s of James Joyce, Walter Jackson Bate’s of John Keats and Leon Edel’s of Henry James, died on Wednesday in Palo Alto, Calif.
The stylebook prefers “Dostoyevsky,†with a Y. (In citing the title of the biography, we should use the author’s spelling, but in other references, use Times style.)
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The Obama administration is weighing how directly to confront China over hacking as it escalates demands that Beijing halt the state-sponsored attacks it insists it is not mounting.
The shifting antecedent for “it†makes this very hard to read.
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The reports, which the Vatican has vehemently refuted, touch on some of the most vexing issues of Benedict’s nearly eight-year reign, including a new round of accusations of child ! sexual ab! use by priests and international criticism of the Vatican Bank’s opaque record-keeping.
From the stylebook:
rebut, refute. Rebut, a neutral word, means reply and take issue. Refute goes further, and often beyond what a writer intends: it means disprove, and successfully. Unless that is the intention, use rebut, dispute, deny or reject.
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The New York Times Company said Monday it was planning to rename The International Herald Tribune, its 125-year-old newspaper based in Paris, and would also unveil a new Web site designed for international audiences.
Use “that†after “Monday†to make it clear that the time element goes with “said,†not “it was planning.â€
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Time Inc. executives tend toward lunches at Michael’s, where the dry-aged steak is a highlight, and after-work cocktails at the Lamb’s Club.
No apostrophe; it is the Lambs Club. Easy to check.
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<>Mr. Rowell died in a plane crash in 2002, but his “Last Light on Horsetail Fall†remains the
most well-known photograph of the apparition.
There’s a word for “most well,†and it’s “best.†Make it “best-known.â€
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“But my kids aren’t influenced by a national debate,†she added. “They just say, ‘Discrimination isn’t okay.’â€
The stylebook says “O.K.â€
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“I’m feeling pretty good,†I said.
“You are 66-years old.â€
Another unwanted hyphen.
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Is it unethical for a therapist to project their cultural values onto her client
Singular “therapist,†plural “their,†singular “her.†Make it all singular or all plural.
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Other security firms that have tracked “Comment Crew†say they also believe the group is state-sponsored, and a recent classified National Intelligenc! e Estimat! e, issued as a consensus document for all 16 of the United States intelligence agencies, makes a strong case that many of these hacking groups are either run by army officers or are contractors working for commands like Unit 61398, according to officials with knowledge of its classified content.
To be parallel, make it “either are run by army officers or are contractors.†(And while we’re at it, let’s break up this overstuffed sentence.)
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That e-mail, from Hussein Mortada, a Lebanese journalist who runs coverage of Syria for the Iranian government’s satellite news channels, complained that the government was not heeding directions he had received “from Iran and Hezbollah,†the Lebanese militant group, about who Syria should blame for bomb attacks.
Make it “whom,†the object of “should blame.â€
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As a result, the sense of urgency from earlier budget fights, which included all-night meetings and duling news conferences at the White House and on Capitol Hill, have given way to more of a business-as-usual feeling in the West Wing.
Agreement problem. Make it “has given way.â€
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With Mr. Hagel, whose nomination is set for a Senate vote the week of Feb. 25, he said his request for financial disclosures were backed by 24 other senators.
And another. Make it “his request … was backed.â€
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EHarmony, whose claims that its algorithm can help people find their soul mates was criticized by academics, offers a defense.
And yes, another. Make it “claims … were criticized.â€
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The St. Paul’s Avenue area was landmarked in 2004.
The stylebook discourages using “landmark†as a verb. Make it, “The St. Paul’s Avenue area was designated a landmark in 2004.â€
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Medical experts say that portrayal is inaccurate, and that studies pr! ovide str! ong evidence that the most commonly used pills do not hinder implantation, but work by delaying or preventing ovulation so that an egg is never fertilized in the first place, or thicken cervical mucus so sperm have trouble moving.
This sentence runs off the track with too many complex ideas. Break it up.
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Ms. Sengupta had, in fact, submitted many phony documents.
The stylebook says “phony†is colloquial and suggests synonyms: for example, counterfeit, fake, false, forged.
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At least one death has been attributed to the storm, which began early Wednesday in some areas â€" a two-car crash Wednesday that killed a 19-year-old woman in southeast Nebraska.
The dash here creates a disjointed, run-on effect. “Two-car crash†seems to refer back to “one death,†making it a sort of dangler. Better to split it into two sentences.
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On her day off, Britton had clipped up her famous hair (the subject of not only itsown admiring tumblr but also Twitter hashtags like #conniebrittonshair).
Uppercase the name of the site Tumblr, which is also a trademark.
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Heinz is the latest in a long list of prominent American companies that have significantly reduced, or all together eliminated, their presence in the Pittsburgh area, including erstwhile giants like U.S. Steel and Gulf Oil, which were among the nation’s 10 largest in 1955, according to David Hounshell, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
“Altogether†for the adverb, not “all together.â€
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Officials estimate that less than half of Hoboken residents evacuated before the storm. The city, without cellphone or landline communication or electricity, relied on volunteers to ferry pots of water to high-rise buildings, and bring prescriptions to elderly people too afraid to venture through dark hallways.
“Fewer,†not “less,†and “tak! e,†not! “bring.â€
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Many Vatican watchers suspect the cardinals will choose someone with better management skills and a more personal touch than the bookish Benedict, someone who can extend the church’s reach to new constituencies, particularly to the young people of Europe, for whom the church is now largely irrelevant, and to Latin America and Africa, where evangelical movements are fast encroaching.
Smoother to use “that†after “suspect.†From the stylebook:
that (conj.). After a verb like said, disclosed or announced, it is often possible to omit that for conciseness: He said he felt peaked. But if the words after said or any other verb can be mistaken for its direct object, the reader may be momentarily led down a false trail, and that must be retained: The mayor disclosed that her plan for the rhubarb festival would cost $3 million.
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[Caption] People watched a television broadcast reporting on Norh Korea’s nuclear test at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on Tuesday.
Watch where you put those prepositional phrases. The nuclear test, fortunately, was not at a railway station in Seoul.
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The deal accelerated a sales process that was expected to take several more years.
Tense error. We meant “had been expected†to take several more years. It’s done now.
