Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Common Mistakes Part II

Common mistakes (part 2)
That everybody makes (including you)
The kind that make grammarians say
"Give me a break!"

(Confusing disinterested and uninterested)

Disinterested means objective
Like a judge who's just and fair
While someone who's uninterested
Is someone who just does not care

(Misspelling bizarre)

B I Z A R R E
Means as strange as strange can be
B A Z A A R
Is a marketplace where you might spend a dinar

(Imply or infer?)

If I say "Dad's angry with you!"
I'm implying you should hide
If you go hide in the closet
You've inferred what I implied

(Immensity or enormity?)

Use the word immensity
For things of great size or intensity
Enormity should not be used
Unless great evil is accused

(Eminent or imminent?)

Eminent with an E
Means as respected as can be
Imminent with an I
Means "It's going to happen in the wink of an eye"

Common mistakes (part 2)
That everybody makes (including you)
The kind that make grammarians say
"Give me a break!"

by Tom Meltzer ©The Princeton Review

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Tomorrow is Election Day

Tomorrow our great nation
A president will choose
Then with great anticipation
It will watch the tv news

To see who's our next president
Obama or McCain
Whoever wins, some folks will love
While others will disdain

For months and months we have endured
A campaign that was vicious
The insults flew both fast and hard
Both sides were quite malicious

They lied about one another
What they said was pure slander
Then they'd turn around and promise voters everything
That's what you call a pander

But soon it will be over
And we'll see how it ends
The victor and the also-ran
Will shake hands and be friends

Yes, we will watch attentively
All of the news transmissions
And then on Wednesday we'll return
To ignoring politicians

by Tom Meltzer ©The Princeton Review