Getting Things Right

I often show mistakes in writing and use them as starting points for how to do it correctly. Here are a few places where they did it right!

One of my favorite things to complain about is the expression “begs the question.” It’s a logical fallacy in which someone offers the conclusion as evidence for the conclusion! Usually people use the expression to mean something completely different: “begs us to ask the question.” Or in this case, “…raises the question.”

I recommend you follow the link. It’s the one for May 17. When you get there, click the British flag in the upper left corner. The essay is too long to include here. So if you think a topic is begging you to ask (or raise) a question, say that.

I recently mentioned the problem of people misusing “affect” and “effect.” Here’s an example of using “effect” as a verb, meaning “to cause,” correctly. (Most of the time “effect” is a noun, meaning “a result.”)

Finding out who they are, and where they come from, is a quest being taken up by a handful of vocal advocates slowly effecting a change. Deborah Halber reports.

It’s in an article on Digg about identifying bodies.

Another one I love to hate is the expression “the exception proves the rule.” I haven’t seen anyone getting this right; I’ll put it in a post when I do.