Hyphens are Important

For one thing, hyphens make English more precise! When you have to tie two words together, such as with this compound adjective, use a hyphen!

Without the hyphen, the man is eating the octopus.

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Some collective nouns can be singular or plural depending on the context. Here’s an example:

But only about 10 percent of the deaths and casualties in a hurricane are caused by wind itself. The vast majority of damage and casualties are caused by flooding and storm surge flooding, river flooding, excessive precipitation, as well as the wind pushing those waters on shore.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13042024/meteorologists-predict-2024-hurricane-season/

“10 percent” is a plural, so no problem with “are caused” in that sentence. But look at the next one. The subject is “majority,” a singular collective noun. (“of damage and casualties” is the object of a preposition, so it doesn’t count.) Therefore, the verb should be singular, “is caused.”

This tendency to set singular or plural based on what’s closest regardless of its connection is called attraction. It’s legal in Latin, but not in English.

Here’s a picture that appeared with the article:

That title is misleading. Prepositons often have several meanings, and the title implies only one meaning. Shame on you, title!

Here’s a good example of multiple meanings for “with.”

Here the choice is with =”using” or with =”in the company of.” Got any other meanings of “with” handy? Put ’em in the comments.

Look up the phrase in the search box on the right. The clown is correct.

Just say “asks the question” to avoid the problem.

As usual in real life, the dog is smarter than the cat…

And in case you didn’t notice, the word is “acronym.”