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Better English 47
Timely Communications Tips
June 10, 2010
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WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES
-- EVEN THE PRESDENT SLIPS UP
-- THE VICE PRESIDENT STUMBLES TOO

Don't think that you should crawl under a rock after you've made a mistake with the language. Our top elected officials--who understand better than most how important communication is--make a boo-boo also.


EVEN THE PRESDENT SLIPS UP
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Of course I refer to Barack Obama, and not George Bush, who, responding to a question at the end of his term, declared that he had never made a mistake.

So here is President Obama at Hampton University's commencement. He said that the nation must "offer every single child in this country an education that will make them competitive in our knowledge economy."

His speechwriter should have realized that the subject, "child," requires the singular pronoun, "him" or "her," referring to one person rather than many. No single child can eat "their" cake or obey "their" parents or fail "their" test.

He or she cannot be a they.

Maybe the speechwriter wanted to be politically correct and was afraid to use "his/her"--that awful combination. So why not use "her" rather than "him"?


THE VICE PRESIDENT STUMBLES TOO
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Vice President Joseph Biden spoke at the ceremony after the coal miners' disaster. He said that the nation would come to account for the safety conditions that led to the disaster.

"Certainly," he maintained, "no one should have to sacrifice their life for their livelihood."

I'm sure that he and the president don't use the same speechwriter. But the error is similar. The subject is singular, but the pronoun is plural.

Correctly, it should be that no one should have to sacrifice "his" life for "his" livelihood."

Or to keep the plural form, "People" or "miners" should not have to sacrifice "their" lives.

Yours sincerely,
Barry Beckham


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