Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVAnyone can play along in a word game in an interactive column

Part I

In his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," T. S. Eliot wrote, "Let us go then, you and I/When the evening is spread out against the sky/Like a patient etherized upon a table."

In these opening lines, Eliot used poetic license and, in so doing, broke a grammar rule. Lying awake at midnight and silently repeating the words of his poem, an idea for an interactive column came to me. Good reader, the game will be played between you and I. Here's a clue: I have underlined each incorrect word.

Let us play then, you and me/When the newspaper is spread upon thy knee. Here are the rules: I'll incorporate mistakes in grammar (usage) in Part I of this column. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to search and destroy each error by making a correction. 

Begin your search in the first sentence of the first paragraph and stop at the end of Part I. Forget punctuation. 

These mistakes will only be found in word placements or word choices. Hopefully, this will be a fun activity, but most importantly, it will be informative.

Sitting in Wendy's one recent afternoon, a statement on a poster seized my attention. Here's a paraphrase of the statement: Our recipes are centered around all fresh ingredients. The words inferred that my burger would be fresh and juicy. 

You will find explanations of the errors in Part II. If I have missed any, I bet you'll let me know.

Part II

When T. S. Eliot wrote, "Let us go then, you and I," the poet used "I" because it rhymes with "sky."  Had he wanted to be correct, he would have used "me" because he had used "us" in the previous line; "us" and "me" are in the same cases and are used together. You can ignore the explanation if you wish. 

In the second sentence, there is no one named who is lying, so I have a dangling participle. An idea can't lie awake at night. The phrase "between you and I" is always incorrect. Between you and me is always correct. If you didn't know that and commit it to memory, this column will be worth a great deal to you.

Even novelists whose writing is for the most part excellent seem to fumble with respect to placing the word "only" in a sentence. I should have written "mistakes will be found only in word placements or word choices.

Avoid "hopefully" and avoid "fun" as an adjective, although in time that will probably be acceptable. Do not tack "ly" on important, for what we mean when we say "most important" is "what is most important." Therefore, avoid "importantly." As Delegate Danny Wells says, "It is not a valid word."

Sitting in Wendy's one afternoon, a statement on a poster seized my attention. Just as an idea can't lie awake at night, a poster was not sitting in Wendy's. Again, I have created a dangling participle. I should have written "Sitting in Wendy's one afternoon, I ..."

We do not want our participles to dangle in public. As for "centered around," to do so is impossible. We center on and revolve around something. Finally, the speaker or writer implies and those of us who listen or read draw conclusions or infer. 

A fine editor has told me several times that putting out a newspaper is somewhat like making sausage. Today, employees at newspapers work with skeleton crews and are responsible for a myriad of jobs. This was not true when papers were in their golden years, and a photographer was responsible only for photography. Now, when you see errors that copy editors overlook or make or errors that writers make, try to be kind and understanding. 

Rules of language usage have always come easily to me. That's my small niche in life, but I've never been, nor will I ever be, a linguistic snob. I would far rather chat with kind-hearted friends who use double negatives than uptight word wardens who travel with red pens at the ready to correct mistakes in newspapers, books, memos and letters.  Let us be gentle then, without rage/When words are spread out upon the page/Like bits of knowledge upon a table. 

Dolly Withrow is a retired English professor and the author of four books. She is a columnist for The Charleston Daily Mail and The State Journal.