Grammar Nazis…Attack!

/ Sandy Smith

People, people.

advise
…is a VERB. I advise you on something by giving you my…
advice
…which is a NOUN. You would be well advised to take my advice on this.

And while we’re at it! Exclamation marks! They look kind of stupid (even in parenthetical remarks!) in business writing! Seriously!

2 thoughts on “Grammar Nazis…Attack!”

  2. No, the time that sent me over the edge was a business e-mail. However, I’ve seen it numerous times, even in supposedly edited material. So it’s not just this time that set me off.

    People took Alan Drury’s book Advise and Consent and mixed it up with “Advice and Consent” which appears in the US Constitution. He meant them as verbs (to advise and consent, not providing advice and consent). But it’s not just a typo. (I do forgive typos and even some other mistakes on IM.) It’s fundamentally not knowing the difference, and it sucks when allegedly college-educated native speakers can’t get it right–even when they have a chance to copy edit.

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