The Angry Grammarian

by Jeffrey Barg

I find it interesting that you treat band names as plural. Would you kindly weigh in on “Congress”? How about “society” (as an organization)? I can find plenty of examples from 19th-century correspondence and literature that record examples of plural societies; e.g., “The Society wish to express … ”

The problem with band names is that there are just as many times when it sounds better to make them plural (“AG and the Ellipses—coming soon to the Angry Grammarian podcast!—are my favorite band”) as there are singular (“The band Grammar Debate! is better”). It’s one of those instances where there’s no hard and fast rule, so we have to make one. PW, going with popular sentiment, chooses plural.

“Congress,” on the other hand, always acts as a singular body … much like, say, an actual body. You wouldn’t say, “My body get tan at the beach”; you’d use “gets” unquestionably. “Congress” functions the same way.

As for “society,” note what you said: “19th-century correspondence and literature.” Language has moved on, we’ve moved on, and so should you.

Preposition Prep

Gather ’round, danglers! Copy Editor newsletter is hosting a 90-minute interactive audio conference. It’s less fun when you can’t see your fellow nerds face to face, but “Grammar Bugbears: Modifiers and Prepositions” shouldn’t disappoint. (Please oh please let there be a modifier fight.)

It’s hosted by Copy Editor editor Wendalyn Nichols, who promises to give listeners the tools to successfully fight their editors on why it’s okay to split an infinitive. In other words, essential life skills.

Dial in at 11:30 a.m. Tues., June 26. Go to www.mcmurry.com for details.

Pod People

Speaking of essential life skills, more can be gleaned from the brand-new Angry Grammarian podcast, now available for download. This week: Can you correctly spell “Skool-kill” (as in, the river and expressway)? No peeking at the editor’s column for the answer.

See how many others were able to pass our one-word spelling bee in this week’s podcast.

Coming in future weeks: an interview with Rotten English editor Dohra Ahmad, Philadelphians’ grammatical pet peeves, and grammatical musical performances by AG and the Ellipses!

• Subscribe to The Angry Grammarian Podcast.
• Listen to the first episode.