MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: taga tigbao on May 14, 2013, 01:08:12 PM
I am walking in a desert but I am drowning inside,
No river runs deeper than the tears in my eyes,

whatchamatta?  hehe, naunsa na man ning atong migo nga waxing poetic naman?  go, go, go, bai tigs!

he cannot, as yet anyway, pending results of a very thorough investigation on who was really at fault.  but taiwan gave a 72-hour deadline.  also, a thorough study is needed on the possibility that apologizing would strengthen china's claim to the same disputed areas.

i have no idea as to the extent of the sanction's possible damage (current world history shows that no sanction ever damaged any country), but who knows that it's just as well that we stop going there as domestic workers. 

they want it to come from our president himself.

Rescue workers rescue a woman, identified by Bangladeshi media only as Reshma, from the rubble of the Rana Plaza building 17 days after the building collapsed in Savar, Bandladesh. The disaster has killed more than 1,000 people.

http://www.voanews.com/

A child (L) watches a partial solar eclipse with a woman at the Sydney Observatory. Star-gazers were treated to an annular solar eclipse in remote areas of Australia with the moon crossing in front of the Sun and blotting out much of its light.

http://www.voanews.com/

Abu Dhabi Racing's Emirati driver Mohammed al-Sahlawi and his Irish co-driver Allan Harryman veer off a cliff during the first stage of the Jordan Rally, round three of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship, in Sweimeh near the Dead Sea. The drivers escaped unhurt. (Ho/Jordan Rally photo)

http://www.voanews.com/

10 May 2013


The Skywhale, a 34m-long, 23m-high hot-air balloon sculpture by internationally-renowned artist Patricia Piccinini, is seen during a test flight near Mt. Arapiles in the southern Australian state of Victoria. Commissioned for the Centenary of Canberra, Skywhale is at least twice as big as a standard hot-air balloon, weighs half a ton and used more than 3.5km of fabric. (Ho/Centenary of Canberra/Mark Chew/www.markchew.com.au photo)

http://www.voanews.com/

that means naa gyod diay gwapong martians ug saturnians ug uban pa diha.  di gyod diay angay mokompiyansa ang earthlings.

Quote from: balong on May 15, 2013, 06:47:39 PM
hubag,

do not exceed 100 posts for today

sincerely,
balong

at least, adjustable ang numero.

Quote from: balong on May 15, 2013, 06:44:34 PM
it's okey to play the role of peacemaker vhinz. but where were you when hubag was the one threatening me. gi ajo ajo ko ug kasaba kay nganong mag sigi ko ug post bahin sa kwarta ? so, puslan man atong padajonon ang atong dula. duwa duwa ra man ni ba. pawa sa kalaay. hubag is now playing my game whether he likes it or not.

so asa man ang posts ni hubag nga giajoajo kag kasaba?

The Philippines and Taiwan, as well as China, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, are embroiled in diplomatic rows over territory in the nearby South China Sea, potentially rich in oil and gas and criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes.

The disputes have sometimes escalated to confrontation between vessels. The Philippines and Taiwan have overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in waters to the Philippines north.

A Philippines fisheries official said one of its vessels, acting under the threat of being rammed, opened fire last Thursday on a Taiwanese fishing boat about 170 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan, killing one person on board.

The Philippines has expressed sympathy over what it called an "unfortunate" incident and promised to conduct an investigation, but has stopped short of an official apology.

(Reporting by Clare Jim and Christine Lu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ron Popeski)

http://au.news.yahoo.com/

After a high-level meeting, it added, Taiwan decided to immediately impose sanctions, including the recall of its envoy and a freeze on work permit applications.

More than 85,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan, many as domestic workers.

Further measures could also be imposed, Premier Jiang Yi-huah told reporters, including an end to visa-free access to Taiwan for Philippine nationals and stopping economic exchanges.

Separately, a Taiwan Defence Ministry official said military vessels and aircraft would be dispatched to the Bashi Channel, which divides Taiwan and the Philippines, to carry out a two-day military drill.

After a high-level meeting, it added, Taiwan decided to immediately impose sanctions, including the recall of its envoy and a freeze on work permit applications.

More than 85,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan, many as domestic workers.

Further measures could also be imposed, Premier Jiang Yi-huah told reporters, including an end to visa-free access to Taiwan for Philippine nationals and stopping economic exchanges.

Separately, a Taiwan Defence Ministry official said military vessels and aircraft would be dispatched to the Bashi Channel, which divides Taiwan and the Philippines, to carry out a two-day military drill.

Taiwan to sanction Philippines, send naval ships in fishing spat

Reuters
May 15, 2013


Antonio Basilio (R), the Philippines' representative to Taiwan, talks with Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (L) during a joint news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan on Wednesday recalled its envoy to the Philippines, froze applications for work permits and ordered military exercises in waters between the two sides to press its demand for an apology for the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman.

Taiwan earlier had issued an ultimatum to the Philippines to apologise to the family of the fisherman who died in a shooting last week by the Philippine Coast Guard in waters off the northern Philippines.

"Due to the Philippines government's insufficient ... sincerity and its inconsistency, President Ma Ying-jeou expresses strong dissatisfaction and he cannot accept the reckless and perfunctory responses from the Philippines," the Presidential Office said in a statement.

An island made for running laps. Off the coast of Indonesia. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/

Here is a closer view of Qingdao (Tsingtao). Much easier to see the bridge in this photo. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Thunderstorm from above. What animal do you see? (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Tonight's finale: The pall of smoke clouds over Australia, as seen from orbit. A rare view of the bushfires' effect. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Australia - the dryness creates colours and textures that make the Outback immediately recognizable from space. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Goose Bay, Happy Valley, Labrador. I flew CF-18s as an RCAF fighter pilot here. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

hehe, bilib ko kay wa sa list of banned names ang lollapalooza.

amen.

hahaha!  this is GREAT!  thanks for the feline grace, loll.  my cats thank you too for speaking for them.  meowwwww to the highest peak and the deepest deep, from the bottom of my heart...

Quote from: islander on May 15, 2013, 05:21:40 PMC J :1

loll, di dawaton sa new zealand ang imong gibunyag nako.

Here is a list of some the names banned in New Zealand since 2001 -- and how many times they came up:

Justice :62

King :31

Princess :28

Prince :27

Royal :25

Duke :10

Major :9

Bishop :9

Majesty :7

J :6

Lucifer :6

using brackets around middle names :4

Knight :4

Lady :3

using back slash between names :8

Judge :3

Royale :2

Messiah :2

T :2

I :2

Queen :2

II :2

Sir :2

III :2

Jr :2

E :2

V :2

Justus :2

Master :2

Constable :1

Queen Victoria :1

Regal :1

Emperor :1

Christ :1

Juztice :1

3rd :1

C J :1

G :1

Roman numerals III :1

General :1

Saint :1

Lord :1

.(full stop) :1

89 :1

Eminence :1

M :1

VI :1

Mafia No Fear :1

2nd :1

Majesti :1

Rogue :1

4real :1

* (star symbol) :1

5th :1

S P :1

C :1

Sargent :1

Honour :1

D :1

Minister :1

MJ :1

Chief :1

Mr :1

V8 :1

President :1

MC :1

Anal :1

A.J :1

Baron :1

L B :1

H-Q :1

Queen V :1

http://edition.cnn.com/

Not alone

To be sure, New Zealand is not the only country to act as editor for some parent's wacky ideas.

Sweden also has a naming law and has nixed attempts to name children "Superman," "Metallica," and the oh-so-easy-to-pronounce "Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116."

In 2009, the Dominican Republic contemplated banning unusual names after a host of parents began naming their children after cars or fruits.

In the United States, however, naming fights have centered on adults.

In 2008, a judge allowed an Illinois school bus driver to legally change his first name to "In God" and his last name to "We Trust."

But the same year, an appeals court in New Mexico ruled against a man -- named Variable -- who wanted to change his name to "F--- Censorship!"

Slipping through

Still, some quirky names do make it through.

In 2008, the country made made international news when the naming agency allowed a set of twins to be named "Benson" and "Hedges" -- a popular cigarette brand -- and OK'd the names "Violence" and "Number 16 Bus Shelter."

Asked about those examples, Michael Mead of the Internal Affairs Department (under which the agency falls) said, "All names registered with the Department since 1995 have conformed to these rules."

And what happens when parents don't conform?

Four years ago, a 9-year-old girl was taken away from her parents by the state so that her name could be changed from "Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii."

Specific rules

As the agency put it, acceptable names must not cause offense to a reasonable person, not be unreasonably long and should not resemble an official title and rank.

It's no surprise then that the names nixed most often since 2001 are "Justice" (62 times) and "King" (31 times).

Some of the other entries scored points in the creativity department -- but clearly didn't take into account the lifetime of pain they'd bring.

"Mafia No Fear." "4Real." "Anal."

Oh, come on!

Then there were the parents who preferred brevity through punctuation. The ones who picked '"*" (the asterisk) or '"."(period).

The country's Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages shared that growing list with CNN on Wednesday.

Four words:

What were they thinking?

In the past 12 years, the agency had to turn down not one, not two, but six sets of parents who wanted to name their child "Lucifer."

Also shot down were parents who wanted to grace their child with the name "Messiah." That happened twice.

"Christ," too, was rejected.

No, you can't call your baby Lucifer: New Zealand releases list of banned names

By Lateef Mungin, CNN
May 1, 2013


Our little bundle of joy. We're going to name you Mafia No Fear.

(CNN) -- Lucifer cannot be born in New Zealand.

And there's no place for Christ or a Messiah either.

In New Zealand, parents have to run by the government any name they want to bestow on their baby.

And each year, there's a bevy of unusual ones too bizarre to pass the taste test.

biliba uy.  mas sayon man diay ang inter-species kay sa israeli-palestinian peace talks.

my favorite tubagbohol thread.  like, thumbs up.

maglaway gyod hinoon ang moinom ani sa kahadlok ug kaluod.

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 15, 2013, 04:29:34 PM
He he, buthangi hang gatothoy...

mothshokoy esprikithik thagoykoy
mikitho mikithi rikithi mikithoy
ngok-ngok.

Quote from: Lollapalooza on May 15, 2013, 04:05:11 PM

meowwww.  i can believe this creation.  what i can't believe is that she (yes, she's a she) came from a beauty spa.  nag-bangs, goodness me!

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 15, 2013, 04:28:06 PM
There, fixed it! Thank you, my schoolmarmish BFF. So when I say "unggloy", I'm not speaking bad words, right?

hehe, thanks.  moguwas usahay ning sapot nato sa pagka-spelling beehive, sabta na lang ko, my sugar daddyish bff.  btw, bad word gihapon.  bisag lunggoy o goylung pa, maharas gihapon... mas maayo pa tong toyota ni bolbs didto sa laing thread.

Even from 400 km up you can sense the searing dryness of southern Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Key West, Florida. A fun place to rent a bike and see for yourself. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

The Australian bushfires, this one near Burrinjuck Dam. Look closely and you can see the flames from orbit. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Lava Carbuncle - an ancient intrusion of tough, hard rock in southwestern Africa. Quite likely also Namibia. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Sandstorm on the edge of farming country in the American Northwest. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 15, 2013, 04:00:30 PM
Would rather that the description be telescoped, as in drawfably presidentiable of presidentiaby dwarfish...

kuwang ug 'l' imong presidentiably.  utroha aron masabtan.

i hope the one wearing the skirt is not lolla.

unsa man diay ang angay natong kauwawan dinhi?

as for your two young musicians... unsa na nga level imong daughter sa iyang violin?  are her lessons classical or the suzuki method?  i studied closely her body posture and alignment of chin, shoulder, left leg, etc., bisag picture lang intawon.  i hope her back is fine and strong so she can keep on playing all her life.

the two still seem detached to what they're doing, which is how it should be at this stage anyway.  they can always emote later.  thanks for the music.       

great.  thanks, lorenz.

way giliatan ang community, from angels to singers to dancers to beauty queens to priests who give the clothes on their back.  nag-sentimental man hinoon ko aning gatan-aw.  when kaha ko makaapil-apil ug ingon ani...

hope that arm of yours is okay now, fr chic.  unsa man na?  stigmata?  jawk.   god's in his heaven and all's right with the world (thanks for this line, robert browning).

Quote from: chicogon on May 15, 2013, 06:27:21 AM


St. Genevieve Parishioners who joined us in the affair (note: my barong that I gave them (3 in all maski pang laki hehe)

angayan man pod. makasabot gyod kog baye nga ganahan ug barong kay sihag ug delicate tuod pero lig-on nga panapton.  the magic is in its being not what it seems.

sa europe sa una, lingaw gyod ko kun magpa-dry clean ug barong.  wa koy mahimo kay bisag gi-categorize nako ang barong with polo shirts, sila may magbuot nga blouse, na hala, nakabarato hinoon kog bayad.  uwaw baya palandungon nga mora kog taking advantage pero gitudloan man hinoon ko nga ang ngan kuno sa barong "bluse", kapoy nag lalis.

tadaaang... nitubag na gyod ang among gipaabot.  ani gid ang bonapis, bolbs?  gusto ko moadto unta.

A clearer view of Vancouver on a sunny day - can clearly see the ferry terminal, airport and many boats in the Inlet. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Tonight's finale: Full Moon rising. So near, and yet... (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Boston at night, glowing under a trace of fog. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

From seashells to galaxies to this storm, Nature loves spirals. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

The wondrously wildly beautiful surface of our world (near the Etosha Pan in Africa). (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

San Francisco Bay with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

From London on the Thames to the sea to the world, so much of history came from this brightly-lit city. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Arid fingers of sand-blasted rock look like they're barely holding on against the hot Saharan wind. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

How’s this for a view: An astronaut’s photo from space captures a unique perspective of the Colorado plateau along the Utah-Arizona border. The confluence of the Colorado and San Juan rivers can also be seen -â€" the silvery section is sunlight reflected from the water. --Claudine Zap (Image credit: NASA)

A night image of the greater New York City metropolitan area is seen in a NASA handout photo taken by a crew member onboard the Expedition 35 March 23, 2013. For orientation purposes, note that Manhattan runs horizontal through the frame from left to the midpoint and Central Park is just a little to the left of frame center. REUTERS/NASA/Handout

One quick look at our planet reminds me of the importance of Earth Day. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Looking out the windows of ISS, every day is Earth Day. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

You can see how high we are when you see how close this jet trail is to the ground. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Tonight's Finale: Boston, you're a beautiful harbor city. Hope your Bruins play a memorable game tonight vs the Leafs. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Canada rocks. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

aherm.

Clouds swoop in on Crimea, a white bird on the Black Sea. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Spaceships glowing blue in the dawn as we leave Florida headed across the Atlantic. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Tonight's Finale: The Moon rising over a bed of cloud. A constant reminder to us all of what can be achieved. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Dr. Seuss-inspired swirls in the Black Sea. (Photo by Chris Hadfield/Twitter)

Astronaut Chris Hadfield beamed back incredible photographs of Earth from aboard the International Space Station, where he had been stationed since March. Hadfield made his way back home to Earth on May 13. Here, some of his memorable images from space.

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 15, 2013, 10:57:03 AM
Ako kay mas taas baya ko og half inch kaysa Vice President...

how dwarfable and presidentiable naman of you...

Quote from: Votives on May 15, 2013, 10:45:45 AM
5'9" intawn ko oi..

cheer up.  qualified gihapon ka kay 6'4" man si snow white.

(sayang di ka qualified nga ma-presidente sa pinas.)

Quote from: Lollapalooza on May 15, 2013, 11:06:15 AM
aw dili pwede mag snow white ko kay in the first place, morena man ko tapos 5'2" ra intawn hahahahah

sugot lang, loll.  himoon unya kang cruel queen, maoy gidangat.

US Senator Joseph McCarthy
1908-1957

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the prospect of communist subversion at home and abroad seemed frighteningly real to many people in the United States. These fears came to defineâ€"and, in some cases, corrodeâ€"the era’s political culture. For many Americans, the most enduring symbol of this “Red Scare” was Republican Senator Joseph P. McCarthy of Wisconsin. Senator McCarthy spent almost five years trying in vain to expose communists and other left-wing “loyalty risks” in the U.S. government. In the hyper-suspicious atmosphere of the Cold War, insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many Americans that their government was packed with traitors and spies. McCarthy’s accusations were so intimidating that few people dared to speak out against him. It was not until he attacked the Army in 1954 that his actions earned him the censure of the U.S. Senate. (http://www.history.com/)

at a time when the u.s. suffered great paranoia over the red menace...

yes, the fuas are a political dynasty in siquijor as far as i can remember (and i happen to have a memory of three lifetimes ).

no, sorcery never works for siquijodnons themselves.  rather, it works only for idiot voters outside of siquijor, which means practically the rest of the philippines that voted some nincompoops into the senate.

naa pa gyoy picture... kahilakon ko nga nagtan-aw sa donkey.  stupid farmer.  great donkey.

"kawawa ang anak ko...", was how binay the father made a touchdown with the masses.  serves us right for not using our heads.

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 15, 2013, 10:47:53 AM
Dear CJ Islander,

Thank you for your concern. Please rest assured that your heartfelt advice is well-taken. You will not find me, in thunder or in rain, using this word, be it in endearment or otherwise. Not even with an M-16 pointed at me, forcing me to say this vile appellation, no.

With all my best wishes, swinging blithely I remain,

Yours faithfully,
Botoy

P.S. All this just made me realize, wistfully, that I should not have given up my seminary studies. Who knows, I could have become a primate by now.

there, there, good boy, botoy.  my heartfelt thanks.  you have my sympathy too.  for having been an ex future primate, you must be feeling the sting of missed opportunities, that missed foretaste of heaven when there would have been two of you--the other one being fr chic--who would have been tubagbohol's papabili.  this here homo erectus is truly sorry.

your bff,

islander aka angelina jolie aka macaca fascicularis   

DON'T LET THE BINAYS RULE THE COUNTRY!

the reason why i'm on abstinence from philippine news.  mobasa na lang ko bahin ni castro sa cleveland.  way swerte ni si castro.  pinoy pa siya ug nilansar, sigurado untang ma-senador pod siya.

Quote from: Votives on May 15, 2013, 10:42:06 AM
unggoy napud... hehe

kuhaan na lang kaha ni nako siya ug mirror?

my royal pet...

my royal zoo right behind my royal castle...

i'm more earthbound...

enter snow white.  behave, all of you, dwarfs.

Quote from: hubag bohol on May 15, 2013, 10:15:04 AM
Ungo o unggoy, naa ra sa duha...

ayaw na ana bi.  wa na tay unggoyay bi.  as you may know, naay mga sensitive intawon ug mga sensibilities nato dinhi. 

di man god tanan parehag kasingkasing ug mga engineers, por ehemplo sama ni vots ug piks o ni bugs ug bolbs nga mohisgot na gani dinhi ug brad pitt, kahibawo sila nga sila nay gipasabot.  no, life is not that way.

so this little request, lord hubag.  kung pwede lang sana, expunge the word unggoy from your vocabulary.  let it be auto-corrected.  translate it to latin if you must.  aron way hasol because, kun magkalisod, dalawang kuto ka lang.  just do it.

your bff,

islander aka angelina jolie aka macaca fascicularis     

wa may PHL.  lisod tingali pangitaon ang mga pagkaon nga mosibo.  maghuwat na lang ko sa united nations flag.

1. stylish cabinet na.  mahimo itindog, mahimo ihigda.

2. that's a treasure chest/cash register.  puno na ug $100-dollar bills.

3. we better ask bugsay.  tingali mao nay latest design ug tv stand.

Quote from: balong on May 15, 2013, 01:30:49 AM
mo adto na lang tingali ko sa russia. naa pay malipay maka kita naho.

please extend my regards to the brothers karamazov there.  palihog hapit na lang pod sa dagestan, puslan mang duol ka na didto unya.  regards sa gwapa nga ig-agaw sa mga brothers tsarnaev.

Quote from: balong on May 15, 2013, 01:26:43 AM
i dont agree with you on this point. decent people are not forced to read public posts.it is a matter of choice.

i will not lose my mind if nobody read my posts. i know islander is always reading them anyway

you are actually agreeing. whoever said anything about decent people being forced to read public posts?  i for one simply said that decent people must read, in reaction to your advice to vhinz not to read when he requested that this thread be closed.  between force and must is a distance that's way longer than the snout of a floridian crocodile.

yes, obviously islander reads your posts.  she doesn't have to enjoy them, but she reads anyway because she must, these being public posts.  for as long as my eyes don't tire and sting, i read all i can in this forum.  that includes of course some older posts of yours that kept repeating that only fools don't change their minds.  that made me curious; can a mind still be changed when it's no longer there? 

may the force be with you. 

-islander yoda

* Don't use begs the question. Instead use raises the question.

* Don't use phenomena or criteria as singular. Instead use phenomenon or criterion.

* Don't use cliché as an adjective. Instead use clichéd.

* Don't use comprised of. Instead use composed of/made up of.

* Don't use less for count nouns such people or miles. Instead use fewer.

* Don't use penultimate (unless you mean second to last). Instead use ultimate.

* Don't use lead as past tense of to lead. Instead use led.

I hesitate to state what should be obvious, but sometimes the obvious must be stated. So here goes: Do not use it's, you're or who's when you mean its, your or whose. Or vice versa!

http://theweek.com/

7. Words

As I noted in my previous article, the meaning of words inevitably and perennially change. And you can get in trouble when you use a meaning that has not yet been widely accepted. Sometimes it's fairly easy to figure out where a word stands in this process. It's become more common to use nonplussed to mean not bothered, or unfazed, but that is more or less the opposite of the traditional meaning, and it's still too early to use it that way when you're writing for publication. (As is spelling unfazed as unphased.) On the other hand, no one thinks anymore that astonish means "turn to stone," and it would be ridiculous to object to anyone who does so. But there are a lot of words and expressions in the middle. Here's one man's list of a few meanings that aren't quite ready for prime time:

6. The semicolon

I sometimes say that when you feel like using a semicolon, lay lie down till the urge goes away. But if you just can't resist, remember that there are really only two proper uses for this piece of punctuation. One is to separate two complete clauses (a construction with a subject and verb that could stand on its own as a sentence). I knocked on the door; no one answered. The second is to separate list items that themselves contain punctuation. Thus, The band played Boise, Idaho; Schenectady, New York; and Columbus, Ohio.

Do not use a semicolon in place of a colon, for example, There is only one piece of punctuation that gives Yagoda nightmares; the semicolon.

Danglers are inexplicably attractive, and even good writers commit this error a lot... in their first drafts. Here's a strategy for smoking these bad boys out in revision. First, recognize sentences that have this structure: MODIFIER-COMMA-SUBJECT-VERB. Then change the order to: SUBJECT-COMMA-MODIFIER-COMMA-VERB. If the result makes sense, you're good to go. If not, you have a dangler. So in the first sentence above, the rejiggered sentence would be:

The bra, sitting in a class or dancing at a bar, performed well.

Nuh-uh. The solution here, as it often is, is just to add a couple of words: Whether you're sitting in a class or dancing at the bar, the bra performs well.

5. The 'dangling' conversation

In a class, I once assigned students to "review" a consumer product. One student chose a bra sold by Victoria's Secret. She wrote:

Sitting in a class or dancing at the bar, the bra performed well…. Though slightly pricey, your breasts will thank you.

The two sentences are both guilty of dangling modifiers because (excuse me if I'm stating the obvious), the bra did not sit in a class or dance at the bar, and "your breasts" are not slightly pricey.

There's a similar attraction to using the subject instead of object. Even Bill Clinton did this back in 1992 when he asked voters to give Al Gore and I [instead of me] a chance to bring America back. Or you might say, Thanks for inviting my wife and I, or between you and I… Some linguists and grammarians have mounted vigorous and interesting defenses of this usage. However, it's still generally considered wrong and should be avoided.

A word that's recently become quite popular is myself â€" maybe because it seems like a compromise between I and me. But sentences like Myself and my friends went to the mall or They gave special awards to Bill and myself don't wash. Change the first to My friends and I… and the second to Bill and me.

4. Pronoun problems

Let's take a look at three little words. Not "I love you," but me, myself and I. Grammatically, they can be called object, reflexive, and subject. As long as they're by themselves, object and subject don't give anyone problems. That is, no one who's an adult native English speaker would say Me walked to the bus stop or He gave the book to I. For some reason, though, things can get tricky when a pronoun is paired with a noun. We all know people who say things like Me and Fred had lunch together yesterday, instead of Fred and I... Heck, most of us have said it ourselves; for some reason, it comes trippingly off the tongue. We also (most of us) know not to use it in a piece of writing meant to be published. Word to the wise: Don't use it in a job interview, either.

3. Verb problems

There are a few persistent troublemakers you should be aware of.

* I'm tired, so I need to go lay lie down.

* The fish laid lay on the counter, fileted and ready to broil.

* Honey, I shrunk shrank the kids.

* In a fit of pique, he sunk sank the toy boat.

* He seen saw it coming.

(The last three are examples of verbs where people sometimes switch the past and participle forms. Thus, it would be correct to write: I have shrunk the kids; He had sunk the boat; and He had seen it coming.)

2. Bad parallelism

This issue comes up most often in lists, for example: My friend made salsa, guacamole, and brought chips. If you start out by having made cover the first two items, it has to cover subsequent ones as well. To fix, you usually have to do just a little rewriting. Thus, My friend made salsa and guacamole and brought chips to go with them.

1. The subjunctive

This one is pretty simple. When you're writing about a non-true situation â€" usually following the word if or the verb wish â€" the verb to be is rendered as were.

So:

* If I was were a rich man.

* I wish I was were an Oscar Mayer wiener.

* If Hillary Clinton was were president, things would be a whole lot different.

If you are using if for other purposes (hypothetical situations, questions), you don't use the subjunctive.

* The reporter asked him if he were was happy.

* If an intruder were was here last night, he would have left footprints, so let's look at the ground outside.

Nevertheless, anyone who wants to write in a public setting has to be aware of grammar. (And I'm concerned with writing here; talking is a whole different ballgame.) If you make these errors, you're likely to be judged harshly by an editor you want to publish your work; an executive who, you hope, will be impressed enough by your cover letter to hire you; or a reader you want to be persuaded by your argument. In each case, there's a pretty easy workaround, so better safe than sorry.

7 grammar rules you really should pay attention to

Semicolons should be used rarely, if at all. And beware dangling modifiers!

By Ben Yagoda


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These rules were not meant to be broken.

I recently wrote an article for TheWeek.com about bogus grammar "rules" that aren't worth your time. However, there are still plenty of legitimate rules that you should be aware of. Not following them doesn't make you a bad person or even (necessarily) a bad writer. I'm sure that all of them were broken at one point or another by Henry James, Henry Adams, or some other major author named Henry. Moreover, grammar is one of the least pressing problems when it comes to the poor state of writing today. In my new book, How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them, things like wordiness, poor word choice, awkwardness, and bad spelling â€" which have nothing to do with grammar â€" take up the bulk of my attention.