November 18, 2024
Graduate College or Graduate From College?
TOPICS: GRADUATE COLLEGE VS GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE, GRAMMAR, TRANSITIVE VS. INTRANSITIVE VERBSShe graduated from Harvard in 2005.
She graduated Harvard in 2005.
Harvard graduated her in 2005.
Which of these is right? To understand the answer, you need two tools at the ready: 1. an understanding of transitive vs. intransitive verbs, and 2. a dictionary.
Here's how to find answers for yourself about verbs like "graduate." But for those who'd prefer a quick answer, here it is: the dictionary allows all three.
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'Wrack' and 'rack'
Posted by June on November 11, 2024LABELS: GRAMMAR, WRACK VS RACK
Do you wrack your brain or rack it?
Are you racked with guilt or wracked?
Are these questions nerve-wracking or nerve-racking?
Faced with these questions, I forget what I once learned. Rather than get it wrong or (heaven forbid) take the time to look it up, I just avoid these phrases altogether.
Turns out, that’s not a bad strategy. Though their origins point to different meanings, “wrack” and “rack” are often interchangeable today. But folks who choose their words carefully might want to keep the original meanings in mind.
“Rack” originates from a noun referring to a Medieval torture device, with the verb evolving to mean torture, strain or wreck. “Wrack” was born as a nautical term meaning, essentially, “wreck.”
“This etymology explains why the word is ‘nerve-racking’ rather than ‘nerve-wracking,’” insists Theodore Bernstein’s 1965 guide “The Careful Writer.” “Something that is nerve-racking does not wreck the nerves, it merely strains or tortures them.”
“Wrack,” by this reasoning, isn’t very useful — limited mainly to talk of ships and things that can be similarly wrecked: like a “storm-wracked vessel” or, from that, “wrack and ruin.”
Beware any usage guide that, like Bernstein, speaks in absolutes. Sometimes, their prohibitions are correct. But more often, the writer is a little drunk with power, demanding that good advice be treated as a hard rule.
In the real world, “rack” and “wrack” aren’t so simple. For more than a century, leading language experts have been doling out contradictory advice. Some, like Bernstein, say to keep these words separate and true to their origins.
Others say “wrack” is dead and to just use “rack” no matter your meaning. Though “wrack” is most certainly not dead (in fact, it has gotten a little more popular in the last 30 to 40 years), it wouldn’t be so bad to follow this advice. After all, how often do you talk about ships destroyed by storms?
Still other authorities, notably the official style guide of the New York Times, say to avoid both words and instead just find a more modern synonym. So what'a a conscientious writer to do? Some thoughts in my recent column.
- Graduate College or Graduate From College?
November 18, 2024 - Can 'Apropos' Mean 'Appropriate'?
November 11, 2024 - 'Wrack' and 'rack'
November 11, 2024 - 'Loan' vs. 'Lend'
November 4, 2024 - The 'idiot's apostrophe' makes headlines in Germany
November 4, 2024
June Casagrande is a writer and journalist whose weekly grammar/humor column, “A Word, Please,” appears in community newspapers in California, Florida, and Texas. more
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- #AMWRITING
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- AND
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- AP STYLE
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- beg the question
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- ben zimmer
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- BIG WORDS
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- Bristol Punctuation Vigilante
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- compound adjectives
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- copy editin
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- COULD CARE LESS VS COULDN'T CARE LESS
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- DIRECT OBJECTS
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- DO'S AND DON'TS
- done vs finished
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- DOUBLE NEGATIVE
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- DREAMED VS DREAMT
- DUMMY OPERATOR
- EASILY CONFUSED WORDS
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- EDITING NOTES
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- ellipses
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- enormity
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- ERRANT APOSTROPHES
- ETYMOLOGY
- EVACUATE
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- EXCLAMATION POINT
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- father's day
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- FLOUNDER VS FOUNDER
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- FRAUGHT VS FRAUGHT WITH
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- Fused Participle
- GAUNTLET GANTLET
- GENERIC PRONOUN ONE
- GET
- GIFT BOOKS
- GIFT GUIDE
- GOER
- GOOD AND WELL
- GOOD SENTENCES
- GOOD THINGS COME TO HIM WHO WAITS
- GOOD VS WELL
- GOODNESS SAKE
- GOT VS. HAVE
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- GRADUATE COLLEGE OR GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE
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- GRAMM
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- GRAMMAR TERMS
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- GRAY VS GREY
- GREAT AND WELL
- GREATLY
- GREETING
- GRMMAR
- GROGNARD
- HANGED VS HUNG
- HANUKKAH
- HARK
- HARKEN
- HARSH WRITING ADVICE
- HAVE GOT
- HAVE GOT VS HAVE
- HE OR HIM
- HEADQUARTER AS A VERB
- HEADQUARTERED
- HEALTH CARE HYPHENATED
- HEALTHCARE VS HEALTH CARE
- HEALTHFUL
- HEALTHY
- HEARKEN
- HELTER SKELTER
- HERE'S BEFORE A PLURAL
- HERE'S VS HERE ARE
- HISTORIC VS HISTORICAL
- HOI POLLOI
- HOME IN VS HONE IN
- HOMO SAPIEN VS. HOMO SAPIENS
- Homographs
- HOMONYMS
- Homophones
- HOMOPHONES AND HOMOGRAPHS
- HOPEFULLY
- HOW TO CAPITALIZE HEADLINES
- HOW TO PRONOUNCE FORTE
- HOW TO PRONOUNCE KYIV
- HOW TO PUNCTUATE CHRISTMAS CARDS
- HOW TO WRITE
- HOW TO WRITE BOOK TITLES
- how to write holidays
- HOW TO WRITE MOVIE TITLES
- HUMAN VS. CHATGPT
- Human writers
- HYPHEN
- HYPHEN WITH MAKER
- HYPHENATING NOUNS
- HYPHENATING PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
- HYPHENATING SUFFIXES
- HYPHENATING VERBS
- hyphenation
- hyphens
- I AM GOOD OR I AM WELL
- I FEEL BAD VS I FEEL BADLY
- I FEEL BADLY
- I LAY DOWN OR I LAID DOWN
- I vs Me
- I VS. ME
- I-N-G VERBS
- IAN MCEWAN
- IDIOMS
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- if and whether
- IF VS WHETHER
- immigrate emigrate migrate
- IMPACT AS A VERB
- IMPERATIVE
- imperatives
- IMPORTANTLY
- IN REGARDS TO
- INCLUDE
- INCLUDING BEFORE A COMPLETE LIST
- INCOMPLETE SENTENCES
- INDEFINITE ARTICLES
- INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
- INDEXES INDICES
- INDIRECT OBJECT
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- insure vs ensure
- INTENSIFIER
- INTERROGATIVE
- INTO VS IN TO
- INTRANSITIVE VERBS
- INTRODUCTORY PHRASE
- INTRUSIVE OF
- IRREGARDLESS
- IRREGARDLESS AND REGARDLESS
- IRREGULAR NOUNS
- IS IS
- IS TEAM PLURAL OR SINGULAR
- IS WRONG AN ADVERB
- IT IS I WHO AM VS IT IS I WHO ARE
- IT'S VS ITS
- ITALICS
- ITALICS VS. QUOTATION MARKS
- ITS AND IT'S
- ITS VS IT'S
- JACK SMITH
- JACOB REES-MOGG
- JANUARY 6 INSURRECTION
- JARGON
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- john dowd
- John Le Carre
- JOHN MCINTYRE
- JONATHON OWEN
- Journalism Standards
- JUDGEMENT VS JUDGMENT
- KORY STAMPER
- LANGUAGE
- LAY AND LIE
- LAY IN STATE
- LEAD VS. LED
- LEGAL WRITING
- LESS THAN
- less vs fewer
- LET'S AND LETS
- LET'S EAT GRANDMA
- LET'S VS. LETS
- LEXICOGRAPHY
- LIE IN STATE
- lighted vs lit
- LIGHTED VS. LIT
- LIKE
- LIKE AND AS
- LIKE AND SUCH AS
- LIKE VS SUCH AS
- LINKING VERBS
- LIT VS LIGHTED
- LITERALLY
- LOAN VS LEND
- LOG IN VS LOGIN
- LONG SENTENCES
- LOWERCASE AFTER A COLON
- LY ADVERBS
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- MAKING
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- MAY VS. MIGHT
- ME VS I
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- MERRIAM
- METACONCEPTS
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- MISCHIEVOUS VS. MISCHIEVIOUS
- MISLEADING CONNECTIVES
- MODAL AUXILIARIES
- MODAL AUXILIARY
- MODALITY
- modifying phrases
- MOOD
- MORE CLEAR VS CLEARER
- MORE THAN
- MOST COMMON APOSTROPHE ERRORS
- MOST COMMON GRAMMAR ERRORS
- Most common grammar mistakes
- mother's day
- MOVIE TITLES
- MUST
- MYRIAD VS A MYRIAD OF
- MYRIAD VS. MYRIAD OF
- MYSELF
- MYSELF VS. ME
- NAMES
- NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY
- NEEDLESS WORDS
- Neil Gaiman
- NEITHER
- NEOLOGISMS
- NEVER MIND / NEVERMIND
- NEW WORDS
- NEW YEAR'S
- NEXT
- NEXT VS. THIS
- NGRAM VIEWER
- no problem
- NOMINAL ADJECTIVES
- NOMINALIZATION
- NOMINALIZATIONS
- NONBINARY THEY
- NONCE WORD
- NONE IS VS NONE ARE
- NONPLUSSED
- NONRESTRICTIVE CLAUSES
- NOUNS AS ADJECTIVES
- NOUNS ENDING IN S
- object complement
- OBJECT PRONOUN
- OBJECT PRONOUNS
- OBJECT VS SUBJECT PRONOUNS
- OBJECTS AND SUBJECTS
- OBJECTS OF PHRASAL VERBS
- obscenity
- OCTOPUSES OR OCTOPI
- OED
- OK OKAY
- OLDER OF TWO VS OLDEST OF TWO
- OLIVER TWIST
- OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS
- ONE
- ONE OF THE ONLY
- ONE SPACE
- ONE SPACE AFTER A PERIOD
- ONE SPACE OR TWO BETWEEN SENTENCES
- ONLY
- ONTO VS ON TO
- OR
- OVER
- OVER AND UNDER
- oxford comma
- OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
- PALATE VS PALETTE
- PALETTE PALATE PALLET
- PALETTE VS. PALLET
- PALM OFF VS PAWN OFF
- PALM OFF VS. PAWN OFF
- PARALLEL STRUCTURE
- PARENTHESES
- PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
- PARTICIPLE VS. PARTICLE
- PARTS OF SPEECH
- PASSIVE VOICE
- past participles
- past tense
- PAST TENSE OF LAY
- PAST TENSE OF LIGHT
- PAST TENSE OF SLAY
- period before a quotation mark
- PERIODS IN INITIALS
- PERIODS IN PHD
- PERIODS INSIDE QUOTATION MARKS
- PERSONAL PRONOUNS
- PERUSE
- PETER SOKOLOWSKI
- PHRASAL VERBS
- PIQUE
- PIRATE TALK
- PLACEMENT OF OBJECT
- placement of only
- PLACEMENT OF PREPOSITION
- plead pled
- PLURAL
- PLURAL NAMES
- PLURAL OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL
- PLURAL OF MEDIA
- PLURAL POSSESSIVE
- PLURAL POSSESSIVES
- PLURAL POSSESSIVES OF PROPER NOUNS
- PLURAL VERB
- PLURAL VERB WITH AS WELL AS
- PLURAL VERBS
- PLURALS
- PLURALS OF LATIN WORDS
- PLURALS OF LETTERS
- PLURALS OF MOVIE TITLES
- POSSESSIVE
- Possessive with Gerund
- possessives
- POSSESSIVES OF LAST NAMES
- POSSESSIVES OF MOVIE TITLES
- POSSESSIVES OF PROPER NAMES
- PREDICATE NOMINATIVE
- prefixes
- PREPOSI
- PREPOSITION AT THE END
- PREPOSITIONS
- PRESCRIPTIVISM
- PRETENSE VS PRETEXT
- PREVENTATIVE
- PREVENTIVE
- PREVENTIVE VS PREVENTATIVE
- PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPLE
- PRINCIPLE and PRINCIPAL
- profanity
- PRONONCIATION
- PRONOUN ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
- PRONOUNS
- PRONOUNS IN SHARED POSSESSIVES
- PRONOUNS INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
- pronunciation of often
- proofreading
- PUNCTUATION
- PUT A COMMA BEFORE TOO
- QUASI COORDINATOR
- QUASI POSSESSIVES
- QUESTION MARK
- QUOTATION ATTRIBUTION
- quotation marks
- QUOTATIONS
- raise the question
- RANG RUNG
- RANGES
- READER FRIENDLY LANGUAGE
- REDUPLICATIVE COPULA
- REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
- REFLEXIVES
- REIGN VS REIN
- REIN vs REIGN
- RELATIVE PRONOUN ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
- RELATIVE PRONOUNS
- RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES
- ROB AND BURGLARIZE
- ROCK N ROLL
- RUN-ON SENTENCES
- RUTH BADER GINSBURG
- SAYS VS. SAID
- SCARE QUOTES
- SECONDLY
- SEMICOLON
- SEMICOLON ABUSE
- SEMICOLONS
- semimonthly
- semiweekly
- SENTENCE ADVERBS
- sentence diagramming
- SENTENCE ENDING PREPOSITION
- SENTENCE ENDING PREPOSITIONS
- SENTENCE FRAGMENT
- SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
- SENTENCE STRUCTURE
- SENTENCE STRUCTURES
- SENTENCE WRITING
- SENTENCES
- serial comma
- SHARED POSSESSIVE
- SHARED POSSESSIVES
- SHORT SENTENCES
- SHOULD
- SIMPLE COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES
- SINCE VS BECAUSE
- SINCE VS. BECAUSE
- SINGLE QUOTATION MARK
- SINGULAR AUSPICE
- SINGULAR VERB
- SINGULAR VERB WITH EVERY
- SINGULAR VS PLURAL
- SITE
- SKUNKED TERMS
- SLAVA UKRAINI
- SLEIGHT VS SLIGHT
- SLOW VS. SLOWLY
- SMIZE
- SNEAK PEAK VS SNEAK PEEK
- SNEAK VS. SNUCK VS. SNEAKED
- SO
- SO AT THE BEGINNING OF A SENTENCE
- SO CRINGE
- SO HELP ME GOD
- SOMEONE
- SPACE AROUND DASHES
- spaces around ellipses
- SPACES BEFORE AN ELLIPSIS
- SPACING BETWEEN SENTENCES
- SPEECH TAGS
- spell check fail
- SPELL-CHECKER
- SPELLING
- SPIT AND IMAGE
- SPITTING IMAGE
- split infinitive
- SQUINTING MODIFIER
- STARTING A SENTENCE WITH AND
- STEPHEN CALK
- STREAMLINING SENTENCES
- STRUNK AND WHITE
- STYLE
- STYLE GUIDES
- SUBJECT OBJECT AGREEMENT
- SUBJECT PRONOUNS
- SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT
- SUBJECT-COMPLEMENT AGREEMENT
- SUBJECT-OBJECT AGREEMENT
- SUBJUNCTIVE
- SUBORDINATE CLAUSES
- SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
- suffixes
- SUPERLATIVES AND COMPARATIVES
- SWAM VS. SWUM
- SYNONYMS
- TENSE SHIFTS
- terminal punctuation
- THAN I VS THAN ME
- THANKSGIVING DAY
- THAT AND WHICH
- THAT VS. WHICH
- THAT VS. WHO
- THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE
- THE JOY OF SYNTAX
- The Possessive of Jr.
- THE REASON IS BECAUSE
- THE REASON WHY
- THE REASON WHY VS. THE REASON THAT
- THE TEAM IS VS THE TEAM ARE
- THE WIRE
- THERE ARE
- THERE IS
- THERE'S
- THERE'S VS. THEIRS
- THESE ONES
- THEY'RE AND THEIR
- THIS IS HER
- THIS IS SHE
- THRU THROUGH
- THRU VS THROUGH
- TILL TIL UNTIL
- TITLED VS ENTITLED
- TITLES
- TITLES IN ITALICS
- TITLES IN QUOTATION MARKS
- TO BOLDLY GO
- TOO BIG A DEAL
- TOO BIG OF A
- TOO BIG OF A DEAL
- TOWARD VS. TOWARDS
- TRANSITIVE
- TRANSITIVE VERBS
- TRANSITIVE VS. INTRANSITIVE VERBS
- TROOPER VS TROUPER
- TRUMP SPELLING
- TRUMP TWEET
- TRY AND
- TRY TO
- TWO SPACE
- TYPOS
- UNCLEAR ANTECEDENTS
- UNDERLIE PAST TENSE
- UNDERWAY / UNDER WAY
- UNNECESSARY ADVERBS
- UPSIDE DOWN SUBORDINATION
- USAGE
- VAGUE WORDS
- VARIANT SPELLINGS
- VARIETY IS OR VARIETY ARE
- VERB AGREEMENT
- VERB ASPECT
- VERB CONJUGATION
- VERB TENSE
- VERB TENSES
- VERBS
- veterans day
- VIS-A-VIS
- vocabulary
- WAS VS WERE
- WAVER VS. WAIVER
- WEBSTER'S NEW WORLD
- WEIRDEST LANGUAGES
- WELLBEING
- WERE VS WAS
- What Does Hoi Pollio Mean
- WHAT'S AN APPOSITIVE
- When to Capitalize After a Colon
- WHEN TO HYPHENATE PREFIXES
- WHILE VS ALTHOUGH
- WHILE VS THOUGH
- WHO AND WHOM
- WHO KNOWS
- who vs whom
- WHOA WOAH WHOAH
- whom
- whomever
- WHOMEVER VS WHOEVER
- WHOMEVER VS. WHOEVER
- WHOSE AND WHO'S
- WHOSE VS WHO'S
- WHOSE VS. WHO'S
- WITH VS. OF
- WOKE VS WAKED
- WORD CHOICE
- WORD TRENDS
- WORD USAGE
- WORDINESS
- WORSE COMES TO WORST VS WORST COMES TO WORST
- WRACK VS RACK
- WRITING
- WRITING ADVICE
- WRITING BOOKS
- WRITING CRAFT
- WRITING FOR CLARITY
- WRITING SKILLS
- WRITING STYLE
- WRITING TIPS
- WRONG VS WRONGLY
- WRONG VS. WRONGLY
- XMAS
- ZEGUMA
- ZERO RELATIVE PRONOUN
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Should you capitalize 'city' in 'city of Boston'?
M Actually, Chicago capitalizes City if you're talking about the government entity but not if it's talking about the area, so the City of Boston's ordinance vs. the city of Boston's population.
'All told' or 'all tolled'?
PJB Toll also means to add up. So, all tolled, as in, accounted for, is still correct.
Should you pronounce the T in 'often'?
David Merriam-Webster online lists the spoken T first. I'd say it's a toss-up.
Is There an Apostrophe in Presidents Day?
Janet Earl When I was in school we celebrated two presidents birthdays, Lincoln’s and Washington’s and it was my understanding that since they were so close they were combined into one holiday. That was maybe in the 1950’s or 1960’s.
Another sentence structure to hate
Marina In general I agree with you about this sentence structure, but for examples like this one you'd need to include a query to the author for technical accuracy. The first version of the sentence allows for the possibility that some, but not all, lye-based products clear debris out of pipes. The edited version means that lye-based products as a category do so. That edit needs fact-checking.