Some Science Professors Are More Political Than Others

A political science professor is just lazy, and a political-science professor is unnecessarily fussy when a professor of political science is such an easy alternative.

In the overcorrection department, however, I submit high school teachers of English. Think about these things, people; don't just let your knee jerk. Unlike a political science professor, which could mean either a professor of political science or a science professor who is political, or French professor, which could mean either a professor of French or a professor who is French, high school English teachers presents no ambiguity: If you wanted to write about English high school teachers, that's the way you'd write it.

(I, of course, would write English high-school teachers, but that's another topic.)

'Face' Dances

At what point do you face something? Stories that mention prison sentences routinely use the verb "face," but they vary on what exactly they mean by that. Observe:

a. If convicted, he could face a possible prison term of up to 10 years.
b. If convicted, he could face a prison term of up to 10 years.
c. If convicted, he faces a possible prison term of up to 10 years.
d. He could face a possible prison term of up to 10 years.
e. If convicted, he faces a prison term of up to 10 years.
f. He faces a possible prison term of up to 10 years.
g. He could face a prison term of up to 10 years.
h. He faces a prison term of up to 10 years.
i. He faces a prison term of 10 years.

I think we would all agree that (a) overqualifies things to the point of redundancy. And most of us would agree that (i) doesn't qualify things enough. Reasonable people will differ, but I vote for (h). I think you could face time in prison without being sentenced to time in prison. And -- context, context, context -- do you think any readers need to be told that the prison sentence would apply only in the case of a conviction?

If you're inclined to play things extremely safe, there's a (j):

If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

If you're inclined to object to "up to" when there's no yardstick involved, you're at the wrong site.

Garner on Eating, Shooting and Leaving

If you let your subscription to the Texas Law Review lapse, you missed a 5,000-plus-word essay by Bryan A. Garner, the authority's authority on American English, on the phenomenon of Lynne Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves."

Garner lists errors and inconsistencies from the book, pointedly addresses the missing hyphen in the subtitle's "Zero Tolerance Approach," and quotes James J. Kilpatrick, Barbara Wallraff, Patricia T. O'Conner and yours truly on our quarrels with the book. He even wonders why people love the title so much, before conceding that even his 12-year-old daughter and her friends are in love with the panda joke. Garner continues:

So I won't criticize the main title of the book. But the book itself is a different matter altogether. When people have asked me what I think of it, I've usually responded by summing up its entire message in this way: "Don't know much about punctuation, but wouldn't it be nice if people could sort out their apostrophes?"

There lies the real answer to the question: Why do the experts uniformly disparage a punctuation book that appeals so much to the popular mind? The thing is that many people think they're sticklers when they're not. And Lynne Truss happens to be one of them.

The full article is available on LexisNexis.

Conditional Love

If the filibuster is eliminated for judicial nominations, Bush would enjoy greater latitude in filling vacancies on appellate courts.

Officials of the organization said that if the bill passes, it would prevent the agency from providing information to the public.

No. If the filibuster is eliminated, Bush will enjoy greater latitude. If the filibuster were eliminated, Bush would enjoy greater latitude.

If the bill passes, it will prevent blah blah blah. If the bill passed, it would prevent blah blah blah.

The tenses have to match. Is that so difficult? Is/does/will. Was (were)/did/would. Get all conditional on us, by all means, in a sentence in which the conditionality is implied but the present tense never raises its ugly head (otherwise, Albom-breath, you're assuming a future event that may or may not happen):

Blah blah blah about what the bill would do. It would prevent the agency from providing information to the public.