Many geoprofessional reports include recommendations whose efficacy is dependent upon findings in the field.

Geoprofessionals write more than just about any other professionals, are constantly under the gun to produce now, and are personally liable for every word they write in their professional capacities.

“You, too, can have the vocabulary of a Harvard English major.” You’ve probably seen that advertisement in airline magazines, suggesting that you, too, can develop knowledge of words that other people don’t know, making them feel stupid and, thus, elevating your own self-image.

It’s pretty common for people to mishear a word or phrase and then go on to use it improperly, and it’s also pretty common for those who recognize the corruption to say nothing about it, so as not to offend the user.

Remember the old days when you had to submit a paper that contained at least 1,500 words, so you did everything you possibly could to add words when your count came up short? All the words you added were worthless, of course, except to the extent that they got you to where you had to be numbers wise.

“You, too, can have the vocabulary of a Harvard English major.” You’ve probably seen that advertisement in airline magazines, suggesting that you, too, can develop knowledge of words that other people don’t know, making them feel stupid and, thus, elevating your own self-image.

One of the nicer features of GBA’s webinars is the speakers’ willingness to answer questions. An important question came in after the webcast of “Think. Be Accurate.”, a John Bachner-led presentation focusing on commonly used words and phrases that can be dangerous.

We’ve written about the difference between “which” and “that”; how “which” tends to be more specific than “that,” but “that” usually works well and is easy. But what about the difference between “that” and “who”?

“Including” does not mean “limited to.” Nonetheless, some people seem to write as though “including” doesn’t exist. What does? “Including, but not limited to.” How dumb does that sound? As dumb as eschewing “The alphabet includes A, B, and C.” in favor of “The alphabet includes, but is not limited to, A, B, and C.”

Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the fifth-century BC Greek researcher and storyteller, is generally recognized as the world’s first historian. In his book The Histories, as translated by A.D. Godley in 1924, he supposedly wrote,

If you’re like many individuals who learned English in the U.S. school system, you were probably told that, when it came to titles, you should not capitalize “little words,” like “to” and “is.”

Thanks to the magic of electronic communication, it’s possible for the good doctor to make house calls. Make your needs for visitation known by sending your request to info@geoprofessional.org. Here’s a recent exchange.

The good doctor has written about this issue before, with little effect. Now the good doctor is getting angry and may be ready to start making unrequested house calls.

“Farther” and “further” have for many years been considered interchangeable, but they are not the same. “Farther” is associated with physical distances.