English on the Run!

The Be-All End-All

2010-07-12T10:15:00.001-07:00

No! Just say no, people! No! Spell-check is not the be-all end-all of spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.

I know a lot of us (myself included sometimes) have become complacent in our writing skills because we think the miraculous spell-check will pick up all of our mistakes. That is simply not the case!

For instance, I was reading a magazine this weekend and in one place, it said "of" instead of "off" like it was supposed to. That was a typing mistake and would not have been caught by spell-check simply because "of" is a correct word, but it was not the correct word in that instance. I think it is highly embarrassing for national magazines and other publications to have such errors in them. I won't even get into the errors I have found in The Indiana Gazette, the hometown paper. Frankly, it just disgusts me.

So please, take this advice to heart: don't rely on spell-check to make you sound smart. Check your writing with your very own eyes because you are going to sound dumb otherwise. :P

Pounding the pavement

2010-07-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

I am gaining my motivation back little by little, though the long holiday weekend did not help that much. :P

Saturday I ran for a little over two miles. And last night, I pounded out three miles! Woohoo! I even made it under my goal time of 33 minutes (I usually run, well jog, an 11 minute mile and I only had to walk once after a difficult hill). My official time was 32 minutes 54 seconds! Hey, it's under 33!

Now I have to ask you all a question: do you wear a heart rate monitor / pace keeper while running? I really love running outside but I really hate not knowing my pace. I can self-monitor somewhat, but if I am on flat terrain, I tend to speed up and then tire myself out quickly. Any recommendations on which brand/monitor to buy?

Also: does anybody else get really red in the face during/after they run. I looked like a tomato last night for about a half hour after my run. Seriously, it was like I had been in the sun for five hours without any sunscreen. Just my face though - it was weird. It may have been because I only did about a third of my usual cool-down. Opps!

Eats, shoots, and leaves.

2010-07-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

A panda walks into a bar. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

"Why?" asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"Well, I'm a panda," he says fom the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal. Native to China. Eats, shoots, and leaves."

That panda has come to be synonymous with the importance of correct punctuation. I cannot stress how many times I have seen commas overused just because "I thought it needed one," "It seemed to fit," "I didn't think I had enough commas," etc. There is a time and a place for a comma, and the insertion of a needless one or the deletion of an important one can change the entire meaning of your sentence.

If only that panda had read "eats shoots and leaves" instead of "eats, shoots, and leaves." But then, perhaps, the world would not know the importance of correct punctuation.

I have never read Lynne Truss's book, but she seems like a woman after my own heart! (Pondering: Why is the saying "after my own heart" when "my" and "own" are simply redundant?)

Summer Slump

2010-07-02T07:26:00.001-07:00

It is Friday already, and I have not run once this week (I have only lifted once and walked a mile once)! And while I keep beating myself up about it, I just can't seem to find the motivation to run or exercise at all. And I have been keeping a 3-4 times a week exercise routine since March.

And physically I know I can run a 5k; I am running 2.5-3 miles three times a week with no real issues, but mentally I am not prepared for it. I wanted to run one on July 17th but still haven't sent in my registration form. I just don't want to be the slow twenty-something who is still at 10-11 minutes a mile - not when I look at past race results and the majority of people are at a sub-10 minute mile pace.

I can blame the weather (it's July and it was 42 degrees this morning - I almost froze to death). I can blame my husband for putting on the Pirates game every night and causing me to fall asleep for two hours (they are so bad and baseball is so boring!). But really it is just me. I need some motivation and I just can't find it.

I almost found it this morning when someone mentioned possibly running the 5k and 7k I have been eyeing for July and August. 7 years I have been trying to do this, and this person just decides in a day?! Bah! Then my egotistical, hateful side went away and my lack of motivation was back in full force.

Must.exercise.tonight... though I am pretty positive my gym membership expired June 30... better get that taken care of.

What do you guys and gals do for motivation when it can't seem to be found? Do you push through it? Do you just sit on the couch for a week and figure you need the break? Do you mix up your routine? Do you find a buddy?

You have been tolled!

2010-06-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

On a forum today, I read something that made me feel a little nauseated.

Geek Note: Have you guys and gals ever watched Never Been Kissed? I love how Drew Barrymore's Josie always corrects people on the proper usage of words. "You look nauseous." "Nauseated. I look nauseated." That is completely and totally me.

Back to the topic at hand. It even pains me to post this. A person actually wrote:

"He tolled me I should have..."

Somebody tolled you something? I literally got sick to my stomach reading that. For a quick English lesson:

Tolled: to collect or levy a toll; taxed; to sound or strike a large bell by single strokes; "The first ghost appeared when the bell tolled one."
Told: past tense of tell; "I was told that this was not a toll road."

"Tolled" and "Told" might be homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings), but they cannot be used interchangeably! Please learn to differentiate!! (At least this didn't get me as riled up as the spelling of "touché" as "too shea" on a Facebook post of a "friend" of mine. Of course, I can't really be friends with someone who writes "too shea." Oh my!)

Do these obvious and horrendous mistakes bother anyone else? Or am I just weird?

Welcome!

2010-06-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to English on the Run! by Steph. This blog seeks to combine two of my interests, which do not normally go well together: English and running.

1. We all need a proper English lesson every now and then.

2. We all need a little motivation to help with our exercise efforts.

I can help with the first goal. You can help me with the second.