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Grammar Moses: Do Cubs and Sox take the same verb? I'm not talking about winning

Tom Kwasiborski of Wauconda read something in our sports section that made him wince.

The headline read: "The White Sox is sending Ranaudo to Triple-A."

"Ain't X treated the same way as S?" he asked.

The simple answer is yes. But there is more to it.

Most teams are considered singular units - the hapless 2015-16 Bulls being a possible exception - but take a plural verb: "The Cubs are going to win the World Series before I retire this column."

Where debate arises is when you write about those goofy non-plural team names such as Heat, Sky, Fire and Liberty.

"The Miami Heat is nothing without LeBron."

Some grammar people hold that singular-sounding team names still take plural verb forms.

But the Daily Herald's stylebook holds that "in general terms, if you cannot distinguish between one or more of the team nickname, the team name is singular.

Jazz, Fire and Green Wave are singular, take singular verbs and are referred to as an 'it' and not a 'they.'

For instance, "The Fire hopes to make the playoffs."

When you will use a singular verb with a plural-sounding team name is when you use a team name as a modifier.

"The Chicago Bears organization is banking on Jay Cutler's arm remaining attached to his shoulder."

In this case, "organization" is the subject and takes the singular verb.

You might have seen this lead in a column early in the White Sox season: "One week is in the books, and the early read on the Chicago White Sox is promising."

So, why in this case is it "White Sox is?"

Because "is" is referring to the early read in this sentence, not the White Sox. Remove the phrase "on the White Sox" and you'll see what I mean.

Seeking assent

John McGovern of Gilberts, who brought you "holey inappropriate" in a recent column, is back with another gaffe.

He had been reading a military novel and relayed a scene in which paratroopers preparing for a jump are told by the jump master that it's time.

The book reads: they "nodded in ascent."

Book editors are amazingly skilled, but we're all human after all.

If you haven't figured it out yet, the paratroopers nodded in "assent," or agreement.

Seconds later, perhaps, they might have nodded in "descent."

I could care less

Jan Gollberg of Mount Prospect inquired recently about something I can't believe I haven't touched on in the 11 months I've been writing this column.

"When someone says, 'I could care less,' I'm tempted to say, 'Really? Then you must care quite a lot,'" Jan wrote. "Of course, the person actually means 'I couldn't care less.' I even remember one of the participants in a presidential debate stating that the people of his state 'could care less' about a certain issue. Of course, he meant quite the opposite."

Jan is right, of course.

Now if I were having lunch with Jan and dutifully munched on a side salad with a mere sneeze of olive oil and balsamic on it while she was eating a slab of deep dish pizza, I might say, "Jan, I could care less that you ordered the pizza."

And that's because I WOULD care a great deal more about that pizza than my salad ... to the extent that I might leap over the table and rip it out of her hands.

Write carefully!

• Jim Baumann is vice president/managing editor of the Daily Herald. Write him at jbaumann@dailyherald.com. Put Grammar Moses in the subject line. You also can friend or follow Jim at facebook.com/baumannjim.

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