Grammar Moses: There's no chance this column will go viral
If you figured I'd be cracking wise today about the coronavirus, you're barking up the wrong tree. There is nothing funny about it, except that we'll finally learn what people's real hair color is when we all emerge from our caves.
Pop quiz
It occurred to me recently, when I was still driving to work in instead of stumbling downstairs to my makeshift basement office, that radio people like to use the word "populous."
That is, except when they're saying "populace."
I noted to myself that I heard both words during the same newscast.
Do you know the difference?
I've seen them used interchangeably in print, so if you didn't know you're not alone. One is a noun and the other an adjective.
Los Angeles is a populous city. Many, many people live there, though you wouldn't know it by looking at its streets these days.
Vatican City, on the other hand, is not a populous city. Only about 800 people live there. It's so small that the pope of all people lives in an apartment.
Today, though, Vatican City looks about as populous as L.A.
So much for the adjective. Now for the noun:
The populace of Los Angeles is on lockdown. Gov. Gavin Newsom order 4 million Angelenos and the other 36 million Californians to stay in their houses to try to minimize the spread of the virus.
Then there is the lesser-known "populus," as in "vox populus," which is Latin for "voice of the people."
I threw that in there just to mess with you.
Misplaced
In response to a recent column about misplaced modifiers, reader Rich Parkinson wrote about a business story that began: "Woodstock area residents had something else exciting to watch on Sunday, as Jeep officially aired a commercial it shot in the historic Woodstock Square during the Super Bowl."
You saw this coming.
"My first thought was that if it was shot during the Super Bowl, it was quite a feat to air it on Sunday (during the Super Bowl)," Rich wrote.
Given that Florida transplant Tom Brady could buy just six minutes of Super Bowl airtime if he were to get asking price for his $33.9 million estate in Brookline, Mass. (I did the math!) I doubt anyone would ever risk doing a commercial live during the game.
What the writer should have done was put the phrase "during the Super Bowl" right after the word "aired."
So, "Woodstock area residents had something else exciting to watch on Sunday, as Jeep officially aired a Super Bowl commercial it shot in the historic Woodstock Square."
Come to think of it, maybe Brady could get an employee discount, given how much time he's spent at the Super Bowl.
Write carefully and stay healthy!
• 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.