Wednesday, November 27, 2019

End-of-year Book Sale + in terms of


in terms of 
Originally this expression was used to explain precise quantifiable relationships: “We prefer to measure our football team’s success in terms of the number of fans attending rather than the number of games won.” But it has for a long time now been greatly overused in all kinds of vague ways, often clumsily.

Here are some awkward uses followed by recommended alternatives:
“We have to plan soon what to do in terms of Thanksgiving.” (for)
“What are we going to do in terms of paying
these bills?” (about)
“A little chili powder goes a long way in terms
of spicing up any dish.” (toward)
“What do you like in terms of movies?”
(What kind of movies do you like?)

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Two books on sale through the end of December—just $12 for Common Errors in English Usage and $17 for Far from the Madding Gerund:

   https://wmjasco.com/william-james-co/55-far-from-the-madding-gerund-9781590280553.html 
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https://commonerrorspodcast.wordpress.com/

We bid farewell to the podcast some time ago, but you may still listen to all the episodes you may have missed, including our 2017 Thanksgiving special.