More important(ly), can you help us find XXXXX?I'd long ago been taught that's a ly-free zone, with "importantly" being reserved as an adverb to describe to describe an action; for example, "The judge strode importantly to the bench." With a bit of nagging doubt in my head, I did a bit of research to ensure I wasn't wrong.
As it turns out, it's a bit of a sister-kiss: Either one is acceptable usage according to Merriam-Webster's and other authorities, though my web search indicated a slight lean toward "more important." The reasoning is that it's not modifying a verb, it's modifying the entire phrase that follows it--you could think of it as "[What is] more important, can you help us..."
Alas, as with all grammar minutia, whichever way you write it, a stickler on the other side will read it and think "AHA! You big dummy!"...forgetting that it doesn't mean a darn thing in the ability to convey or understand the message. I am reminded of the big-endian vs. small-endian argument among the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels. Eat your softboiled egg any way you please.
UPDATED: While we're on the subject, Yolander Prinzel of Freelance Writerville alerted me to "Error Proof: How to defend yourself from grammar pedants" from the October 4, 2009, New York Times Magazine. Clever stuff.
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NYT just did a big article about this in their Sunday mag. Even Shakespeare and Chaucer had some questionable grammatical choices.
ReplyDeleteI'm a grammar and spelling cowboy. I'm like all those medical dramas currently on television--I take grammar and spelling into my own hands. I don't play by the rules. I do things my way.
Thanks for this, but can you please educate me whether or not I should be angered by the word preventive as opposed to preventative.
ReplyDeleteCowboy Yo, I hunted that article down--it's a winner. I'm appending a link to the post. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnon, "preventive" is widely preferred, though there are some who defend the extra "at" if you're using it as a noun. I even came across a person who takes issue with "preventative" because it messes up online searches in medical journals. So, there's that.
However, it's certainly nothing to be angered about. Getting angry and/or violent should be reserved for people who insist on using "proactive" or "irregardless."
Duly noted, thanks. I must be one of those medical exceptions. Anger might be a tad strong but it does displease me. There is, however, no excuse for irregardless.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I am going to jump on the irregardless bandwagon. I hate that almost as much as people who pronounce "height" as though it has a 'TH' at the end. But I still don't judge any of them...I just secretly cringe.
ReplyDeleteWhath wrong with thath?
ReplyDeletePlease, judge away. In fact, you're welcome to openly scoff at, scorn and/or ostracize such folks.