Foliage

 The word is foliage people

 

Not foilage

 

Get it right. 

 

Isn't that some pretty foliage??  I like it a lot. 

TOS

 For those in the know you probably know that the acronym TOS stands for "The Original Series" of Star Trek. You know, the one with Kirk, Spock and Bones. Pam is a die hard TOS fan. In fact, she loves it so much that she doesn't acknowledge the other Star Trek (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine & Voyager) series' validity. Well, that may be a little harsh, but she does like TOS a whole lot more than those other imposters. 

I was thinking today about the grammatical use of The Original Series acronym. Since the "T" is for "The", how does it work when one says something like:

"Pam is a huge fan of the TOS series of Star Trek."

Would that be correct?  If we are to rewrite that phrase without the acronym, it would read:

"Pam is a huge fan of the The Original Series series of Star Trek."

Well, that's not right. Too many repeated words. 

Perhaps one could say:

"Pam is a huge fan of TOS." and be done with it. 

Personally, I believe the following should be true:

1. An acronym should not contain a "The" at the beginning of the acronym. Too confusing. 
2. Use of an acronym should not include having to decipher it in order to use it grammatically correct in a sentence. Too annoying. 

Vertex ... Vertices

The use of the singular or plural of the word VERTEX is a common problem around my industry. We deal with vertices all the time when creating and manipulating GIS products. 

I understand that the English language rule is a little obtuse, but it really is quite simple. One vertex: VERTEX. More than one vertex: VERTICES.

It really grates my last nerve when I hear it's misuse in technical conversation as often as I do. Colleagues and non-colleagues alike use the plural form without the 's' when they intend to use the singular form.  What's more, it is actually acceptable to say VERTEXES for the plural form - which should simplify the matter, but most do not choose to take that opportunity.

I can excuse the misuse if it is occasional, but it happens all the time. 

ALL THE TIME