SOLECISMS

A chara, Surely one has the right to expect correct, standard, published English in your educational supplement (E&L)?

A chara, Surely one has the right to expect correct, standard, published English in your educational supplement (E&L)?

However, on occasion, the mask slips and we receive in print what one might well define as "popular, spoken, dialect English", a dialect which conflicts with established standards.

In E&L (April 23rd, page 12) we were treated to the headline, "Looking to the alternatives". There is only one alternative (see Partridge, Usage and Abusage). Why not "Looking to the choices"?

Next issue (page four, April 30th) appeared the headline "Every parent deplores the excess once their child's First Communion is over.

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As "parent" is singular, one expects "his or her" instead of "their", which is plural. Alternatively, the entire sentence might have been recast in the plural, without fault. Mise, Pairc Leaca na Sceiche, Dun Laoghaire.