Sloppy Bullets may have been quiet recently, but our readers have not. They demand answers to tricky grammar questions! Let’s get right to the mailbag.
Dear Sloppy Bullets,
I’ve always used the word “incent” because I thought “incentivize” was made up. Now autocorrect no longer accepts “incent” even though it’s in the dictionary and I’ve used it my whole life! I’ve also learned to replace it with “motivate”.
Signed,
Not incentivized in MN
*****
Dear Not incentivized,
If it’s any consolation, Sloppy Bullets’ blogging software does not recognize incent or incentivize. However, both are accepted as proper words by Merriam-Webster. Sloppy Bullets offers the following subjective opinions on these words:
- Both terms sound like business jargon, but both are in common use when it comes to providing incentives to a group of people—such as customers, employees, or members—to encourage them to take some action.
- The difference between incent/incentivize and motivate is that “incent” and “incentivize” imply a tangible reward (such as money, a discount, time, or anything else of value to the people who earn it) in exchange for their effort, purchase, loyalty, etc., while “motivate” relies on more intrinsic persuasion that is not linked to a defined perk or reward.
- Sloppy Bullets has a personal preference for “incentivize” over “incent,” but no clear explanation for why.
In other grammar business, Not incentivized, Sloppy Bullets has noted your placement of a period outside the quotation mark at the end of a sentence. We have a reluctant opinion on this. Stay tuned for a future blog post on the topic of end punctuation and quotation marks.
Defending proper grammar in a world where the rules don’t always make sense,
Sloppy Bullets
Dear Sloppy Bullets,
Got time for a quick grammar question?
A full hot breakfast buffet THAT guests serve themselves … or
A full hot breakfast buffet WHICH guests serve themselves … or … other?
*****
Dear Anonymous #1,
A quick question deserves a quick response. The short answer is that in this instance Sloppy Bullets recommends using “that.”
The longer answer is that this is actually a tricky question. It depends on whether guests serving themselves differentiates your hot breakfast buffet from other buffet scenarios where patrons obtain their food from a buffet counter/table but do not serve themselves, such as a cafeteria or a staffed, catered event. Generally speaking, there are a variety of buffet setups in the world, and Sloppy Bullets believes the self-service nature of your specific buffet is a defining feature that requires “that.” If the fact that guests serve themselves can be a selling point to distinguish your buffet from other buffets where patrons might have less control over selecting their own portion sizes, then “that” is definitely the correct choice.
If, however, the fact that guests serve themselves is just an aside you could leave out without changing the meaning of the sentence, you could make the argument for “which.” But please note that “which” clauses are always set off in commas, like so: “A full hot breakfast buffet, which guests serve themselves, …”
Stay tuned for a future blog post that more fully explores the differences between “that” and “which.”
Now craving pancakes and bacon,
Sloppy Bullets
Dear Sloppy Bullets,
Is it “Congratulations CHART!” or “Congratulations, CHART!”?
*****
Dear Anonymous #2,
Sloppy Bullets has a confession to make. When I initially addressed this question in person, I conflated it with another example and got it wrong! Sloppy Bullets is human, just like the rest of us.
The correct answer is that it is “Congratulations, CHART!” Sloppy Bullets got this part right, but erred in stating that omitting the comma was becoming accepted usage. Not true in this case! Any time you are directly addressing a person or thing (or in this case, an organization), a comma is required. For instance, when you are wishing your friends a happy birthday on Facebook, you should always use a comma between “Happy birthday” and your friend’s name, like so: Happy Birthday, Friend!
There IS an exception where omitting the comma is generally accepted in informal writing, however, and that’s in the salutation or greeting of an email. The rules dictate that you start an email to your friend with “Hi, Friend,” or “Good morning, Friend,” but in common practice, many people omit the comma before the name. In this case, Sloppy Bullets won’t give you the stink eye. You’re free to use or omit this comma in informal email greetings at your leisure. (HOWEVER, “Dear Friend,” never has a comma before the name, since “dear” is not a direct address to your friend, but is instead an adjective describing your friend.)
Willing to admit mistakes,
Sloppy Bullets
Dear Sloppy Bullets,
Which is correct? The Harpers and us attend Pathway Church. OR The Harpers and we go to Pathway Church. OR We and the Harpers go to Pathway Church.
*****
Dear Anonymous #3,
Of these three options, the last is the most grammatically correct. However, another option is to just rephrase the sentence to avoid a potentially awkward construction. Something like “We attend Pathway Church with the Harpers” or “The Harpers attend Pathway Church with us.” When all of the other options sound wrong or grammatically uncertain, rephrasing is usually the best course of action.
Rephrasing is your friend,
Sloppy Bullets
Dear Sloppy Bullets,
Another grammar question… which is correct?
1. I went to the store and I went to the amusement park.
2. I went to the store, and I went to the amusement park.
*****
Dear Anonymous #4,
Because the two parts of the sentence are both independent clauses that could each stand on their own, you would normally have a comma before the “and.” However, an exception is allowed when they are both short sentences.
If you changed the second part of the sentence to a dependent clause (“I went to the store and the amusement park”), there would definitely be no comma.
Looking forward to the end of COVID so we can all return to theme parks,
Sloppy Bullets
(Please contact Sloppy Bullets with your grammar questions if you’d like to be featured in a future edition of “Ask Sloppy Bullets,” and subscribe to the Sloppy Bullets blog to receive notifications of new posts!)
