- By Jim Evans
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Smart TalkSMART TALK by Dr. Manda Rynne
AGENDA: Even skilled speakers and writers enjoy attending workshops, or symposia, at Warriner House, here at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, where they learn to be Terribly Correct.
One agendum might be the point that one does not loan, one lends. A loan is what one lends.
Other agenda are often words like today's subject. In Latin class, one quickly learns that symposium is singular, and symposia is plural. This also works with datum and data, medium and media, and curriculum and curricula. Therefore, one does not say the data is but the data are.
Criterion and criteria are Greek but not too different to include here. One would say that the criterion for fatherhood is obvious, but the criteria for dads are many and daunting.
It's so nice to be perfect.
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