User:Coder Dan/Bad English

"different than"

There's no such thing as "different than". The word "than" is used in comparisons, which are asymmetric: If A is bigger than B, then B is smaller than A. If A is older than B, then B is younger than A. You can think of comparisons as "vertical" differences: If A is higher than B, then B is lower than A.

Difference is contrast, not comparison. It's symmetric: If A is different from B, then B is also different from A. You can think of difference as "horizontal": It's like distance. If two things are different, it's like they're far away from each other, at least in some metaphorical sense. Different things are different from each other.

"as such"

You can think of the word "such" as an approximate synonym of "that". "As such", then, means something like "as that", where "that" refers to a description that defines members of some group that a person or thing belongs to, or some kind of job or function that the person or thing fulfills. The difference is that "such" may refer to a kind of thing, whereas "that" always refers to a specific, individual thing.

For example, the President of the United States is the Commander In Chief of the US armed forces, and as such, he is authorized to direct US military actions. "As such" in this sentence means "as Commander In Chief".

A good translation of "as such" is "in that capacity". The phrase does not mean "because of that" or "for that reason", despite widespread misuse in that sense.

Malformed conjunctions and disjunctions

• If your password only contains letters or only numbers, ...

• written and directed ..., released ..., and the sixth film

• In August 2007, Brown ... died on February 4, 2008

• Holzwarth is a violinist, Huffington Post writer, and has worked as a product intern

Introductory adjective phrase

An introductory adjective phrase is a phrase that appears before a clause and describes the subject of the clause. The phrase provides some explanation of how or why the sentence is true.

• "A tall man, Long John Silver was able to touch the sky."
• "A shiny yellow metal, gold has dazzled people for centuries."

Misuse

Many editors seem to take a monkey-see-monkey-do approach to editing articles. For some reason, important information that should be in the first sentence of a lede or other paragraph is often moved to an introductory adjective phrase in the second sentence.

Disagreement with subject

An adjective phrase at the beginning of a sentence modifies the subject of the sentence, not something tangentially related to it.

• Fundamentally an action–drama, the characters grapple ...
• Taking place in 1840s England, Cedric Brown has seven children
• Known for her headstrong independence and spirited personality, Hepburn's career spanned more than 60 years.
• Buoyed by the success of the film, another sequel has been confirmed.
• Born in London, her parents run a market research company.
  (The daughter was born in London.)
• After marrying Helen, ... lawsuits ... results [sic] in the creation ...
• After immigrating to America, the family's surname was changed
• After being expelled three times, and [wanting] to quit school, [his] parents sent him to P.S. 45
• Although highly regarded for her acting abilities, [actress Angelina] Jolie's films to date had not appealed to a wide audience
  An adaptation of the popular Tomb Raider videogame, Jolie was required to master a British accent
• The basis for a Nobel Prize, Mr. Kahneman developed this theory ...
• Originally a member of the Democratic Party, his positions began shifting rightward
• Posessed of a deep, rich voice even in his early teens, several of the actors encouraged Beery to take singing lessons
• Set to music written by Junior Vasquez, Deborah Norville penned the lyrics
• Born in 1928, his parents emigrated to the United States
  (The son was born in 1928.)
• Set in the middle of Season 1, Cloud 9 celebrates the Summer Olympic Games
  

Introductory adjective phrase applies to something in previous sentence

The second sentence in each of these examples is incoherent when read alone. The introductory adjective phrase typically applies to the subject of the previous sentence, and the reader is expected to figure that out intuitively. This pattern is very common in the first two sentences of article ledes.

Statement about the subject.	Description of the subject, ...	... statement about something else.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race.	Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, ...	... race teams have to balance speed against the cars ability to run for 24 Hours.
[the passenger] became very drunk.	After harrassing other passengers and crew members, ...	... the pilot had to sit on him to restrain him..
Kia introduced a new [front grille for their cars].	Known as the Tiger Nose, ...	... [the man who designed it] indicated he wanted "a powerful visual signal."
axial forces ... force the clutch plates to close.	Once closed, ...	... the output shaft is locked.
Shinto is a religion originating from Japan.	Classified as an East Asian religion, ...	... its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion.

Trailing relative clause is separated from the thing it modifies

A relative clause modifies a noun (word or phrase). It's supposed to follow the noun immediately.

• Gene has Ryan's father show up, who delivers an impassioned speech

Pretentious or pseudosophisticated misuse of expressions

These expressions (first column) should be avoided where not specifically applicable. They provide no extra information and can be confusing.

Bad (sometimes)	Better	Comments
"subsequent(ly)"	"later" or "following"
"while"	"and"
"as well as"	"and"
"amid"	"during" or "because of"
"not A nor B"	either "not A or B" or "neither A nor B"	double negative
"garner"	"receive"	borrowed from the entertainment industry

Miscellaneous

• the word "claim" can imply that a statement is incorrect
• The film currently garners an 82% approval rating
• the film currently garners an 87% approval rating
• That series meets the criteria ... Subsequently a list is warranted.
• Based on 112 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 22% of critics gave the film a positive review.
• critically panned, with an 11% negative rating
• she is too embarrassed. (editor deleted the effect of embarrassment)
• the husband and wife ... who owns the dog
• The trio track Singer down, who tells them ...
• ... Appearance Generators, a device ...