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First things first requires acknowledgement of my subject/verb “oops” in the last paragraph of last week’s column about the first of this year’s Lenten Luncheons. I was attempting to render “Youse guys better show up, man” into standard English and settled on “You are invited” but thought to personalize the message a little with “each of.” Needless to say, I neglected to change the plural “are” into “is” in the edit. My bad, as we say. As my obsession in advanced age is the cause of more communicative written composition, I accept the demands of being grammarian-in-chief, beginning with my own composition. I find myself berating my television set when newscasters confuse fewer and less (remember, it’s fewer people and less salt or sand). I may even have screamed out, “Fewer people, not less!” during after-dinner speeches, so I willingly accept censure.
