If you’re watching the Olympics, you’ve probably seen this sad Google commercial about a father who wants his daughter to use the Google Gemini AI assistant to write a fan letter to her favorite athlete, hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Here’s the commercial: Let’s put it to the test Ok, Google, let’s see what you’ve got. Here’s…
American swimmer Ryan Lochte has apologized for his behavior during an altercation in Rio de Janeiro. A good apology cites specifics and is direct about the people who were harmed. His isn’t. Lochte and his three teammates originally claimed they were robbed at gunpoint by Brazilians posing as police officers. Surveillance video reveals a different story: they stopped…
We’re coming up on 100 years since William Strunk, Jr. told us to avoid the passive voice. What’s the big deal? Simply put: it makes the reader work harder. It hides the “who” in sentences, plunging the reader into a mysterious world in which things happen without actors or causes. Creepy! I’ll illustrate five common passive-voice…