Author: Kirk

“That does not constitute running a red light.”

Verbs

I heard this in a police-car windshield-camera video.

Problem:
The word “constitute” is inappropriate in this statement.

Explanation:
The video has been played on several Houston television news broadcasts.

The video, captured by the windshield camera in the police car of Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell, shows some of what happened when Officer Powell stopped NFL football player Ryan Moats for running a red light.

Mr. Moats explained to Officer Powell that he and his family were rushing to the hospital where his mother-in-law lay dying — and eventually died before Moats was released by Powell.

Powell responded, “That does not constitute running a red light.”

It seems that Officer Powell was over his head not only with exercising common sense but also with the definitions of basic verbs.

Solution:
“That does not justify running a red light.”

“You have done great.”

Adjectives, Adverbs

I read this in a company’s employee-education course about a week ago.

Problem:
The word “great” is not an adverb.

Explanation:
The word “great” in “You have done great.” acts as an adverb because it modifies the verb “done”.

Writing “You have done great.” is just as wrong as writing “You have done good.” because neither the adjective “good” nor the adjective “great” should be used to modify a verb.

The solution comes from replacing the adjective “great” with an adverb that carries a similar sentiment.

Solution:
“You have done well.”

“He has a temperature.”

Adjectives, Euphemisms, Nouns, Outsider's Perspective

This is a popular statement in American English now.

For fun, I searched Google separately for “has a temperature” and “have a temperature” (each with the quotation marks, to avoid variations) and got about 589,000 matches and about 427,000 matches, respectively.

But to say that someone “has a temperature” means nothing except for the negative connotation beneath its euphemistic form.

Someone usually says or writes “He has a temperature.” to tell the listener or reader, respectively, that the subject of the sentence has a higher-than-normal temperature.

But the noun “temperature” by itself has no positive or negative value.

Can you imagine someone, such as a non-native-English speaker, first reading or hearing “He has a temperature.” or “You have a temperature.”?

The statement would be meaningless to such a person.

The noun “temperature” must be modified by an adjective to give it value.

Otherwise, you are speaking in euphemisms.