Prepositions

“… good number to reach you back at?”

Prepositions

I heard this yesterday from a customer-service agent.

Problems:
1. The question ended on a preposition.
2. The word “back” is a poor substitute for what the agent should have said.

Explanation:
The full question was “Is this a good number to reach you back at?”

The agent wanted to confirm that the telephone number that she had would be a valid number to call in the event of getting disconnected during the current call.

Removing the preposition “at” from the end of the question requires rewording “to reach you … at?” as “at which to reach you …?”; that solves the first problem.

The second problem comes from laziness on the part of the agent. This is obvious when one realizes that “back” was a substitute for “in the event that we get disconnected”. This gives us the solution to the second problem.

Solution:
“… good number at which to reach you in the event that we get disconnected?”

“Blah Blah In Blah”

Common English Blunders, Prepositions

I saw a title in the format of “Blah Blah In Blah” while watching a television program last evening.

Problem:
The preposition “in” should not be capitalized.

Explanation:
Obviously, I don’t recall the “Blah” words.

What I do recall is that the preposition “in” was capitalized in the title.

This is incorrect.

The traditional rule has been that a preposition in a title should not be capitalized unless the preposition is the first or last word in the title.

Some people have refined this rule to say that it’s okay to capitalize prepositions that are five characters long or longer.

I believe that Microsoft Word and other software applications have contributed to the incorrect capitalization of prepositions in titles. Their titling rules usually capitalize each word in a title.

So I don’t recommend relying on these applications for help with proper capitalization of prepositions in titles.

Solution:
“Blah Blah in Blah”

Simile vs. Metaphor

Nouns, Prepositions, Versus

Many people confuse these two words.

Problem:
These two nouns are not synonyms.

Explanation:
A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”.

The origin of the word “simile” is a Latin noun that means likeness.

A metaphor is a comparison that does not use “like” or “as”.

The origin of the word “metaphor” is a Greek verb that means to transfer.

So another way to think of a metaphor is that it acts like a symbol for something else.

Solution:
A comparison is a simile when it involve “like” or “as”; a metaphor never involves either of these prepositions.