Prepositions

“Click here if this page does not refresh in one minute.”

Devolution toward Simpler, Prepositions

I saw this on Houston’s water-bill-payment website.

Problem:
The preposition “in” is misleading in this sentence.

Explanation:
This imperative sentence implies that the reader should click the “here” link in the event that the page does not refresh exactly one minute after it first appears.

However, my experience with the page is that it always has refreshed itself sooner than that, so the sentence should not tell the reader that the page requires exactly one minute to refresh itself. Instead, the sentence should tell the reader that the page requires up to one minute to refresh itself.

The correct preposition for this sentence is “within” because one of its definitions is in the period of.

I believe that the use of “in” in place of “within” supports my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis. It’s simpler to write or say “in” than to write or say “within”.

Solution:
“Click here if this page does not refresh within one minute.”

“… a tool to manage the project end to end.”

Adverbs, Common English Blunders, Prepositions

I saw this in a presentation.

Problem:
A preposition is missing.

Explanation:
The presenter wanted to tell his audience about the extent to which the tool would let the tool’s users manage the project.

When I first read “a tool to manage the project end to end”, I put “project” and “end” together. I believed that the presenter meant “project’s end” when I saw “project end”. However, I then was thrown by the seemingly extraneous “to end” that followed “project end”.

As I listened to the presenter, I realized that the tool lets its users manage “the project” (not “the project end”) from the beginning of the project to the end of the project.

Another way to state this is from one end of the project to the other end of the project.

Simplifying this phrase, we get the adverbial phrase from end to end and therefore the simplest solution to the problem.

Solution:
“… a tool to manage the project from end to end.”

“I’m not sure where she’s at.”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Prepositions

I heard this spoken by a police officer on the “COPS” television show.

Problem:
The “at” in this statement is unnecessary.

Explanation:
I blogged about “at” last month in my “Where are you at?” post. As I wrote then, “where” implies “at” because “where” is conceptually equivalent to “at” plus a location. Therefore, “at” is unnecessary.

Beyond failing to think a second time about what the word “where” means, I believe that there is another reason why someone would say “she’s at” instead of “she is”, especially at the end of a sentence. Try saying “she’s at” and “she is”; I believe that you’ll agree with me that “she’s at” is simpler to say than is “she is”.

The phrase “she’s at” rolls off the tongue quickly as SHE-ZAT. The phrase “she is” struggles off the tongue as SHE-IZZ. Also, one must hold the IZZ part longer than one must hold the ZAT part to be understood by the listener.

In other words, the tendency of some to prefer “she’s at” over “she is” is consistent with my “Devolution toward Simpler” hypothesis.

Solution:
“I’m not sure where she is.”