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Dear Heloise: Just read an avid reader’s suggestion about employees/staff wearing name tags so that people can know their names. Why not just ask them? It is more personal and shows that you really care. I read your column in the San Antonio Express-News. — Al S., via email
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FOUNTAIN PEN INK REMOVAL
Dear Heloise: I have a suggestion for Alice, in New York, on removing fountain pen ink. I used expensive specialized products with limited success, until my sister told me about Pears soap. She uses it to remove red wine stains from cloth napkins, so I thought it’d be good to get fountain pen ink off my hands. It works great! I buy the gold transparent soap from the dollar store, so it’s a bargain. — Sue C., via email
STOVE SAFETY
Dear Heloise: When I turn on a burner on my stove, I also turn on the task light above my stove. This signals to me that a burner is on so I don’t leave it on after I finish cooking. Also, in the grocery store, I rub the plastic bag together between my hands, and it automatically separates the sleeve so that I can open it up without a problem. I enjoy your column in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel. — Joyce A., via email
GRAMMAR SOUND OFF
Dear Heloise: As a former senior technical writer/editor for a research institute, a published author, a freelance editor, an instructor of professional business and technical writing at universities and colleges, and a substitute high school English teacher, I’m appalled at the number of Americans who cannot write or speak proper English. Students today aren’t taught the parts of speech or the rules of grammar, nor the importance of proper communication in the work world.
When I hear people say, “Me and her are going to the show,” or “This room needs vacuumed,” it’s all I can do to hold my tongue, although I confess that I do correct my young grandchildren. (It’s better to teach them now than to let them continue to speak poor English.)
As I told my university students, when I see a glaring grammatical error in a promotional flyer for a bank, for example, my faith in the bank vanishes. How can I trust a bank to manage my funds if the bank can’t even catch mistakes in its correspondence? Poor grammar equates to unprofessionalism. — Stevie K., in Centerville, Ohio
Stevie, do you have any suggestions on how to fix this problem? I believe it starts in the home with parents speaking to their child, but not everyone agrees. Readers, what are your thoughts on this subject? Should we correct children who use improper English? — Heloise
THE WORD OF THE DAY
Dear Heloise: My husband and I made up a word game to help our children learn better English and a wider vocabulary. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at dinnertime, my husband will ask, “What’s the word of the day?” Each child selects a word from the dictionary the day before. They pronounce the word, spell it, and tell him what it means.
Last night, all three had their words ready: oblique, mandate and permeable. My oldest child is 11, and the twins are 10; for their ages, they have a wide and varied vocabulary. — Julie A., in Needham, Massachusetts