MB Proofreading
  • About MBP
  • My rates
  • Services
  • Clients
  • Mary's musings
  • Testimonials
  • Contact me

Astroturf 

23/9/2015

0 Comments

 
I always thought Astroturf was a fake grass surface used for sports fields. Right? 
Picture
Wrong.
Astroturf or astroturfing has another meaning that is quite a clever play on words.

Astroturf or astroturfing, in urban speak, means to attempt to create the impression of widespread grassroots support for a policy, product, or individual, where little support actually exists, by paying people in the public to pretend to be supportive. This false support can take the form of letters to a newspaper, postings on message boards in response to criticism, or writing to politicians in support of a cause.

Often fake pressure groups and online identities are used to mislead the public into believing that the view the astroturfer holds is the commonly held view.

It is the opposite of ‘grassroots’. Grassroots movements in politics, for example, arise directly from independent members of the public.
 

So ... ‘astroturfing’ is artificial ‘grassroots’!

Boom boom!!

0 Comments

'Who' or 'Whom' -- do you know which to use?

10/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
The first thing you need to work out is the difference between subjects and objects in a sentence. When you are referring to the subject of a clause you use ‘who’, and when you are referring to the object of a clause you use ‘whom’.

Still confused? Let’s try to simplify it. The subject of a sentence is the person doing something, and the object is having something done to them. Try to remember that:
I, he, she = who
Him, her = whom

If I hug Lola, then I am the subject and Lola is the object, so it would be ‘Who hugged Lola?’ because it was me, the subject, that hugged her. It would be ‘Whom did you hug?’ if you were trying to find out who it was I hugged, as you would be asking about the object - Lola.

More examples:
Who/Whom bought the cake?
He/she bought the cake. Therefore, it would be correct to say ‘Who bought the cake?’
Who/Whom should I visit?
Should I visit him/her? Therefore, it would be ‘Whom should I visit?’

Hope this makes it all a bit clearer!



0 Comments
    Picture

    Mary's musings ... 
    (Mary Bate)
     

    Freelance proofreader, copy editor and teaching assistant.

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    August 2018
    August 2016
    May 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015