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CONTENTS FEATURE: Say what you mean, so people know what you're talkin' 'bout GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Say what you mean, so people know what you're talkin' 'bout      In his role as Arnold Jackson the 1970s and '80s television series "Diff'rent Strokes," child actor Gary Coleman injected pop culture with an indignantly expressed question: "What you talkin' 'bout?"      That catchphrase retains enduring value in the context of nonsensical utterances in contemporary advertising, bureaucratic statements and political pronouncements. People often don't clearly express what they mean.      For example, a radio commercial boasted, "Remember, that's Downtown Ford, where no one can save you more."      Gee, if no one at Downtown Ford can save you more, you might consider shopping elsewhere for a better price.      When Doug Ose was campaigning for re-election to Congress, he declared, "In Congress, I voted to cut taxes 80 times."      Some voters may have thought, "Wow! Legislation that will cut taxes 80 times! I hope it passes."      Ose meant to say, of course, that he had voted 80 times to cut taxes — but that's not what he said.      A television news reporter who was interviewing a public health official asked, "Will avoiding crowds further stop the spread of the H1N1 flu?"      Cessation is not measurable by degrees; it's absolute. Something either is stopped or it isn't; it can't be "further stopped." The reporter should have said "further slow" or — better yet — "curtail" the spread of H1N1.      In an article about the importance of maintaining proper pH in athletic field turf and golf greens, a university agricultural researcher wrote, "More than likely your soil needs lime."      The adjective "likely" indicates a high probability of occurring. If something is "more than likely," then it's doubtless, assured, certain. Your soil needs lime. Period.      "Last summer I had the opportunity to meet Rudy Giuliani," Fred said during the luncheon.      Several people wondered whether or not Fred acted on that opportunity. Fred didn't say that he met Guiliani — but merely that he had the opportunity to do so.      A news account puzzlingly began, "A rocket launched by a private company crashed in the New Mexico desert this week before it achieved orbit."      So after crashing, it achieved orbit? What you talkin' 'bout?      The reporter should have written, "A rocket launched by a private company failed in its attempt to achieve orbit and crashed in the New Mexico desert this week."      Amazed by the capabilities of a friend's mobile phone, Wilma mused, "What won't they think of next?      Wilma, don't you mean "what will they think of next?" (Whoever they are.)      In a recurrent television commercial for a salad dressing, an announcer says, "There's a place called Hidden Valley where kids not only eat their vegetables, they can't get enough."      That sounds like the supply of vegetables there is insufficient to meet the needs of those apparently undernourished children.      The script probably should have said, "In a place called Hidden Valley, even after kids finish eating all of their vegetables, they're always ready for more."      A photo caption in the automotive section of a newspaper read, "Toyota Prius consumes 48 mpg in the city, and 45 mpg on the highway."      The abbreviation "mpg," of course, stands for "miles per gallon." The Prius doesn't consume miles; the caption should have said that the Prius attains 48 mpg.      "We have a 13-year-old boy missing in Fremont," a radio news crew announced.      Not true. If the crew members did have the boy, he wouldn't be missing.      A competing station reported, "a 13-year-old boy has turned up missing."      No, he hasn't turned up. He's missing.      A city's announcement about a new administrative appointment declared, "As deputy mayor, he will earn $213,000 a year."      That cannot be said with certainty yet. The verb "earn" carries an implication of proof of worthiness or deserving of compensation as a result of meritorious job performance. The city will pay him a salary of $213,000 per year — an amount that he may not necessarily earn.      University police officers discovered a 9 mm gun, two loaded magazines and bullets in a metal box in the dormitory room of a student, who eluded capture. The university president told news reporters, "the student's motives are unknown."      That's improbable. At least one person — the student himself ‚ knows the motives. The president should have said, "neither university police nor administrators have learned the student's motives."      Pauline identified herself as the "executive director of a nonprofit."      Her friend Roy, who works for a commercial business, does not describe his employer as a "profit"; he says he works for a "profit-making enterprise." Accordingly, Pauline's employer is a nonprofit organization.      An Associated Press news story published in 2008 described a report analyzing impending problems in delivery of health care for the aging "baby boomer" population. A committee of the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, prepared the report. Here is how the article summarized four key points of the report: • There aren't enough specialists in geriatric medicine. • Insufficient training is available. • The specialists who do exist are underpaid. • Medicare fails to provide for team care that many elderly patients need.      Take a look at that second bullet point: "insufficient training is available." That sounds like an appealing choice for a struggling student. Why bother taking the regular, difficult training program when "insufficient training is available"?      The bullet item, of course, was poorly composed. It should have read: • Training programs cannot accommodate the large number of geriatricians needed.      As Pete offered his assessment of a problem, Luisa squinted her eyes, then raised her forefinger.      "Pete, I don't know that I would say that, " Luisa said.      Pete and other committee members thought to themselves, "Gee, Luisa, you sound uncertain about whether or not you disagree. So you don't know that you would say that. Well then, what you talkin' 'bout?"      She would have made her position clear if she had simply said, "I disagree."      The Springfield school board announced that a middle school principal had been "placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into charges that he had been carrying a concealed weapon on school grounds. Police escorted him off campus without incident."      The phrase "paid administrative leave" is illogical. He's not administering anything now, because he's on leave from the school. He was suspended from duty, and will be paid during his absence.      In a story about the disappearance of a child, a news reporter declared, "Police have not issued an Amber Alert because there is no evidence that the girl was abducted."      That's inaccurate; the reporter cannot say with certainty that such evidence does not exist. The reporter should have written: "... because law enforcement officers have not discovered any evidence indicating that the girl was abducted."      An actor playing Eric, a suspect in a dramatic presentation, blurted, "But, Abby is the last person I'd want to hurt."      That sounds like Eric has a waiting list of other people he intends to hurt first, before moving on to Abby.      A television news reporter, dispatched to cover a fire at a small business, declared, "Fire inspectors don't believe the building had fire sprinklers."      That statement suggests that perhaps fire inspectors were disputing someone's contention that the building had fire sprinklers, but there was no such controversy. The reporter should have said, "Fire inspectors believe that the building lacked fire sprinklers."      A sign in a hospital reception room said, "The laboratory waiting area was made possible through the generosity of the Accounting Firm of Nichols, Moola and Dinero."      Well, no. Design and construction of the space would have remained a possibility with or without the involvement of the accounting firm. The sign probably should have read, "The Accounting Firm of Nichols, Moola and Dinero generously donated funds to furnish and decorate the laboratory waiting area."      Each time you're writing or preparing to speak before an audience, think of Arnold Jackson. Make sure none of your statements would provoke him to ask, "What you talkin' 'bout?" GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Bob M. wrote:      "I've been asked by my sister-in-law to get your opinion about these words and their misuses: 'flammable' or 'inflammable'; 'thaw' or 'unthaw'; 'run you over' or 'run over you.' I remember tanker trucks with signs: 'Inflammable, do not smoke.' Now, there are instructions about thawing food calling for 'unthawing.' Any ideas?" The grammar coach replies:      Certainly, Bob. "Flammable" and "inflammable" both mean "capable of being easily ignited." In the case of this word, "in" is not a prefix meaning "not"; rather, it is an intensifier derived from Latin. Because of the confusion, "flammable" is the more advisable choice.      "Thaw" means to melt or change from a frozen to a liquid state. The word "unthaw" is illegitimate; it's not a real word. If it did exist, it would mean the opposite of "thaw" — in other words, "freeze." Forget "unthaw." That's uncool.      "Run over" is a legitimate phrasal verb that has both an intransitive meaning (overflow) and a transitive sense (collide with, knock down and drive over). Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a particle — either a preposition or adverb. Some phrasal verbs are separable — their object may follow the intact phrasal verb (e.g., "turn off the water" or it may split the verb from its particle ("turn the water off"). Other phrasal verbs are inseparable — ("Roger came across some old photos in the attic"); the object must follow the particle. Saying "Roger came some old photos across in the attic" would be nonsensical.      The transitive phrasal verb "run over" is separable as long as the object is a noun; you could say either "the car ran over the newspaper" or "the car ran the newspaper over." When the object is a pronoun, however, it should be placed between the verb and the particle. In your example, "run you over" is correct; the "run over you" word order is inadvisable. 2. Gilbert C. wrote:      "My company recently completed construction of an office building, which includes two conference rooms at opposite ends of a hallway. Restrooms and several office suites separate the two conference rooms. I objected to our leasing agent's property description that said the building contains "two adjacent conference rooms." They're not next door to each other, but the leasing agent said that's not necessary to be considered "adjacent." I disagree. Can you tell us who is right?" The grammar coach replies:           Your leasing agent is correct, Gilbert. Two objects don't have to touch each other to be adjacent. The only requirement for adjacency is that no similar or duplicate objects or items may appear between them. The two conference rooms at opposite ends of the hallway can, indeed, be considered adjacent, since a third conference room does not exist elsewhere in the hall.      "Adjacent" is not synonymous with the adjective "adjoining," which does indicate that two objects touch at some point. Other words that indicate proximity include "contiguous," which refers to contact along the entire side or length of two or more objects. And when two objects are placed side by side to enable comparison or contrast, you may say they have been "juxtaposed."      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros' services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.      EditPros LLC, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals, and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco; however, our clients include educational institutions, private corporations, health-care organizations, trade associations, scientific research institutions, Web site developers and government agencies from throughout the United States. We have worked with some of them for more than 10 years.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to client organizations for which we have not worked previously.      This offer will remain in effect until further notice. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. We respond to all "grammar coach" questions personally, but delays may occur because we must place top priority on assignments from our clients. We appreciate your patience and your interest.      You also can change your e-mail subscription address. 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