Rooting For Grassroots

My senior told me, if you are referring to the root of the grass, then it's grassroot, and if there are many roots, it's grassroots.

However if you are using the term in reference to people, then it must never be grassroot. It should be grassroots.



Hence, he has the support of the grassroots; or if you want to use the term without the letter s, then it must be grassroot leaders or grassroot members. Hence, he has the support of grassroot members.

I think he is both right and wrong. He is wrong about the grassroot being the reference for the root of the grass. I think if I was indeed referring to the root, shouldn't I be writing it as grass root or grass roots, with the spacing in between instead?

The fact that the term is spelled as one word itself is already an evidence that I was not referring to the actual root. No?

Note to self: must research some answer on this. Until and unless I get the definite answer, it would be best that I heed the advice of my senior.

How To Clean Copy

Here's a a course, which I'm sure will be a great resources, on how to clean your copy but I haven't register. I'll do it this week.

Summer Institute for Midcareer Copy Editors is another great copy editing resources.

Does It Matter Whether Or Not I'm Right And You're Wrong?

No it doesn't. The only things that matters here is whether or not the or not should be there in the first place!

I've been trying to find a solution to this problem of how to correctly put two conflicting scenarios where one is the alternate to the other, in one sentence. Can I actually use "whether or not" and get away with it without suffering any repercussions from the grammar police?

Somehow it doesn't feel right to say whether or not I'm right. It sounds gramatically correct with whether I'm right or not but still it's mouthful. Then I just realise that it sounds even better with the plain whether I'm right. I'm not sure if I'm right though.

Apparently, the or not issue has been discussed and debated all this while. Columbia Journalism Review has a brief but very informative article on this issue.

It says, among other things, that, "At times, though, balance, euphony and even logic demand `or not' or something else to specify the alternative outcome."

But even then, from now on, I shall try no to use or not after the word whether if that is possible.

One more thing, can I say whether I'm right or otherwise instead? Hmmm... I guess not. Imagine having to write whether or otherwise I'm right... Ah, Shakespeare is turning in his grave again!