Bookmark Jamaica-Gleaner.com
Go-Jamaica Gleaner Classifieds Discover Jamaica Youth Link Jamaica
Business Directory Go Shopping inns of jamaica Local Communities

Home
Lead Stories
News
Business
Sport
Commentary
Letters
Entertainment
Arts &Leisure
Outlook
In Focus
Social
Auto
More News
The Star
Financial Gleaner
Overseas News
The Voice (UK)
Communities
Hospitality Jamaica
Google
Web
Jamaica- gleaner.com

Archives
1998 - Now (HTML)
1834 - Now (PDF)
Services
Find a Jamaican
Careers
Library
Power 106FM
Weather
Subscriptions
News by E-mail
Newsletter
Print Subscriptions
Interactive
Chat
Dating & Love
Free Email
Guestbook
ScreenSavers
Submit a Letter
WebCam
About Us
Advertising
Gleaner Company
Contact Us
Other News
Stabroek News



National pride Wordsmith -A forum for examining the language of speech and writing.
published: Sunday | September 14, 2008

Guard Us With Thy Mighty Hand

Please, people, get it right. The first word in the second line of the national anthem is 'guard', and not 'guide' as is sung way too often. What is worse is that half of the time you see the anthem written, it is presented as 'guard us'. Our national anthem is one of the most beautiful prayers. Out of respect for self and love for country, let us get it right:

'Eternal Father bless our land/Guard us with thy mighty hand'.

Governor General

The Wordsmith sanctions the use of locally manufactured exercise books, but we must get it right. The inside front cover of a popular brand carries information about the national heroes and the 'Governor Generals'.

The plural of 'governor general' is 'governors general'. It indicates that we are referring to more than one governor. 'General' as part of the title performs an adjectival function, and is one of the few cases in the English language where the adjective follows, rather than precedes the noun.

For questions and comments, email: the speechcoach_ja @yahoo.com.

More Arts &Leisure



Print this Page

Letters to the Editor

Most Popular Stories






© Copyright 1997-2008 Gleaner Company Ltd.
Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Letters to the Editor | Suggestions | Add our RSS feed
Home - Jamaica Gleaner