More writing (and speaking) pet peeves

As a follow-up to the last post, I want to mention what I see as a big issue in our language that has manifest itself in my students' writing: the death of the adverb.

People don't do things quickly anymore (correct), they do them quick (incorrect).
People were not dressed formally (correct), they were dressed formal (incorrect).
The band did not play loudly (correct), they played loud (incorrect).

If you're talking about how someone did something, you need to add the suffix -ly to the word:

We ran quickly to the next house.
He looked lovingly at his new bicycle.

As you're proofreading your final papers, please look careful carefully through your paper to make sure that you didn't careless carelessly kill any poor adverbs.

For more information on dying adverbs:

• An article from the Boston Globe
  
• From Oxford University Press