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Longtime N&O journalist Pam Nelson writes about language use and misuse and answers questions about grammar and style. Readers can weigh in on what annoys them, too. Think of this as your online grammar class. Send e-mail to Pam at pam.nelson@newsobserver.com.
Today's quiz was inspired and aided by John Bremner's "Words on Words." The five sentences on the quiz involve word choices. Some sentences appeared in print; others were composed to illustrate the point.
Click here or on the question mark icon to begin.
Pam Nelson began her career as a writer in 1976 and has worked in various editing jobs at The News & Observer since 1987. She has won awards for her headline writing and has taught college classes in copy editing and seminars in grammar and usage. 
Comments
Censure/censor
Tue, 10/07/2008 - 12:40 — Marc M (not verified)I agree with scocca: the difficult word here is "distribution." The government can censor a movie; the N&O can censor reportage; but a film's distribution cannot be censored, only censured.
Question 1
Mon, 09/29/2008 - 10:42 — scoccaI agree with your comment that question #1 is confusing, but I disagree with the reasoning for your answer. I chose "censure" over "censor" because the latter would be completely nonsensical--the actor in the sentence, the N&O, clearly has no capacity to censor the distribution of a motion picture. While the paper's "censure" would not have prevented someone from seeing the movie--making the comment a bit confusing--it still reflects something that could have actually happened.
Re: Question 1
Tue, 09/30/2008 - 13:36 — Pam_Nelson (author)I think your explanation is reasonable, given how confusing that sentence is.
Pam Nelson
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