A Per-Verse Look at Language Abuse

Casting Nasturtiums Front Cover

Casting Nasturtiums Front Cover

The Casting Nasturtiums Website exists to try to rid the world of some of the more nonsensical of the many common errors in English. How do we propose to do that? Ideally it would be by encouraging everyone who uses the English language as a means of communication to read (or preferably buy) the book “Casting Nasturtiums”, which could prove quite a hard road to hoe!.

Although not wanting to be seen casting nasturtiums here, why would anyone give a book about common errors in English, the title, “Casting Nasturtiums”? Its certainly a different tact, but incentified by what he has seen and heard over the years, Greg Shalless has in one foul swoop, done just that.

Let’s face it this is a fairly boring subject, but by highlighting these common errors in English with pieces of humorous verse we hope our readers will find them sufficiently amusing and memorable that they will be unlikely to ever make these mistakes again.

We strongly recommend that you check out the Preview and have a crack at The CASTING NASTURTIUMS Quiz. We are also very interested to see which responses emerge as the most popular in The Polls, so make sure you cast your vote.
 

You can place Orders now by visiting our Shopping Page

Who Should Read “Casting Nasturtiums”?

  • Managers
  • PAs
  • Clerks
  • Teachers
  • Writers
  • Students
  • Lawyers
  • Journalists
  • Editors
  • MCs
  • Sporting Commentators

Why? – To prevent people casting aspersions at them!

  • Share/Bookmark

3 comments - What do you think?  Posted by - July 14, 2009 at 5:39 am

Categories: Our Mission   Tags:

Local Newspaper Article

This article was published in my local paper, the Leader Progress.

  • Share/Bookmark

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by - December 2, 2009 at 1:32 am

Categories: News   Tags:

Casting Nasturtiums is now in stock

“Casting Nasturtiums” has been returned from the Printers and is now in stock. No doubt we’ll find an obvious typo or three now that the print-run is done, but hopefully you’ll know what we meant. Given that the book is a somewhat pedantic critique of common errors in English we understand that we will be open to much ridicule for any errors we have made, but c’est la vie.

You can place Orders now by visiting our Shopping Page

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by - September 23, 2009 at 11:24 am

Categories: News   Tags:

"Nasturtiums" cast in the Real World

If you have seen or heard any “Nasturtiums” being cast in the real world, please let us know about them by leaving a comment here. Such examples of nonsensical errors in English expression may be already covered by a verse in “Casting Nasturtiums”, or they may be examples that really annoy you that you wish we had covered. Who knows, they might turn up in “Volume 2″. Either way we’re interested to hear about them, especially if they are errors made by people of note. If possible it would be great if you could quote the source and if it’s on the Web please give us the link to where.

Here’s a few we found on the Web:

  • “Why do Winters love to cast nasturtiums on us Autumns? This discriminatory superiority is really starting to harsh my mellow.”
    – from www.simondoonan.net/the_ny_observer/color_me_beautiful/
    Unwittingly Simon cast an aspersion on his fellow “Autumns” by his use of this incorrect expression. A “Winter” could perhaps respond by saying that it is because, with expressions like that, you make it so easy.
  • “Well, you’re taking an entirely different tact to tackle dengue fever as you’re working on the fact that only old mosquitoes transmit the disease, more on that.”
    – from www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1457030.htm
    What a pity the interviewer didn’t get this right, because the alliterative nature of “different tack to tackle” would have made a so much better question.
  • Statue of Limitations – The maximum amount of time that can lapse after something happens for it to be taken to court.”
    – from www.legal-dictionary.org/legal-dictionary-s/Statue-of-Limitations.asp
    Can you believe it? Something purporting to be a legal dictionary doesn’t even realise that the law has “statutes” rather than “statues”.
  • Share/Bookmark

1 comment - What do you think?  Posted by - August 10, 2009 at 10:28 pm

Categories: Real-World Examples   Tags:

Book Reviews

If you have read “Casting Nasturtiums”, please leave a comment below and let us know what you think of it. The first Book Review of “Casting Nasturtiums” was done by 3AW’s “Personality Pete” whose Foreword to the book can be read here.

Be the first to comment - What do you think?  Posted by - at 9:29 pm

Categories: Book Reviews   Tags: