I apologize for the length of this Language Nag note. I've been saving stuff. ** When we use the phrase "as well as," we often are confused about whether to use a singular or plural verb. Here are examples of the correct use: "A 21-year-old intern, as well as a judge's wife and a newspaper reporter, is reported to have had an affair with the president." (The subject of the verb is singular.) "The man, as well as his wife and children, was held for questioning after an airline employee heard him make joking threats." (Again, the subject of the verb is singular.) There are other grammatical problems with the phrase "as well as." Some of us are also confused about whether to use the nominative or objective pronoun. The case of the pronoun should be the same as the case of the noun or pronoun in the preceding phrase, Bernstein says. Here are some examples of correct use: "They have elected you, as well as me." ("Me" is the object of the verb. They have elected you, as well as [they have elected] me. "I, as well as they, am sick to death of hearing mean-spirited, corny jokes about copy editors." (I am sick and so are they.) [Not really. I LOVE mean-spirited, corny jokes.] Bernstein does the best job of explaining "as well as," but Bremner has a fine explanation, too. ** If you are reluctant to do something, you are "loath" to do it. If you detest doing something, you "loathe" doing it. ** Let's call a cease-fire on referring to Cary as a "boom town," one editor pleads. ** We should not use "another" as a synonym for "additional" or others." Here is an example of incorrect use: "A million people watched the game on TV; another 2 million listened to it on the radio." Instead, we should write: "A million people watched the game on TV; 2 million others listened to it on the radio." Here is another example of incorrect use: "The legislature appropriated $5 million for the child welfare fund; the corporation provided another $3 million." Instead, we should write: "The legislature appropriated $5 million for the child welfare fund; the corporation provided an additional $3 million." ** Please check the dictionary for words that begin with "non" to see whether they should be hyphenated. Most are not hyphenated. ** Some state agencies changed their names some time ago, but we are still having trouble referring to them by their correct names. We have a state Department of Health and Human Services and a state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (I must note that stories coming off the state government desk use these names correctly. The problem comes in stories from other desks, written by folks who apparently aren't as familiar with state government.) ** In my last note on "sewers" and "sewage" I neglected to mention that sewerage" is a system of pipes for carrying away sewage. (Thanks to Walter Dorsett and Allen Torrey for reminding me.) ** Please take time to look at Walter's thorough and helpful critiques of the paper. He places them on the cabinet nearest Teresa Leonard's office on the third floor. They are NOT just for copy editors.