Episode 65B: Our grammar has never been worse

I commented this week on a BP ad where the representative said that they are drilling for oil "more safely." I'll say it again - it is either safer, the safest we have ever been, or safely.

The same spokesman finished that same commercial with "Our commitment has never been stronger." It has never been stronger than it is now? It has never been stronger than their grammar? Stronger is a modifier. Check the commercial before it airs, or in this case errors.

Episode 65: BP's grammar needs to be cleaner, clearer.

I was watching a BP Oil commercial yesterday and the grammar bothered me. The spokesman explained that they had learned some lessons after the BP Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. They said that they have learned how to extract oil from the Gulf "more safely." That language is bizarrer than you might think.

Bizarre and safely are words that cannot be modified. The interesting thing is that the root words can be modified, and they are modified in the opposite way. Bizarre things can be even more bizarre  or the most bizarre. Bizarre things cannot be bizarrer or be the bizarrest. Keep that in mind while playing Scrabble with unscrupulous friends.

Conversely, drilling practices can be safer. BP oil can be the safest drilling company. They can drill more safely. They can drill safely. They cannot drill more safely.

Who checks these commercial before they air?