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---
title: "and'd"
number: 1299
tags: [Writing](index-on-writing), [Rants](index-rants)
blurb: Not helpful!
version: 1.0
released: 2024-08-12
current: 
---

The other day, I was musing on some topic [1] and was editing a draft using Grammarly. It gave me some of the worst advice I've seen.

Here's my sentence.

I've taken a quick look at it, and I'd prefer to restate it as a CSG problem.

What comments might you make about this not-very-exciting sentence? Here are some that spring to mind.

  • The "it" reference may not be obvious; perhaps restate the corresponding referrent. E.g., "I've taken a look at that assignment."
  • "taken a look" is a long way to say "looked". Once you've made that change, you might also get rid of the contracted "have".
  • Some readers may be put off by the contractions of "I have" and "I would". (My musings are relatively informal; contractions are part of the deal.)
  • If you haven't recently explained CSG (Computing for Social Good), you might want to do so. (In the original, I added an endnote to explain.)

Putting it all together, you might come up with something like the following.

I looked briefly [2] at the assignment, and I would prefer to restate it as a Computing for Social Good (CSG) problem.

Still not very exciting, but perhaps a bit nicer. Ralph would probably tell me to look at other sentence patterns because I tend to stick to a few basic ones.

What does Grammarly say? Something very different.

A recommendation from Grammarly that indicates that it is a Rewrite for clarity. The recommendation is I've taken a quick look at it and'd prefer to restate it as a CSG problem.

What the fluff? [3]

What is "and'd"? It's not a term I'd seen before. Perhaps "I and'd these two values together" in a spoken programming context [4]. But not in any other context. My quick Web searches [5] for "and'd" brings me to pages about Dungeons and Dragons [6].

I did the natural thing (other than ignoring the advice), and went to the Grammarly help pages. After selecting "Technical Issue" and "macOS", I ended up with this fascinatingpage.

A window that says "Tell us a little more" and responses like "I experience an issue in my browser", "I experience an issue in Microsoft Office", and "I experience an issue in a desktop application".

Yes, that's right, "I experience an issue in my browser". Wouldn't you expect a grammar tool to have more grammatical choices? Perhaps "I experienced an issue in my browser" or, as Grammarly suggests, "I am experiencing an issue with my browser."

More precisely, I am experiencing problems with Grammarly!

[1] Probably CSC-207.

[2] briefly looked?

[3] Thanks, Danika!

[4] "And" is an operation that can be applied to two integers and represents the bitwise Boolean "and" of the operands, with 1 representing "true" and 0 representing "false".

[5] Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo.

[6] Perhaps AD&D [7]. Perhaps Antiquated D&D.

[7] "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons", the version of Dungeons and Dragons that was in vogue when I was in high school.