the grammar nazis are coming! the grammar nazis are coming!

peeve of the week: minus is not a verb.


minus is an adjective or adverb, preposition (or noun), meaning diminished by or less (or a negative quantity, in the case of a noun: minus-4 degrees).

if you deduct one number from another, you don't minus it! you subtract it or deduct it. 


in a mathematical equation, you diminish the first number by the second: 7 minus 4 is 3 (translation: 7 diminished by 4 is 3, or 4 deducted from 7 is 3).