Q. A colleague insists that this sentence is both ungrammatical and misuses a metaphor: “One of the major benefits of cloned stem cells could be as a more accurate window on diseases.” While I think the sentence is clumsy, I don’t see the mistake in grammar. And, while “accurate window” also isn’t elegant, a quick search on the web turned up plenty of uses of “accurate window” on reputable academic and government agency sites. Who’s right?
A. It might be technically grammatical (I’m still averting my eyes), but it’s so awful that you can’t take refuge there. And even if you did find some reputable sites using the phrase “accurate window” (how many pages past all the Accurate Window and Door companies did you have to scroll?), please don’t let yourself be encouraged by the fact that reputable sites feature bad writing. Listen to your colleague.