Don't Dis "Agree"

I hate to bring up geeky grammar lingo like "subject" and "verb" (really, I do) but I want to talk about subject-verb agreement and I can't for the life of me figure out how without using the words "subject" and "verb" (and "noun" and "pronoun"). Sure, we all know that when the subject (sorry) is a singular noun (so sorry) or pronoun (sorrysorrysorry) the verb (sorry) is singular, too - "He is hot." And if the noun or pronoun is plural or there's more than one connected by "and," the verb is plural - "The Zac Posen and Proenza Schouler spring 2008 collections are f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s, fabulous." Lastly, if the connector between two things is "or," the verb is singular, not plural - "A pizza or an enchilada is on the menu." (Forget thinking about these rules; if you graduated second grade, you know them instinctively.) But the whole you-know-what-you-know-what agreement thing does have lots of tricky rules. The three I see most often confused are: Tricky rule #1: When you've got a single noun and a plural noun in one sentence separated by "or." What to do about it: Match the verb to the noun closest to it. "The paraglider or the parachutists are going first." But "the parachutists or the paraglider is going first."  Tricky rule #2: When stuff comes between the subject and the verb (this is where people mess up a lot). What to do about it: Make sure the verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun in the in-between stuff. "One of the iPods is pink." ("Of the iPods" - the stuff in between - has a plural noun but it doesn't impact the verb choice.) "The iPods in the store are pink." (Ditto, but the other way around.) Tricky rule #3: When you're using words like "somebody," "each," and "anything." What to do about it: Use a singular verb even in cases where the thing the words are referring to is plural. "Each of the donkeys is going," not "each of the donkeys are going," because "each" is singular, and each is going, as, right now, am I.

Note: This is another one of those grammar 101 things that no one notices when you get right (so you get no credit) but lots of people notice when you get wrong (so you get dissed). Similar to the whole me-myself-I rules, when it's wrong it's like fingernails on a chalkboard.