Using “May” in a Question
Although we use “may” to ask for permission or to grant permission, we use “will” or “can” when we want to ask someone to do something for us:
Albatross and Alcatraz Island
Coleridge’s poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” has given the language the metaphoric meaning of “albatross.” The word derives from “alcatraz.”
The Discount Is Back: Buy Our Book Today for $9.99
The promotional price for our first book is back. If you were on the fence about buying, check it out.
Participles and Perfect Verb Tenses
Some comments I received on the post about the forms of the irregular verb “drink” indicate that not everyone is clear as to how participles are used to form verb tenses that use the helping verbs “has, have” and “had.”
Writing Clinic #3: The Trip
Welcome to another edition of the Writing Clinic. This time we have an essay about a trip that one of our readers sent us.
Do You Write Like Stephen King?
Dmitry Chestnykh has come up with a fun time waster for writers.
Repudiate, Refute, and Reject
The unword “refudiate” is going to get a lot of mileage as people make fun of it, but it isn’t a valid synonym for “repudiate, refute,” or “reject.”
Ingenious vs. Ingenuous
Be careful with ingenious and ingenuous.





