Below you will find the most popular posts of this month. Check them out if you missed any. Give me an “A”: a vs. an: The indefinite articles a and an both mean the same thing. The definite article the refers to a particular thing (”Give me the ring! The wedding ring!”) while a and … Read more
Listening to BBC 4, one of our UK readers heard a senior police officer refer to a recent case as “a complex and complicated investigation.” Al asks: Was he repeating himself or were there subtle nuances of communication here? Alas, Al. Looks as if the American suspicion that one word is never enough may have … Read more
This is the first of many interviews that we plan to publish on Daily Writing Tips. Below you will find the questions that Gregg Donaldson, a contributing writer for the blog, asked to Mr. Jeff Kozlowski, a fiction author and English teacher for college preparatory students with learning disabilities. Donaldson: Tell me about your latest … Read more
Agonizing over your first words? Unsure of how your article or letter should start? Can’t come up with a good title? Don’t worry about it – yet. Newspaper reporters don’t write headlines while out on the beat. Their editors do, back in the office. Great novelists usually don’t sit down and launch immediately into brilliant … Read more
The expression with bated breath is recorded as appearing for the first time in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice towards the end of the 16th century. It refers to having subdued or restrained breathing because of some strong emotion. The verb to bate, which means reduce the intensity of; take away; or lower in … Read more
Freelance writers often suffer from a condition known as ‘workaholism’, or an inability to know when to quit for the day. I’ve often found myself at the computer and thought I would call it a night after the next draft of an article, or completed the next chapter of a novel. Then before you know … Read more
The other day I was watching the last episode of the Parkinson Show (a UK talk show), when Michael Caine told a story about the origin of the word marmalade. The word refers to a jelly like preserve, usually made of citrus fruits, in which bits of the fruit and rind are suspended. According to … Read more
To begin with, “Caesar” was a family name. Now, in various forms, it is a generic term for “ruler” or “emperor.” In Roman naming practice, a newborn child was given three names (tria nomina). The praenomen was a name like Lucius or Marcus. The second name was the name of the tribe, clan, or gens, … Read more
Prepositions are used to link nouns and pronouns to other words within a sentence. The words linked to are called objects. Usually prepositions show a spatial or temporal relationship between the noun and the object, like in the example below: The cat is under the table. Cat is the noun. Under is the preposition. Table … Read more
The verbs sit and set are commonly confused and misused, but the difference between them is similar to the difference between lay and lie – and maybe even easier to understand. The similarity between each set of words lies in the fact that one verb is transitive and needs a direct object, while the other … Read more
One of the biggest problems facing modern day freelance writers is whether to spread out and write on a variety of subjects, or whether to specialise in markets they are able to “expert” in. It’s a problem both for established writers as well as those starting out, because while it may be the route to … Read more
Getting the right position is not just about making a good career move or finding your spot on the stage. There are several words that refer to the different positions in which you can lie. Some of these are not just about the body, but about the attitude. Here are some examples. In the 16th … Read more