DailyWritingTips

3 Comma Splices and How to Repair Them

A comma often serves to link two independent clauses, but it does so in partnership with a conjunction (as shown in this sentence). When a pair of independent clauses butt up against each other with a comma but no conjunction, the grammatical infraction is known as a comma splice—the name refers to the writer’s effort … Read more

How To Pronounce Swath and Swathe

When I wrote a post on the confusion between the meanings of the nouns swath and swatch, I discovered that considerable disagreement exists regarding the pronunciation of the noun swath and the verb swathe. NOTE: The noun swath denotes the narrow path of cut grass made by a scythe or mower. The verb swathe means … Read more

Toll, Knell, and Tocsin

The following headlines lead me to assume that the bride or groom or both did not survive the ceremony: Wedding Bells Toll For A Bride From Camelot—Philadelphia news site, 1986 Wedding bells toll for Tiger—Cape Cod Times, 2004 Wedding bells toll in Conn. for gay couples—Boston Globe, 2008 Wedding bells toll for Richard Marx, Daisy … Read more

The Root Word “Solve” and Its Offshoots

A small family of words with the root word solve refer in some way to changing the physical or figurative state of something—naturally, since the Latin root of solve, solvere, means “dissolve, loosen, or solve.” Solve itself means “find an answer, explanation, or solution for.” One who solves is a solver (rarely used in isolation … Read more

20 Synonyms for “Excuse”

The sentiment behind the verb excuse can be expressed in many ways, whether the sense is of “remove blame from” or “stop blaming” (or even, in many cases, “deflect attention from blame”). Here are twenty words and phrases that will serve, along with their pertinent meanings. 1. absolve: free from guilt or responsibility 2. acquit: … Read more

Infuse vs. Suffuse

What’s the difference between infuse and suffuse? To infuse something is to literally or figuratively fill it; the senses include “animate,” “inject,” “inspire,” “introduce,” “permeate,” and “steep.” One that or who infuses is an infuser, the act of infusing is called infusion. Suffusion is a closely related concept, but suffuse means, in addition to “fill,” … Read more

50 Latin Phrases You Should Know

Latin expressions are often adopted into English, often with an extended or figurative meaning. Here are fifty of the most common phrases, followed by their literal translation in Latin and the meaning in English (omitted when the meaning follows the literal translation). 1. a posteriori (from the latter): based on experience 2. a priori (from … Read more

The English Lexicon Will Always Be Back-Formated

Back-formation, the development of a new form of a word by subtracting an element from an existing word, often results in additions to our word-hoard that people deem grotesque, but many words we consider members in good standing of the English language—usually verbs—have been created this way. Derided terms of recent vintage frequently originate in … Read more

Swath vs. Swatch

A reader sent me this extract, asking if it might provide material for a post topic: Charles Darwin did a fine job of showing why his theory of evolution explained the living world better than any creationist ideas could, and evidence has piled up ever since, but a swatch of the American public remain unconvinced. … Read more

Accost, Assail, Assault, and Attack

The other day I noticed what I view as a nonstandard use of the verb accost in a news article about a man who “accosted” his wife when he returned home from prison. Because the woman received bruises in the incident, accost seems to me to be the wrong word. The literal meaning of accost … Read more

“Locution” and Etymologically Related Terms About Speech

Locution, meaning “style of speech” (in the sense of the art of speaking), stems from the Latin word loqui, meaning “to speak.” Here are the other words in English based on the Latin term, and their meanings. A colloquy (literally, “speaking together”) is a conversation or a conference; the related term colloquium refers to a … Read more

3 Types of Capitalization Errors in Styling Quotations

Confusion sometimes ensues when writers are deciding whether a quotation merits capitalization. Here are three ways capitalization errors can result. 1. As someone once told me, “successful companies have multiple founding moments.” Occasionally, a writer will not capitalize the first word of a complete quoted statement preceded by an attribution, perhaps because of the assumption … Read more