I once had a high school English teacher who encouraged her students to use as many synonyms for “said” as possible, for example: “he gasped,” “she grumbled,” and “they snorted.” Maybe she was just trying to get us to stretch our vocabularies.
Month: July 2007
Word of the Day: Bipartisan
Bipartisan (bÄ«-pär’tÄ-zÉ™n) is used to indicate that something is created or supported by both sides. Usually, it refers to the major political parties in a country.
Five Frequently Misused Verbs: Go, Come, Write, Give, and Eat
Among the most frequently used words in English, these five verbs are also the most frequently misused.
Loose or Lose?
There’s no formula for what I do,” said King, who added that if he tried to analyze and formulate his approach to writing, he might loose his touch.
The word “loose” in this quotation from a site about publishing is incorrectly used. King might lose his touch.
How to Improve Your Vocabulary Steadily
Sylvia Grappone says, “An article on how to improve vocabulary would be helpful. I’m in my late 30s and noticed that I can no longer remember things as easily as I did when I was a teen, and with a hubby and kids have no time to really focus on studying. I do read in my leisure time but at the moment only technical books. Would reading novels help my vocabulary? Any shortcuts or techniques?”
Lay/Lie: Moribund, but Not Dead Yet
Although fighting what may be a losing battle, enough careful writers and speakers distinguish between the verbs lay and lie to make their forms and uses worth our attention.
Word of the Day: Furtive
Furtive (fûr’tìv) is an adjective used to express caution or secrecy. Synonyms include stealthy and surreptitious. It comes from the Latim furtum (theft). Actually, as Winston well knew, it was only four years since Oceania had been at war with Eastasia and in alliance with Eurasia. But that was merely a piece of furtive knowledge … Read more
How to Bypass Your Internal Editor
When you edit your first draft, you’ll have all sorts of ideas of what to change. But when you write your first draft, you want to turn off the “internal editor” in your mind, that super-ego that looks over your shoulder and criticizes everything you do. Editing is different from writing. Most people can’t successfully … Read more
Accept the Effect
AFFECT/EFFECT
These words give writers trouble since the two can be both a noun and a verb, although affect is typically verb and effect, noun. Normally, you will use affect to denote influence. For example:
If I play music will it affect your studying?
Affect used as a noun means “emotion.”
Idiomatic English
In response to the “When to use ‘on’ and when to use ‘in” post about prepositions, Francesco Mapelli writes: I still don’t get the “He was not thinking well on that occasion.” Why is “in” wrong here?
Mind Your -ed’s
The English verb ending -ed is a curious construction.
Although always spelled -ed, it has three different pronunciations. Two of them can lead to misspellings:
/ed/ as in faded
/d/ as in turned
/t/ as in wrecked
Word of the Day: Pedantic
Pedantic (pÉ™-dăn’tÄk) is an adjective that represents an excessive concern for precision and formal rules. It can also refer to the ostentation of knowledge.