The first thing I do when trying out a new WordPress theme is get rid of the code that puts “th” and other such terminals after the number in a date. Ex. January 1st, November 12th Dates, like certain other written expressions, assume certain information on the part of the reader: One writes January 1, … Read more
Ever since people started writing history, they’ve needed some way to locate events in time. Romans tied events to consular years. Two men were elected every year to serve in the office of consul. Roman historians said that a certain event took place in the year that Marcus Such and Such and Publius So and … Read more
Merriam Webster has published its 2007 word of the year, and the winner is w00t. Who would have thought that a word with numbers in it would make the cut? According to M-W, the word is an expression of joy (similar to yay). It’s also used by gamers to signify: ‘We owned the other team’. … Read more
One of the more interesting aspects of the changes that take place in English from generation to generation is the fact that as spellings change to conform to modern usage, some of the old forms stick around with different connotations or meanings. Two words for angel that came into English from Hebrew have plural forms … Read more
The doublets gentle and genteel illustrate the way words from the same Latin original can change in meaning in the course of centuries. Both words come from Latin gens, “race” or “clan” by way of one of its forms, gentilis, meaning “of the same family or clan.” In Roman culture nothing was more important than … Read more
A couple of weeks ago we asked our readers to share their writing tips. The response was far beyond the initial expectations, and the quality of the tips included was amazing. Thanks for everyone who contributed. Now, without further delay, the 34 writing tips that will make you a better writer! 1. Daniel Pay attention … Read more
Writing press releases is big business for freelance writers and it’s easy to learn the basic skills. Press releases inform people about the products and services that individuals and companies wish to promote. Their purpose is to make the news and they’re easy to write if you learn the basic techniques. The two key elements … Read more
Mind the gap! The famous London Underground announcement can help to remind us when to use breach. Although often confused with breech, breach has an entirely different meaning. It originates from old French and was used in a military sense to denote a gap in fortifications. These days it applies to any gap, break or … Read more
The latest Mall Murderer left a note expressing the idea that “now” (i.e., after killing several inoffensive strangers at the local mall), he would be “famous.” It is to be hoped that writers won’t make the mistake of applying that particular adjective to doers of evil deeds. The adjective famous has the meaning “honored for … Read more
For a language originally spoken only by Eastern European Jews, Yiddish has certainly found its way into common English. My wife was raised in a farming region in the American Midwest and never knew any Jewish people as a child, so she was surprised when I informed her that she uses Yiddish words all the … Read more
The English language has both regular and irregular plural forms of nouns. The most common case is when you need to add -s to the noun. For example one car and two cars. The other two cases of the regular plural form are: nouns that end with s, x, ch or sh, where you add … Read more
A man speaking in a city board meeting in my town this week got into trouble for using the word “redneck.” He was arguing that shrinking city funds would be better spent on maintaining the local cable access channel than on Christmas lights in the town square. He stirred up a storm of protest when … Read more