Our article Your Ideal Reader prompted a response from veteran writer Kilburn Hall, who wrote: There is no “ideal” reader and if you start trying to write for one specific audience, you’re going to tune out others that might actually be interested in reading your book. How can Mr. Hall can say that? Because, like … Read more
With the topic of religion so much in the air, writers may have use for adjectives to describe various degrees of religious feeling and behavior. The following words have other meanings, but here the focus is on their use to describe people. religious – “dedicated to religious practice; observant practitioner of a particular religion.” The … Read more
Ever since the 17th century, our English cousins have been blaming Americans for distorting, weakening, or vulgarizing the English language. For many, the term “Americanism” next to a word in the dictionary is a warning to avoid using it. Well, a recent press release from the Old Country puts paid to the idea that the … Read more
Karen Reddick runs the Red Pen Editor and is the author of Grammar Done Right. We asked her about her book and her views on writing and editing. Hi Karen, and welcome to Daily Writing Tips. Can you tell us a little about yourself? Hi, Sharon. Thank you for inviting me. I am a freelance … Read more
A Google search will show more uses of a historic than an historic, but in speech, “an historic event” is the more idiomatic. To repeat something I wrote in a comment, “An historic” is idiomatic when the words are run together and the stress falls on the second syllable of historic. The use of “an” … Read more
English, like other Germanic languages, makes use of a special class of verbs called modals: can, dare, may, must , need, ought, shall, will. Modals serve useful functions in expressing various tenses, moods, and conditions, but they can have an insidious effect on one’s writing. The topics I write about most–English usage and education–are modal … Read more
In a recent state election Arkansas voters were asked to alter the following constitutional phrasing: “No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.” Legislators objected that the language was archaic and disrespectful. (Not to mention the fact that the law has never prevented idiots from voting.) As the current … Read more
I saw a headline in my morning newspaper (Yes, I still read print!) that renewed my hope that one of my favorite irregular verb forms, slew, is going to survive after all. U.S. says raid slew leader of terror cell Ever since Buffy the Vampire Slayer ruled the television waves, the regularized form slayed has … Read more
I’ve written more than one post criticizing non-standard usage on television and will probably write more. A frequent opinion among the wonderful readers who take the time to comment is that I may have unreasonable expectations regarding the use of standard English on television. One recent comment especially gave me pause: …the misuse of pronouns … Read more
Does writing English cause you pain? Maybe that’s because you’re not a native writer of English. But then, none of us is a native writer of anything. We all learned to talk before we could write. Linguists say that, in a real sense, written English is a different language than spoken English. That’s true of … Read more
Since it’s the title of a movie, “religulous” must be said to be a word, but it’s not a very good one. I object to it as I do to any movie title that spreads and reinforces incorrect forms of English spelling or idiom. Critics to the contrary, English spelling has rules and the portmanteau … Read more
The first Tuesday in November is known as Election Day in the United States. It is the day on which political candidates are voted in or out of office. The word candidate is an example of how ancient customs become embedded in language. In ancient Rome, a person running for an elected office wore a … Read more