A reader asks about the most appropriate word to use when referring to a person who plays the flute. I write on musical matters, so would appreciate advice on how to write flutist…Many presenters of classical music programmes pronounce the word as “floortist”. Is flutist correct & is is there another written form? I can’t … Read more
The prologue is a legitimate story-telling device, but many readers admit that when they see the word “Prologue,” they skip at once to the page that begins with the words “Chapter One.” Sometimes a prologue is the ideal way to present information essential to the reader’s understanding of the story. Mystery writers, for example, often … Read more
Reader Cathy poses this question: Is the proper use of helm “at the helm” or “under the helm?” She gives this example of the use of the latter: The tennis team, under the helm of second-year head coach John Doe, advanced to the championship round. What we have here is the decomposition of a dead … Read more
Welcome to the seventh round of the second Short Story Competition. Apparently we are going to have a total of 12 rounds. Whew, that is three months qualifying stories to the grand finale! The poll is going to remain open until the midnight of the upcoming Sunday. If you are an RSS or email subscriber, … Read more
Malapropisms can be funny, but only if one understands both the misused word and the word appropriate in the context. Here are four malapropisms that left one reader scratching his head: 1.The butler entered the drawing room bearing the visitor’s name card on a silver sliver. The word wanted here is salver, not sliver. A … Read more
A reader wonders whether to use was or were in the following examples: I wish I were…or…I wish I was… If only it was…or… If only it were… What is the rule? With these examples, the choice is obvous because the words wish and if only make it clear that the speaker is talking about … Read more
I belong to a generation that remembers the Winston television ad: Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. English teachers everywhere in the United States had fits over that ad, but evidence was mustered that plenty of precedent existed for the use of like as a conjunction by recognized masters of English prose, including another … Read more
Judging by the word’s common use in today’s media, one might imagine epithet to be no more than a synonym for insult. Some epithets are insults, but the word has a wider application. For example, look at all these epithets Handel applied to the Baby Jesus in The Messiah: Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The … Read more
In reading some instructions for building a 3-tier strawberry bed, I came across the word spiget. At first I thought it was some specialized gardening term. Then I figured out that the writer was referring to a spigot. Spigot is one of several English words in which the spelling -ot is pronounced [É™t] at the … Read more
Alright folks, it is time for another round or short stories. If you haven’t read last week’s round, check it out. The winning story was hilarious, titled Orange Bubble Power. You have until the midnight of next Sunday to vote on today’s stories. One story wins each individual round, and at the end we make … Read more
When my children were infants, they wore diapers. Every so often I would splurge on a box of the newfangled, expensive, disposable kind. Now when people say “diaper,” they mean the disposable kind and would call the kind I used “cloth diapers.” Earlier than that, back when he mowed the grass, my big brother longed … Read more
Writers have been raising laughs by ridiculing people and human behavior since at least the time of the Greek dramatists. Here are some terms to describe types of ridicule intended to make us laugh and, maybe, think. satire (n.) – This broad term applies to literature that blends criticism, wit, and ironic humor with the … Read more