A reader asks for more information about noun clauses. First, a little review. A clause is a group of words that contains a main verb. Examples: I dance the polka. what people like that ruined the evening Clauses are of two kinds: main or independent subordinate or dependent Clauses function as parts of speech: He … Read more
Here are some terms associated with places. In each case something about the term is misleading. German silver: A white alloy consisting of nickel, zinc, and copper originally obtained from an ore found at Hildburghausen. The product is German, but contains no silver. Hudson seal: Â Muskrat fur that has been plucked and dyed to give … Read more
A great deal of jargon is used when talking about computers, and it’s surprising how often these terms are used incorrectly. Even published, successful novels sometimes do so. The following list provides an explanation of some of the more common computing terms you may come across or need to employ in your own writing. Internet, … Read more
A line associated with the 19th century mustache-twirling stage villains thwarted by the hero was “Curses! Foiled again!” Foil as a verb meaning “to frustrate the efforts of” is popular with headline writers and journalists. Netanyahu makes final push to foil Swedish plan to divide Jerusalem No-shows foil Sunrise mayor’s payment plan for code violators … Read more
A common writing fault is faulty parallelism. In writing, parallelism is a similarity of construction of adjacent word groups. Faulty parallelism results when words, phrases, or clauses are mismatched. Here are some examples of faulty parallelism: Hiking is more fun than to swim. “Hiking” is a verbal noun. “To swim” is an infinitive. Better: Hiking … Read more
A loanword comes more or less “as is” from one language to another. English abounds in them. For example: Latin: agenda, index, memorandum German: angst, blitz, bratwurst French: accident, chef, fierce Italian: concerto, pizza, scenario Japanese: bonsai, haiku, karaoke A calque [kălk] is an expression borrowed by way of literal translation from one language into … Read more
Our previous post looked at the basics of poetry rhythm and metre (or, in the US, meter). This post goes into further detail on the common rhythms employed by poets, and it covers some of the terminology used to describe and discuss them. Not all poetry pays close attention to metre, but a great deal … Read more
Carol Dedrick wonders about the expression “to tide one over”: A quick Google search found most folks believe the saying to be “tide me over” vs. “tie me over.” I did find one seemingly credible site [that] supported the opposite. Do you know the origin of the statement, and the correct version? I found the … Read more
discreet adj. Showing discernment or judgement in the guidance of one’s own speech and action; judicious, prudent, circumspect, cautious; often esp. that can be silent when speech would be inconvenient.    discrete adj. Separate, detached from others, individually distinct. Opposed to continuous. Both discreet and discrete derive from the same Latin word discretus, “separated, distinct.” Old … Read more
We are getting close to 500 copies sold of our book, 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid, so I wanted to give you guys a couple of updates. First of all we are working to get both a paperback and a Kindle version of the book available, as right now you can only get it in … Read more
I’ve become aware of the inexplicable use of the phrase “not unsurprising” in contexts in which a simple “unsurprising” is called for. For example: Unpresidential, But Not Unsurprising It’s extremely unfortunate yet not unsurprising that such an attack occurred. Annoying but not unsurprising. In each of these examples, the sense is that something might have … Read more
For most people, the word greyhound probably triggers the idea of a skinny gray dog, while the word nightmare conjures up the image of a horse galloping through the night. Here are five words whose names suggest meanings that aren’t there. catgut: The dried and twisted intestines of sheep, also of the horse and ass; … Read more