Many Russian words have been appropriated by the English language. Some, like mammoth and sable, are easily assumed to be from a more closely related language. Others were originally specific to Russian culture but can be applied to analogous Western concepts, such as a reference to an American politician retreating from Washington, DC, to his … Read more
A placeholder name is any one of several types of term used instead of forgotten, unknown, or irrelevant words. Such words perform various functions in several categories. For example, in social situations, words like buddy, dude, fellow (or fella), mac, and pal are colloquial stand-ins when addressing a person whose name is not known to … Read more
No, there’s no cage match between the two terms, but there is a distinction: Although the words can be considered synonyms, morals are beliefs based on practices or teachings regarding how people conduct themselves in personal relationships and in society, while ethics refers to a set or system of principles, or a philosophy or theory … Read more
One of the most useful techniques for tightening flabby prose is to concentrate more information into fewer words. This can be done with parenthesis and subordination. The result is that two or more sentences are combined into a single statement. Let’s try that again: One of the most useful techniques for tightening flabby prose is … Read more
How do you represent various sounds in writing? The term for vocal (and written) imitation of sounds, onomatopoeia, means “to make names.” (The word, a Latinization of a Greek word, consists of the term that is also the origin of name, nominal, and the like and the one from which poem and poet are derived.) … Read more
I found it interesting, when researching this topic, that the definition for the in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary is nearly as long as this post — and that’s for just one set of functions for the word, as a definite article. The also functions, less often, as an adverb (“I like that one the best”) and, … Read more
While reviewing an article or a story you or someone else has written, you notice a preponderance of iterations of what are often referred to as attribute tags — phrases that identify a speaker, such as “he said” and “she said.” What do you do about this repetition? Several possibilities exist. The most obvious solution … Read more
A site visitor requested from me a roster of books that teenagers should read before they graduate from high school. However, I never strove to work my way through the literary classics (whatever they are), so any list I compile may seem deficient to those who believe that doing so will prepare young people to … Read more
Adverse and averse share the root verse, which stems from the Latin term vertere, meaning “to turn.” But their meanings are distinct and, taken literally, antonymic: Adverse, from the Latin word adversus (“turned toward, facing”), means “antagonistic”; the original term conjures of image of confrontation. Averse, meanwhile, comes from aversus (“turned away”) and means “strongly … Read more
Tmesis is a linguistic device in which a word or phrase interrupts another word or phrase. (The word is a Greek term that refers to cutting.) Depending on the type of tmesis, it is either acceptable in formal usage or relegated to humorous and/or emphatic colloquialisms. Phrasing in which the preposition down is located within … Read more
Most writers understand that whole subject-verb-predicate thing, but there’s more to crafting sentences than making sure they include those basic ingredients (but not necessarily in that order — and, then again, a sentence doesn’t really require any of those elements). The following sample sentences suffer from poor organization (and, as a result, their readers suffer, … Read more
Many adjectives have degrees of grade or intensity: big (adjective), bigger (comparative adjective), and biggest (superlative adjective), for examples of varying grades, or loud (adjective), louder (comparative adjective), and loudest (superlative adjective) as various levels of intensity. Others, however, have no variation: You cannot (notwithstanding the poetic license of the US Constitution’s “a more perfect … Read more