Here are five sentences that, through poor punctuation, lead readers astray. Determine how to punctuate them correctly, and then compare your solutions with the ones in the paragraph below each example. 1. “Now there’s a formula for disaster.” As written, this statement reads like a pitch — to be followed by an exclamation point (or … Read more
What’s the difference between probable and possible? Strictly speaking, they’re unrelated, but in popular usage, their distinction is merely one of degree. Possible — the noun form is possibility — means “having the potential.” (Potential, along with the latter word’s root, potent, shares an etymological origin with the former word.) Possible stems from the Latin … Read more
Last week, I wrote a post I didn’t write. In the introductory paragraph, I clearly stated that it was a mash-up of two similar — and, to many people, familiar — packages of pronouncements that illustrate the writing errors (or are they?) they are intended to highlight. For what I thought were obvious reasons, I … Read more
The rich vocabulary of the theatrical world has inspired use of various terms of the art in other realms of human endeavor. Many of them are also employed in (or to refer to) politics — which, we note with various emotions, has always been an activity akin to theater. Here’s a list of such words … Read more