DailyWritingTips

Earthly vs. Earthy

What’s the difference between earthly and earthy? Once upon a time, they were synonymous, but now, though there isn’t exactly a world of difference between the two terms, they have distinct meanings. Earthly is an adjective that refers to life on Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial or spiritual existence. Earthy, by contrast, though it is … Read more

3 Misplaced Modifiers

1. “A glass of water comes by request only in restaurants.” This sentence implies that the only type of establishment in which a glass of water is served is a restaurant. However, what it means is that in a certain type of establishment, a patron must ask to be served water. To communicate the correct … Read more

20 Synonyms for “Type”

Which type of word is suitable for referring to a type of person, place, or thing? Type will do, but plenty of alternatives, some with distinct and vivid connotations, are available. Here is a list of synonyms for type with connotations and sample sentences. 1. Bent: From the sense of “inclination,” this word has developed … Read more

Ingenious vs. Ingenuous #2

What’s the difference between ingenious and ingenuous, and are they even related? If you believe that despite their seeming disparity in meaning, these words belong to the same genus, you’re a genius — and you therefore probably know as well that those terms with the common element gen share their origin with the first pair … Read more

25 German Loanwords

The German language has provided English with a huge inventory of words, many of them pertaining to music, science, and politics, thanks to the influence of German-speaking people on those areas of human endeavor. Here are some of the more useful German terms borrowed into English. 1. Achtung (“attention”): an imperative announcement used to obtain … Read more

15 Great Word Games

Writers and editors are among the most dedicated (read: obsessive) fans of word games. (I play Scrabble once a week — a relatively low frequency that may indicate only a mild addiction.) As the name of an old Reader’s Digest feature suggests, they enrich your word power, but they’re also fun. Here is a roster … Read more

3 Sentences with Dangling Modifiers

Coming from my inexhaustible supply of dangling modifiers, you will find this post a helpful exercise in how to spot this type of error. That lead sentence, of course, contains a dangling modifier, a phrase providing additional information about a sentence’s subject that does not associate directly with the subject. In this case, because the … Read more

5 Words from the Kitchen

Words most people associate primarily with the kitchen have multiple nonculinary connotations as well. Here are five words you may find useful in other contexts. 1. Apron This name for a garment worn to protect the wearer’s clothes from food stains (or one that is purely decorative) also applies to similar protective attire. From this … Read more

20 Evocative French Words

English has borrowed words from other languages indiscriminately, and has done so for hundreds of years. Often, this happens even when a perfectly sound native or imported synonym already exists, but sometimes the new term gains its footing because it expresses a concept better than an existing term, or conveys a connotation or nuance no … Read more

“Fraught” Is a Heavy Word

Fraught, one of my favorite words, is fraught with meaning. The term, a variant of freight, was originally a noun and an adjective, with a verb form of fraughten. However, the noun, meaning “cargo,” disappeared from English (though it survives in Scottish), the verb is entirely extinct, and the adjectival form, which means “laden, full … Read more

Prodigal vs. Prodigy

Prodigal means “to spend wastefully.” So, what does that have to do with the biblical parable of the prodigal son, and what does being prodigal have to do with being a prodigy? As it happens, there’s no connection between the two words, though an assumption that they are synonymous may lead some people to believe, … Read more

20 Words with More Than One Spelling

When the dictionary lists two alternate spellings of a word, should you use your judgment (or is that judgement?), or is there some other criterion for selection? Most dictionaries describe what is, rather than prescribe what should be — hence the alternatives — but they usually favor one form over the other. For both convenience … Read more