Have you ever considered becoming a part-time or full-time freelance writer? Well, 2014 might be the right year for you, as the demand for online writers is stronger than ever. Driving this demand is the content marketing concept, which can be defined as the practice of promoting a product or service by creating and distributing … Read more
In a recent post I have the following sentence: Conveying a coherent report in 50 words or less is quite a feat, and the writers in my paper usually do an amazingly good job of it. Several readers wrote to ask if I shouldn’t have written “50 words or fewer.” I appreciate readers who gently … Read more
One of the most popular and overused words in advertising and political rhetoric is the verb deserve. deserve (transitive verb): to acquire or earn a rightful claim, by virtue of actions or qualities; to become entitled to or worthy of (reward or punishment, esteem or disesteem, position, designation, or any specified treatment). For example, A … Read more
Most English nouns form their plurals by adding -s: boy/boys; house/houses. When the noun is compound, the question sometimes arises as to which word should get the plural ending. In regard to American usage, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends that writers consult Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for “tricky” compounds like fathers-in-law, courts-martial, and chefs d’oeuvre, … Read more
Both excoriating and coruscating are verb forms used as adjectives. Excoriating is a hideous word. At least, its meaning is: excoriate (transitive verb): to pull off the skin or hide from (a man or beast) The word retains this literal meaning in the context of pathology to refer to the removal of skin by cutting, … Read more
The word pidgin refers to a language used as a means of communication between people who do not share a common language. The word pidgin derives from a mispronunciation of the English word business. The term “Pidgin English” was first applied to the commercial lingua franca used in southern China and Melanesia, but now pidgin … Read more
I have a reader to thank (to blame?) for telling me about a coinage that is new to me. It may have begun with television announcers, but it’s spreading. Since I began looking for it, I’ve even found it in a book on sociology published by W.W. Norton. The word is efforting. Here are some … Read more
Tech columnist Rob Walker questions whether anyone still has gravitas in the Internet Era. gravitas (noun): high seriousness, as in a person’s bearing or the treatment of a subject; seriousness of conduct, bearing, speech, temperament, etc. According to Walker, “if you want to be taken seriously in our post-gravitas culture, you must demonstrate that you … Read more