In each sentence, choose the correct word from the pair of similar terms. (If both words possibly can be correct, choose the more plausible one.) 1. If we rise early enough, we can be ______ down the road by noon. a) farther b) further 2. Is there anyone ______ me, who wants to volunteer for … Read more
Jargon has its purposes. In content pertaining to popular culture, when employing slang to engage readers and other consumers of entertaining information, concise and/or colorful slang enlivens the experience. But in writing about business and technology, jargon can encumber rather than enhance comprehension, and writers should take care to use it judiciously. Consider this sentence: … Read more
In each of the following sentences, lack of an article (a, and, or the) results in a grammatically flawed sentence. Discussion after each example, followed by a revision, identifies the problem. 1. In 2006, The Simpsons television show paid tribute to the 1974 Oakland A’s in an episode. The first instance of the article the, … Read more
Capitalization is a bewilderingly complex issue, with many rules and exceptions. This post outlines the basic, most common guidelines for capitalization, with examples. Academic degrees: Lowercase—“bachelor’s degree”; capitalize entirety of most abbreviations (with a few exceptions, including PhD and DLitt) Academic disciplines: Capitalize only proper names—“Asian studies” (except as part of a full name of … Read more
The Greek prefix syn-, meaning “together,” and two alternative forms combine with many other word elements to form terms pertaining to community or unity. This post lists and briefly defines the most common of these words, along with literal definitions of the root word. 1. idiosyncrasy (“personal” and “blend”): a peculiarity or hypersensitivity 2. synagogue … Read more
Diction is word choice. A word that is suitable in conversation or informal writing may lower the tone of writing intended for a general audience. Assuming that all of the following sentences are intended to be heard or read by a large general audience, choose the more appropriate word for each sentence. 1. The CEO … Read more
One of the most ubiquitous categories of error in written composition is failure to provide a visual clue to readers that two or more words preceding a noun are temporarily functioning as a single unit of information. After each of the sentences below, a discussion explains one of several types of such mistakes, and revisions … Read more
My recent post about declining writing standards garnered some thoughtful comments from site visitors, but as I read them I realized that the post had not addressed one cogent point: As one reader put it, “Who or what determines if a standard is indeed prevailing, or is on the way out?” In the sciences and … Read more
Errors of faulty parallelism in sentences in which “not only” and “but also” help delineate complementary phrases come in three general categories, as shown, explained, and corrected below. 1. This problem not only relates to accessibility but also to completeness, accuracy, and validity of the data. In a simple sentence employing “not only” and “but … Read more
Cross, a word with a great variety of meanings, is also at the head of an extensive family of words, some of which are listed and defined in this post. Cross made its way into English circuitously from the Latin word crux, with stops in Old Irish and Old Norse. It originally referred to a … Read more
Choose the sentence in which the compounds are hyphenated correctly: 1. a) Sometimes he behaves like a five-year-old child. b) Sometimes he behaves like a five year old child. 2. a) Treatment for cyanide poisoning includes a small inhaled dose of amyl nitrite, followed by intravenous sodium nitrite, followed by intravenous sodium thiosulfate. b) Treatment … Read more
Numerous words that describe various types of musical composition are listed and defined below. (Note that in the definitions below, popular denotes not a musical form that is widely enjoyed, but a song of a type traditionally derived from common people and folk traditions rather than from professional composers. Forms of the word accompany refer … Read more