grammar
Past vs Passed—Which One’s Right?
There are a number of pairs of words that are easily confused such as loose and lose (that extra “o” always seems to sneak in when I’m not looking, right Steve?), the proper use of lay and lie offers its own challenge and mistaking stared for starred can be easy enough to do. I did […]
What’s Your Point of View?
First? Second? Third? I’m talking about narrative points of view. Which is best? I have touched upon this topic before as have many others. There is no definitive answer, however the collective consensus is by all means stay away from second person point of view—a story told from the reader’s vantage point: “You reach for […]
In Other Words… Having Fun with Euphemisms
Are there any Monty Python fans out there? Are you familiar with the Dead Parrot Sketch? In this skit, John Cleese attempts to return a parrot to the pet shop he bought it at because it’s dead but Michael Palin, playing the part of the dubious shop owner, contends that the parrot is merely sleeping, […]
Opposites Attract: The World of Antonyms
He says, she says. Good verses evil. Not everything is black and white. Yin and yang. Stop and go. We use opposites every day. In the grammarian’s world they are called antonyms. They seem fairly cut and dried, there’s not much of a gray area when it comes to antonyms. Its all easy-peasy. Well, it’s […]
Cutting a Fine Figure (of Speech)
A figure of speech is defined on dictionary.com as: noun, plural figures of speech. Rhetoric . any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile,personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions,in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect. […]
Amusing but Confusing: Words That Get Misused
Steve Meitz (aka Bus Rider) has done it again (thanks Steve!). He’s come up with another interesting idea. Maybe I need to add his name to the blog banner. The English language is a confusing morass of words, rules, punctuation marks and parts of speech (wikipedia lists well over 100 different figures of speech such […]
On the Back of the Apostrophe
In order to teach, you first have to learn. So in an effort to personally better understand the art of punctuation I offer this post on the apostrophe. Last Thursday I took a perfunctory look at comma usage based on the information gleaned from Lynne Truss’ wonderfully entertaining and informative book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves. […]
Lynne Truss’ Seven Basic Rules for Proper Comma Usage
We sprinkle them through our work like extra salt on an order of fries (or chips for you British lot). A moderate additional amount of seasoning can’t hurt, but if over done, food becomes inedible. We do it almost without thinking. I’m talking about commas. I have to admit that I am far from an […]
