Saturday, December 24, 2005
No Tips Today ...
Just an earnest wish that all my readers will have a very happy Christmas. Or a happy Hanukkah next week. Tips will start again on Monday. God bless us, every one. Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 10:24 AM Comments (0) (link)
Friday, December 23, 2005
Sheer and Shear May Confuse You!
A simple tip today: don't get these two homophones confused. Sheer is an adjective used to describe something that is nearly transparent (like sheer stockings ) or that is smooth (like a sheer cliff ). It is rarely used as a verb meaning "to move abruptly in a different direction," as in The plane... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:34 PM Comments (1) (link)
Thursday, December 22, 2005
If Only... Only if....Hunh?
It is a strange fact that the position of certain words in a sentence can affect the meaning of the sentence drastically. The word only is one such word. Consider the following examples. Only I love her. I only love her. I love only her. I love her only. Do you see the differences in meaning that... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:41 PM Comments (0) (link)
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
The Past Has Passed ....
Emergency beacons in my Inbox --- a concerned blogger wants us to clear up the difference between "passed" and "past." Actually, this one's really easy, because the two words are completely different parts of speech. Past is either a noun or adjective. It means "previous times." noun: His past is a... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 6:39 PM Comments (0) (link)
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
A Bunch of Little Things to Watch for...
I refuse to start pointing fingers or editing everyone's blogs....I don't have the time, nor do I have the inclination to cultivate rabid enemies. But there are a few words that need to be defined so that we don't keep using the wrong word and making ourselves look silly. Those in the know will... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 9:04 PM Comments (1) (link)
Monday, December 19, 2005
Brain Glitch
Sometimes your brain will freeze up when you look at a word, and you will sit there telling yourself that of course "cow" is spelled C-O-W, but your brain tells you, "No, that just doesn't look right." So you go and look it up, sure enough, you are right and your brain is wrong. Don't believe me?... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:18 PM Comments (1) (link)
Sunday, December 18, 2005
I See These a Lot in Blogs and Chat Rooms...
lose, loose: Sometimes this error is merely due to sloppy typing and failure to proofread; other times, I have found that there is true confusion about the forms. Lose is a verb indicating that something has been misplaced or done away with, or that one has failed to win: He will lose his shirt if... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:31 PM Comments (0) (link)
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Where Did That Preposition Get To?
I think it was Winston Churchill who said, in response to a misguided editor's rearranging his words so that a sentence would not end with a preposition, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put." [Sometimes quoted as "arrant nonsense...," which I think is eminently better.] The... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 8:12 PM Comments (1) (link)
Friday, December 16, 2005
Do Not Exacerbate My Exasperation
Two frequently misused words which can make you sound very foolish when you mix them up, or quite brilliant if you get them right, are exasperate and exacerbate. The problem is really quite simple, as the words have nothing at all in common except the prefix "ex-." Exasperate (/eks ASS purr ate/)... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 5:17 PM Comments (0) (link)
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
What? Your Sense of Touch Is Impaired? or Are You Just Guilty?
A very common mistake that a lot of people make (besides writing redundant stuff like the ten words I just wrote) is to say "I feel badly about that." It seems that this would be correct, but it isn't. The reason is that little verb "feel." "Feel" is a funny word. It can mean something... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 8:04 PM Comments (2) (link)
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About this Blog
A professional editor, writer, and English tutor answers your questions about the finer points of grammar, word usage, and other technical aspects of the writer's craft. E-mail questions to editormum@usa.com, or use the Comments section of a previous post. Happy Writing!
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