Thursday, July 14, 2005
Who Died in That Kilt?
I have recently seen the proliferation of a really egregious error caused by a homophone in a common idiom. The idiom in question is "dyed-in-the-wool," which is never spelled "died-in-the-wool" unless someone has actually passed away while encased in sheeps' fur. In medieval England, you could dye... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 10:04 AM Comments (3) (link)
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Help Stamp Out Apostrophe Abuse!
Never use the apostrophe (that's the little mark like this ' ) to make words plural. It's wrong; it's annoying, and it makes your writing look amateurish. The plural of apple is not apple's ---it's apples! When you see 's at the end of a word, you should automatically think one of two things:... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 3:41 PM Comments (4) (link)
Friday, June 24, 2005
Get Your Hands off My Tutu!
Apparently there is some confusion about which form of the word pronounced /tu/ to use in a given situation. To is a preposition meaning "toward" or "directed at." As in: I went to the store. Give the book to John. Too is an adjective meaning "excessive" or "also." As in: That pepper was too hot for... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 9:13 AM Comments (2) (link)
Friday, June 17, 2005
The Gender of Common Objects
You may not know that many nonliving things have a gender. For example: 1) Ziploc Bags -- They are Male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them. 2) Copiers -- They are Female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 12:50 PM Comments (4) (link)
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Be Discreet! or Discrete? Which Is It?
These two words are very frequently confused. I suppose that it's due to the fact that their pronunciation is the same and that only two letters change position in the spelling. Discreet is an adjective meaning "unobtrusive" or "in a confidential manner." Example: Please be discreet when you tell... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 9:49 AM Comments (0) (link)
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Getting Revenge on Those Who Bombard You With FWDs
If you hate all that forwarded e-mail, you'll love this! Note: I haven't changed the formatting, because that's part of the revenge. > I want to thank all of you who have taken the time and trouble to send me > your chain letters over the past two years. Thank you for making me feel > safe, secure,... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 8:47 AM Comments (1) (link)
Monday, May 9, 2005
I just want my readers to know...
that I am still alive. I've had four solid weeks of special projects/disaster at work, and I'm still running on about 5 hours of sleep a night. Once life calms itself, I will be back to posting daily in all of my blogs. Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 7:45 PM Comments (0) (link)
Monday, May 2, 2005
25 Easy Steps to Gooder Grammar
This came in my e-mail, but it was so wonderful I have to share it. It's not often that you find something that is both amusing and educational. Don't abbrev. Check to see if you any words out. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct. About sentence fragments. When dangling, don't use... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 2:16 PM Comments (0) (link)
Tuesday, April 12, 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 9:51 AM Comments (0) (link)
Monday, April 11, 2005
Subject-Verb Agreement With Intervening Prepositional Phrases
A fancy title for a simple concept. Another blogger asked the Grammar Guru, "Will you please teach people about proper subject-verb agreement -- especially in cases where the subject may seem to be plural, but really isn't... as in a flock of seagulls? I am getting quite sick of seeing things such... Sign in to see full entry.
posted by editormum at 9:30 AM Comments (1) (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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