We headed out in eager anticipation. It had been many too many months since we’d spent time on our favorite central Florida river. The holiday and an online coupon promised a few stress-free, sun-dappled hours in a canoe. Ignoring Google Map’s toll way and interstate route, we opted for the less-traveled path to our destination. […]
Many now common English words evolve from proper nouns. Gerrymandering—the practice of creating electoral districts that favor a particular political party takes its name from the Massachusetts governor, Elbridge Gerry, who approved such a move in 1812. Californication found its way into the lexicon in the 1970s. It refers to the unchecked, haphazard development that […]
Repetition is a great learning device and a useful literary tool, when used judiciously. Redundancy, on the other hand, is essential in situations where a backup system prevents complete failure, but it should be avoided in your writing. Careful use of repetition can drive home a point or strengthen your writing. Effective orators like Abraham […]
Parallel structure is as essential for good writing as it is for railroad tracks. Just as railroad tracks must be level and equally spaced to insure a safe ride, elements within a sentence that are alike in function should also be alike in construction. Failure to do so results in faulty parallelism. Parallel construction or […]
I don’t remember the erroneous sentence, but I well remember my embarrassment when it was pointed out to me that I had written illicit when I should have used elicit. To spare you a similar embarrassment, allow me to explain the difference between the two. Elicit is a transitive verb meaning to draw out or […]
