July 2013

Word of the Week – bedlam

July 24, 2013 by Judy

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 was occurring in southern California at the time, but now can describe any sprawling, unplanned metropolis. Technology contributes its share of neologisms: googling, meme, and photoshop, to name a few. And from the sports world—Tebowing—referring to quarterback Tim Tebow’s prayer stance following a touchdown.

Repeat After Me…

July 22, 2013 by Judy

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.

Parallel Structure: Not Just for Railroad Tracks

July 15, 2013 by Judy

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.

Bringing My Faux Pas to Light

July 10, 2013 by Judy

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.

Accepting the Exceptional

July 8, 2013 by Judy

“My son,” wrote the proud mother, “was excepted…” Her Facebook post went on to share her joy that her child was chosen to participate in an event for children like her son who have lost a limb. No doubt, her son is exceptional. But the correct term to describe her son’s selection, is accepted. Accept is always a verb meaning “to receive” (as a gift or promotion), agree to or believe (accept the decision of the judge), or to take responsibility (accept the duties of office).

Word of the Week – ruth

July 3, 2013 by Judy

With no apologies to Stephen Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine, I offer this week’s Word of the Week --- a post that was written weeks before this strip appeared:

Is it too much to know which to-two-too to use?

July 1, 2013 by Judy

As if two-word homophones aren’t confusing enough, today we tackle the to-too-two dilemma. Too much for you? Not if you keep a few definitions in mind.

Archives for July 2013