Judy Hagey Editor
Write Justified
For a few years I took the Goodreads Challenge. Participants set a goal for the number of books they think they’ll read in the next year and add them to their Read Shelf and add a brief review. This year, I made a conscious decision not to take the challenge. I didn’t need one more deadline in my life.
Some years ago, a discount department store ran an ad in which two similarly dressed persons appeared. The announcer—in a loud, annoying voice—called out article after article: a dress shirt from a high-priced department store compared to a similar shirt from the discount store. “It’s the same thing.” After each item—the slacks, the tie, the shoes—he repeated in the increasingly obnoxious tone, “It’s the same thing.”
The day after my Better Half’s (BH) recent shoulder surgery, while still under the influence of pain pills, he made a verbal faux pas that will be one of those family jokes that lives on.
Today is Flag Day in the U.S. Betsy Ross is credited with creating our national emblem despite little historical evidence. But that hasn’t stopped us from setting aside a day to honor the Stars and Stripes—representing the shared ideals and values of disparate states.
If you live in one of the early caucus or primary states, I’d wager you’re growing irritated with the number and tenor of the political ads. If you’re a political junkie, maybe you’re just annoyed by them. If you’ve begun muting them, they’ve clearly become an aggravation.
This error threw me for a bit
. After all, I’ve never seen it on one of those “Top Ten Lists of Words Writers Confuse.” But something about this sentence felt off to me the first time I read it.
While it’s still summer, let’s take some time to explore some of the fun and funnier words in our English language. You know those words that just tickle your tongue and make you wonder, where in the world did that originate? OK, maybe I’m the only one who asks that, but here goes with a starter list of words that bring a smile to my lips.
One of the fascinating aspects, and for wordsmiths advantages, of the English language are the multiple synonyms for some words. While they may not all have the same degree of meaning or intensity, they certainly give a writer some options.
The playbill identified the high school student as duel enrolled at the local college.
It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t plan to take a three-month hiatus from blogging. But the longer I was away, the easier it was and the more readily the excuses came.
