30 Words Inspired by 29 People and An Elephant

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In the Last Throes

An amusing egg-corn that has just appeared on my radar is that of writing in the throes of as "in the throws of."

2 2024-12-03 08:51 查看原文

Farther, Further: What's the Difference?

Some authorities offer differentiated meanings for farther and further, but the short answer to the question of which to use for what is that you can just

2 2024-12-21 17:03 查看原文

Proofreading Legal Documents: How to Do It Like a Pro

This article breaks down the unique aspects of legal document proofreading and tips for enhancing your proofreading skills.

2 2024-12-18 05:23 查看原文

CAUTION: Merging Words

The lines between some word pairs like suit and suite, motive and motif, are beginning to blur. Here are six such pairs that may be worth your attention.

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Ever and Never

Ever and never are adverbs employed in strictly defined ways. Here are the parameters of usage for the two terms.

1 2024-11-28 19:18 查看原文

3 Types of Erroneous Use of Dashes

Dashes, like semicolons, are basically commas with superpowers. However, while semicolons take the place of commas to set off independent clauses or separate

1 2024-11-29 21:19 查看原文

5 Types of Unnecessary Hyphenation

The sentences below, each followed by a discussion and a revision, illustrate various ways in which a hyphen is used extraneously.

1 2024-11-29 14:18 查看原文

3 Examples of How a Comma Can Change Meaning

Omission of a lowly comma often alters the intent of a sentence, as demonstrated in the following examples, each followed by discussion and a revision.

1 2024-11-29 02:14 查看原文

Metaphorical Usage and Scare Quotes

Writers often mistakenly believe they are being helpful when, in the act of using a word or phrase in a nonliteral sense, they frame the term in quotation

1 2024-11-29 09:55 查看原文

3 More Sentences with Unnecessary Semicolons

1. Some new entrants probably need to have a deeper focus on security and privacy than they have; not least because it is only a matter of time before they,

1 2024-11-28 19:17 查看原文

The Dash Family's Roles

The en dash is the oft-neglected middle sibling of the horizontal-line family of symbols that serve to connect words and numbers for various reasons.

1 2024-11-28 19:17 查看原文

7 Types of Punctuation Errors

Each of the following sentences below demonstrates a specific type of error involving internal punctuation, usually involving a problem with a comma.

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Time to Re-Read Orwell?

George Orwell didn't have time to collect many royalties on his phenomenally successful novel 1984.

2 2024-11-28 07:26 查看原文

How to Focus When You're Writing

Do you ever find yourself distracted when you’re writing?

1 2024-11-27 07:47 查看原文

Say What?

If you're telling a story, you can use two journalism training mnemonics to check that you have covered all the bases. These are the 6Ws and the WHAT formula.

1 2024-11-27 08:25 查看原文

How to Write a Great Blog Post

Blog posts might look straightforward, but if you’ve ever tried to write one, you may have found it was harder than you expected.

1 2024-11-27 14:34 查看原文

Rifle vs. Riffle

A reader has a question about the verbs rifle and riffle in relation to papers:

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25+ Pieces of Writing Software You Should Know About

Of course, all you really need in order to write is a notebook and pen. But there are lots of software packages that can make life easier for writers.

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Prevaricate vs Procrastinate

Two commonly confused words are prevaricate and procrastinate. They are similar in being quite formal, Latinate, words but have different meanings.

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Slink, Shrink, and Wink

Last week I found the word slinked in manuscripts submitted by two different members of my writers’ group. In both mss I drew a wavy line under it to

1 2024-11-29 04:04 查看原文