I’ve talked about the importance of grammar and punctuation here, and believe me, I think they’re important, but they’re not the most important thing you need to know about writing. It’s all about YOU. A lot of people giving writing advice will tell you that you should think about your…
MM: Confusing Words
Which of these words confuse you? Assure/Insure/Ensure: Assure: To inform or tell positively. (“There, there, everything will turn out all right in the end, I assure you.”) Insure: To take out a policy to guarantee from loss or harm. (“Congratulations, your car is now insured against accidents, just sign here.”)…
My Two Cents
I’m more a word-person than a number-person, but there are a couple little rules to remember: A percentage is written in hundredths. That is, .25 is the same as 25%. This means that you should never write .25% unless you actually mean to describe .0025 (which is really very, very…
Timely
Since this blog is called “Punctuality Rules!,” let’s talk about punctuality, shall we? To quote myself, “Punctuality is not just about making meetings on time, but about being exact. It’s about doing what needs to be done at exactly the time it should be done. To me, that’s an issue…
MM: Sign’s of the Time’s
Today’s installment of Mangled Monday: A minor rant on the topic of “When Did Apostrophes Become the Sign of All Things Plural?” Apostrophes are just wonderful punctuation marks. They truly are. In her “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves,” Lynne Truss refers to the apostrophe as the “frantically multi-tasking female, dotting hither…
Microcosm
I just spent the weekend immersed in the world of knit-bloggers at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. One of the highlights–other than access to a whole lot of beautiful yarn and spinning fibers–was meeting the other bloggers. Like any community, many of us read one another’s…
We’re All Travelling Together
I have a book called Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter. It talks about the collapse of basic manners, how they have “become a casualty of our postmodern culture.” You already know that this is one of my favorite themes, and, in fact, I…
Non-Professional Copy-Editing
Dear Bloomsbury USA, I’m just writing to tell you how disappointed I am in your copyediting and cover-design departments. I picked up a copy of your “How I Learned to Cook” by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan at the bookstore the other day. The book itself looks interesting, though I…
MM: Would I lie to you?
Today’s installment of Mangled Monday: The words lie and lay: how to tell them apart, and when (not) to use them. Frankly–and I hope you won’t think less of me for admitting this–this pair of words is one that I always have trouble telling apart. So, let’s recap for the…
Genius is in the Details
So, continuing our discussion about the importance of appearance as well as substance, and the hope that we’re not going to let several millennia of civilization collapse in a text-messaging, pictogram-riddled heap at our feet, let’s talk about details, shall we? It is sadly clear that there are a number…
Strunk and White
I doubt I’m the only person who has a collection of books on grammar and word usage, and I certainly hope I’m not the only one who reads them for pleasure. There are a huge number out there and, of course, some are better than others. Some are more accessible,…
Punctuation Can Save the World?
I talked last time about the importance of style and substance working together to make you look as good as you really are–to back up your knowledge with an assured, confident style in order to be convincing. I’ve also talked rather grandiosely–if not absurdly–about punctuation and punctuality as the basis…
It’s Just Another Mangled Monday
Welcome to the first installment of the weekly category, “Mangled Monday.” Here, each week, we will address some kind of commonly misused rule–spelling, punctuation, basic courtesy–whatever, as the whim strikes. Today, it’s all about “its.” A simple little word that seems to cause lots of confusion. Really, it’s very simple.…
It’s All in the Way You Look at It
Appearance isn’t quite everything.Our modern world may appear to be quite superficial, at a glance. First impressions are key. The old saw, “You only have one chance to make a first impression,” is just as true as it ever was. There are entire industries based on helping people figure out…
Punctually Punctual
This blog is called “Punctuality Rules” for a couple of reasons. One, the name is a play on the word “punctuation.” Originally I had thought to just write about writing, grammar and spelling . . . to address that “its/it’s” and “there/their/they’re” issues once and for all, if only for…