Simple question today: When somebody does something nice for you, do you say, “Thank you?” It seems such a simple thing, but it is so often forgotten or ignored by those people who feel entitled to anything their little hearts desire, and therefore see no need to thank anyone else…
Soliciting Advice and Encouragement
When I was in college, and in the habit of studying and learning new things every day, I could sometimes–don’t ask me how–shift mental gears so that I was thinking at a higher pitch than usual. I couldn’t keep it up for long, but if I concentrated hard enough, I’d…
MM: Not Amateur Nouns
You know what a Pronoun is, right? Right–a noun that has lost its amateur status. But seriously, folks… A pronoun is a word used to replace a noun. According to Michael Strumpf and Auriel Douglas, All ears crave variety. A varied array of words and sentences is candy for our…
Are You a Journalist?
Did you ever really think about the fact that “Journalist” has two completely separate meanings? American Heritage Dictionary 1. One whose occupation is journalism. 2. One who keeps a journal. I find this fascinating. Naturally, this is a dichotomy that I’ve been more or less aware of. I knew the…
MM: How Do You Feel About a Can of Worms?
Here’s the grammatical equivalent of a trick question: “How are you?” The instinctive answer–here in the U.S., at least–is to say, “I’m good.” Except, of course, that “good” is an adjective, not an adverb, and this inspires lots of debate. Because when you say “I am good,” the word “good”…
Let’s Review Reviews!
I’ve had Writing Reviews on my mind a lot lately (for some strange reason), and I thought I’d share some of the points I think that a good review must have. Bare Facts. No matter what you’re reviewing–books, movies, technology, restaurants–you need to provide the facts. For books, include the…
MM: May vs Can
“Mom, can I have a cookie?” “May I.” “Oh, right. Mom, may I have a cookie? Does this sound familiar to anyone? How about this one? “It’s been really nice meeting you. So, er, can I call you later?” “I don’t know, can you?” There’s nothing quite like using grammar…
Briiing! How and When to Phone in Your Writing
I know, you’ve been thinking to yourself that it seems like I’ve been phoning it in this last week. You know, not actually showing up and putting forth my best effort, but just going through the motions. And, you’re not totally wrong, either. For the last week, I’ve been working…
Got Grammar Questions?
Well, here’s a great place to go–Daniel Scocco put together a fabulous post covering all the basics of English grammar. No, really. Go check it out.
MM: Misspellings
This one has to be a quickie, today, so I’m just going to give you a list of some commonly misspelled words to remind you what they should be. (American spellings, just in case.) Absence Accommodate Commitment Completely Definitely (My favorite memory-device for this word? It’s got “finite” right in…