We’re all human. We all make mistakes from time to time, typing “tot he” instead of “to the,” missing the Shift key when typing “I,” stuff like that. It happens. And those kind of errors are what make things like automatic spell-checks useful, instead of detrimental. These kinds of errors,…
MM: Compound Adjectives
Most of you should know what an adjective is, but what about a Compound-Adjective? This is an adjective created when two or more adjectives modify the same noun. Blue-gray paint Absent-minded professor Semi-solid food Sweet-and-Sour pork The idea is that the hyphen will help to avoid confusion. Otherwise, that tasty…
A Muse on Muses
So, here I sit in front of this blank screen. I had an idea in my head for a post, opened up the page to write it down, but . . . poof! It disappeared. All I can hope is that it will resurface in time to stand up and…
MM: You’re Kidding
Sadly, it’s true. There are still people who get confused about when to use “your” and when to use “you’re.” This one is really simple. If you want to say, “You are,” you write “you’re.” It’s a contraction of the two words. If you mean to denote possession, you want…
Independent Thinking
This picture pretty much says everything all by itself, but let’s be clear and explain it any way. My father was writing an e-mail this morning and this window popped up in his automatic “Spelling and Grammar Checker.” The program objected to the phrase,”This site will explain” because it felt…
MM: Recap
It’s the end of the year, of course, and therefore the ideal time for reminiscing. Punctuality Rules! has only been around since October, but, who says we can’t have a retrospective anyway, right? So, in place of our usual “Mangled Monday” feature, let’s look back over the last few months…
Name and Address?
There’s a line in “You’ve Got Mail,” where Meg Ryan’s character protests, “Joe? Just call me Joe? As though you were one of those stupid 22 year old girls with no last name? Hi, I’m Kimberly. Hi, I’m Janice. Don’t they know you’re supposed to have a last name? It’s…
MM: Confusing Words, Part 2
Which of these words confuse you? Bath/Bathe: Bath: To soak in water. (“After a long day, all I want is a nice, hot bath.”) Bathe: The verb used when bathing. (“The dog was so filthy, it took me an hour to bathe him.” Discreet/Discrete: Discreet: Tactfully unobtrusive. (“The doctor was…
Homespun
As a knitter, I recently read a couple of articles about the upswing of making things by hand, and also an, um, unique competition for sock knitters, with great interest. “Handmade isn’t a fad… it’s a resurgence, one that is of a piece with the booming interest in organic food,”…
Strength
Writing manuals talk about the importance of “strong” writing. You know, the need to avoid wishy-washy, vague, round-about sentences, but how, exactly, are you supposed to do that? And why? The “how” is pretty straight-forward. Use active verbs. An active verb is one that, well, describes an action. Run. Write.…