It’s that time again, when we learn what publishers of English dictionaries think are the most important words of the year. Several of this year’s winners reflect the continuing dominance of the Covid pandemic in the world’s mindset. However, there are some surprises, as you’ll see. Vaccine: Merriam-Webster said that lookups for […]
Thankful Thoughts
As I look at it this year, the sentiment seems even more compelling. I hope you agree. Like many people, at this time of the year I think about the things for which I am grateful. This year’s list is particularly long because I fractured my shoulder in August. The pain and limited range of […]
Fun Bulwer-Lytton Writing Contest Announces Winners
Can you write “an atrocious opening sentence to a hypothetical bad novel”? That is the challenge of the tongue-in-cheek Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Unlike most writing contests (which encourage participants to write well), the Bulwer-Lytton content celebrates terrible writing. The English Department at San Jose State University has been running this contest since 1982. It’s named […]
Grammar School Wisdom
Supposedly, a grammar-school teacher gave each child in her class the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the rest of the proverb. Some of these answers are truly inspired (if not quite traditional). Enjoy. Better to be safe than…punch a 5th grader. Strike while the…bug is close. It’s […]
The Rule of Three
What can we learn from Thomas Jefferson, the French Revolution and Julius Caesar? The Rule of Three. This Rule says that ideas presented in threes “stick” in our minds better than ideas in larger groups. Consider: “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” “Liberty, equality and fraternity” “I came. I saw. I conquered.” I was […]
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