September 24 is National Punctuation Day, which celebrates the importance of good punctuation. This seems like a great time to focus on the most mis-used punctuation mark, the apostrophe. The most common apostrophe error is the use of “it’s” for “its.” Fortunately, the distinction is easy to master. “Its” means “possessive” or, to put it […]
What I Learned About Wikipedia
For many people, Wikipedia is the “go-to” source for information about a company, product or other topic. With good reason. The English Wikipedia includes more than 6.5 million articles, averages more than 500 new articles per day, and has about 200,000 active users. Wikipedia often ranks high in search engine results, so it makes sense that many […]
Ad Bloopers
These are some classic ad bloopers, from Richard’s Lederer’s classic treasury of bloopers, “Anguished English: an Anthology of Accidental Insults upon our Language.” Enjoy. Newbury Street Coiffure: Affordable: an alternative to looking good Four-poster bed, 101 years old. Perfect for antique lover. Now is your chance to have your ears pierced and get an extra […]
To Try or Not to Try, That is the Question
“I’ll try.” How many times do we hear those words? Too often. And statements like “I’ll try to do this or that” remind me of a workshop years ago where we were fined anytime we used the word “try.” Why? It’s a weak word. It implies lack of commitment. It does not inspire confidence. As […]
Words of the Year
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 […]
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 […]
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