Each year at this time, publishers of English dictionaries reveal their “words of the year,” which are primarily based on the number of searches for the word or words on the dictionaries’ websites. I am always surprised at some of the choices. See what you think. Goblin mode: Oxford Languages, the creator of the Oxford English […]
Pitching the Media: the Sobering Stats
Journalists do not respond to most email pitches. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best days to pitch a story. Short subject lines and pitches have the best chance of success These are some findings from the Propel Media Barometer for the third quarter of 2022. This quarterly benchmarking study analyzed a sample of about 400,000 […]
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest: The Best of the Worst Writing
“I knew she was trouble the second she walked into my 24-hour deli, laundromat, and detective agency, and after dropping a load of unmentionables in one of the heavy-duty machines (a mistake that would soon turn deadly) she turned to me, asking for two things: find her missing husband and make her a salami on […]
Save the Apostrophe!
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 […]
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