Happy Talk, Wordnik, and Multilingual Plagiarism: Language in the News
Monday January 30, 2012
It's time for our monthly round-up of language-related items in the news--from the linguistically profound to the lexically ridiculous.
The Happy Bias of English
When a team of scientists set out to ... Read More
Ten Quizzes
Friday January 27, 2012
Some of the most frequently visited pages on this website are quizzes--matching, editing, and multiple-choice quizzes on topics that include English usage, spelling, word origins, and figures of speech. In ... Read More
How Winston Churchill Learned English
Wednesday January 25, 2012
When Sir Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, the Swedish Academy heralded both his "mastery of historical and biographical description" and his "brilliant oratory ... Read More
Reflections on Words
Monday January 23, 2012
Worry about words, Bobby. Your grandmother is right. For, whatever else you may do, you will be using words always. All day, and every day, words matter. Though you live ... Read More
Writing Rituals: Whatever Gets You Through a Page
Friday January 20, 2012
Contrary to legend, most writers don't rely on alcohol for inspiration.
It's true that a number of famous American writers struggled with alcoholism--Faulkner, O'Neill, Fitzgerald, and Cheever, just for a start. ... Read More
Ten New Grammar Exercises (Winter 2012)
Wednesday January 18, 2012
Here are 10 grammar and word exercises recently added to our collection of Exercises and Quizzes. To view these worksheets without ads, simply click on the printer icon near the ... Read More
Ten Things You May Not Have Known About Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" Speech
Monday January 16, 2012
In a 1999 survey of leading scholars of American public address, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was rated as the most significant American political speech of ... Read More
Word Histories and Meanings
Friday January 13, 2012
We shouldn't be misled by the etymology of the word etymology. The term comes to us (by way of Latin and Old French) from a Greek word that means "the ... Read More
Short, Snappy Sentences
Wednesday January 11, 2012
Today's guest post is by Ellis O. Jones (1874-1967), a comic playwright, anti-war activist, and editor of the original Life magazine.
Use Short Sentences
Writers who wish to impart to their ... Read More
Word Salad, Gongorism, and Consonant Clusters: There's a Name for It (#17)
Monday January 9, 2012
In our extensive Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms, you'll find a name for . . .
the practice of stringing together words that have no apparent connection to ... Read More
Language Mavens and Muphry's Law
Friday January 6, 2012
Before commenting on what may look like a misspelling in today's headline, please read to the end of the post.
Self-appointed guardians of the language go by various titles: language mavens, ... Read More
Recovering Hidden Verbs
Wednesday January 4, 2012
When a verb-noun combination (such as make a revision) is used in place of a single, more forceful verb (revise), we say that the original verb has been smothered, diluted, ... Read More
If you want to be a writer . . .
Monday January 2, 2012
. . . the secret is to write, write, write, and keep writing.
(Sterling Silliphant, quoted by David Morrell in The Successful Novelist: A Lifetime of Lessons about Writing and ... Read More