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Thank you to my work colleague who gave me the idea for today’s writing tip – it’s one of her pet hates when people get this wrong. The rules are that you use between when relating to two things and among when it’s more than two. I’ve created some examples below: There is enough jelly and ice … Continue reading
The noun faux pas (pronounced fo pa) is a French expression, literally translated as ‘false step’. It is commonly used in British English where the actual meaning is “social blunder or indiscretion” (according to The Free Dictionary http://www.thefreedictionary.com/faux+pas and the Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus). Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_pas also define it as “a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners, or conduct”. According to Wikipedia the words faux pas … Continue reading
How do use the word ‘presently’ in a sentence? My grandparents used it when I was a child when saying something like “we will be eating the cake presently”. I remember the meaning to be later – sometime in the future. According to The Writer’s Handbook by Martin Mander & Stephen Curtis (Penguin Reference Library), the meaning is dependent on the … Continue reading
Using the words former and latter in a sentence can help you avoid repetition, but should only be used when referring to two previously listed things. Former refers to the first point mentioned and latter refers to the second. The Pocket Writer’s Handbook by Martin Mander & Stephen Curtis explains that these words should be avoided if … Continue reading
“The study of how words change their forms according to use is referred to as morphology” writes John Seely in his book the Oxford A-Z if Grammar & Punctuation. To help explain this, I’ve created a few examples: Example A Please relax when you get home She always relaxes when she gets home. I feel … Continue reading
According to Watts publishing Group http://wattspublishinggroup.com/launching-a-career-in-writing/, in an article called ‘Launching a career in writing’, “fear has no place in the industry of writing”. Don’t worry that people aren’t going to see things the same way as you and certainly don’t stop writing because you have got stung by negative comments/criticism. You may be stopping your natural talent taking you to where … Continue reading
A colloquialsm is an informal word or phrase which is used instead of a more appropriate or formal one. Some examples are below: Informal: Pros and cons Formal: Advantages and disadvantages Informal: You’re skating on thin ice (something I admit to saying to my daughters!) Formal: You’re taking a risk There is a great website called ‘About.com: English as a Second Language’: http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_pairphrases1.htm. … Continue reading
Writing is like exercising – you have to warm up first. ‘Just write something’ is usually the advice given by the experts when you have writer’s block or are struggling to produce something good enough. Today, I read an interesting article called ‘Go with the Flow’ by Helen Yendall (Writing Magazine, October 2011). In her article she suggests that flow writing, also … Continue reading
Onym means ‘word’ or ‘name’ and comes from the Greek word onumon (as cited in the Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus). There are also many words formed from using ‘-onym’ as a suffix. Words with this ending, refer to special kinds of words or names e.g. antonym and synonym (also see note 69: http://wp.me/p1x6Ui-ci). Other … Continue reading
Rules for using fractions and percentages in a sentence The basic rule is – don’t mix them up in the same sentence. Example: 25% of my work colleagues have children, but only one out of every three of them have more than one child. Better: 25% of my work colleagues have children, but only 33% … Continue reading
My Writing Notebook 