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I saw this word written down today and had to look it up to see if there was also a spelling of descendent. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, descendant is a word that is frequently looked up; however, from my research today, it appears that no one has provided a comparison of these two spellings before. … Continue reading
As a writer, my name is important to me so I wanted my LinkedIn profile to reflect my name and be able to add it to my websites and emails. I posed the question to LinkedIn this morning using their ‘Ask a Questions’ function (did you know that you can only ask 10 questions a month?). Anyway, the question … Continue reading
The different dialects used in America and and United Kingdom are sometimes known American English and British English. Peter Strevens, professor of phonetics since 1949 and author of British and American English, wrote: “British and American are seen as ‘families’ of varieties of common language, different, yet having equal merit”. A few examples of differences include: punctuation … Continue reading
YouTube is a video-sharing website bought by Google in November 2006 and according to Wikipedia “each YouTube video is accompanied by a piece of HTML, which can be used to embed it on a page outside the YouTube website”. This means it can be added to blogs and websites. I hadn’t realised until recently that this networking tool could benefit me as a freelance … Continue reading
The first known use of the Latin term bona fide was in 1632 (source Merriam Webster online dictionary). Below are some definitions followed by the use of bona fide in sentences. Definitions The definition of bona fide is ‘good faith’. Daily Writing Tips explain that in contract law, “parties must always act in good faith if … Continue reading
What is the true difference between speciality and specialty? Is it because the former is British English and the latter is American English? I decided to trawl the internet and a few books in the library today to find out some more, but the answer is not that straighforward. First I’ll start with some definitions. Definition (as … Continue reading
Wiktionary shows this Latin term in two parts: status meaning ‘state’ and quo meaning ‘in which’. According to Wikipedia, the definition of status quo is ‘current or existing state of affairs’. The status quo is how things are right now, rather than how things could be. Example sentences Fire swept through the town destroying many buildings. … Continue reading
According to Wikipedia, per se is a Latin phrase meaning ‘in itself’, although the individual Latin words can be defined as: per = by or through se = itself, himself, herself or themselves The Merriam Webster dictionary explains that per se can be used as an adverb or an adjective as follows: Definition of per se as an adverb (source: … Continue reading
Merriam Webster defines the noun frisson as a “brief moment of emotional excitement”. The Collins English Dictionary has a similar meaning of “shiver of fear or excitement” . The appropriate synonyms are shudder and thrill which is also the translation of frisson in French (according to About.com). Did you know that the first known use of this word … Continue reading
Your writing style is unique to you – if people choose to read what you write, it will be because they like your style and the personality that shines through. William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well, says that “all writing is a journey; you the writer are asking someone to go on a trip with you”. This could apply … Continue reading
My Writing Notebook 