Words and Phrases: Of Mondegreens and Mishearings
Blame the mishearing, blame the accent, blame the frame of reference – these give rise to mondegreens. “According to the word watcher William Safire of The New York Times, the…
What’s missing from the language?
Have you ever paid attention to the ampersand? Did you know that it and similarly formed words are called mondegreens? Newspaper style prefers the use of a full “and” only…
Ernest Hemingway
How to develop your writing style
Usually I write about grammar, but what about style? Grammar, if you know the rules, can with effort and dedication be learnt. Style, however, is unique to the individual. Writing…
No comma sense: Three common uses for this little grammar tool
I once punned in a headline “No comma sense”. This referred to a number quoted by a government department which did not know where to put the comma between noughts…
Read all about it
How important is email accuracy?
Is email an art or science? If we consider science as accurately written text and art as anything slapped down on the page, then I would be persuaded to think…
English idioms: how they get distorted
The other day, a friend asked, “How do you spell towing the line as in the sense of complying? Is it toing or towing? This is just one of many…
Africa's future leaders
Five word pairs to increase your word power
Today I’d like to share these word pairs that always confuse new writers. Not to sound arrogant there are plenty words in the English language that I need to check…
A screenshot of Boston Legal
A deadly blutterance: How words are formed
Blasted, blithering and blooming. All lovely descriptive words with a possible to probable note of irritation in how they are expressed, depending on context of course. These words remind me…
Theft and larceny: correct usage
With so much exposure to people’s dirty legal laundry and equal amounts of televised fictional dramas – Law and Order my personal favourite – I often heard the charge of…
How words are formed
The English language owes much to many. From the outset it borrowed from Germanic, French, Latin and Dutch influences, to name just a few. Overtime the language has seen words…
