Apprise or appraise: use the right word
Working through a government document recently, I noticed the use of the word ‘appraise’. It was used incorrectly, and the writer intended the meaning of the word apprise. Unfortunately I…
Johannesburg, South Africa
The quality of English writing is going down hill: proofreading for excellence
I referred to a report by the Road Traffic Management Corporation for an article I was writing for a client. It referred to information settlements along the freeway. It must…
Dogs
Don’t dis my dogs: origin of words
With ‘must love dogs’ embedded in my LinkedIn profile, you might guess that I am rather distressed to learn that the origin of the word ‘doggerel’ originates from a time when people thought dogs were less than honorary human beings.
Can you just imagine living in such a heartless age, with “mean, contemptible” associations of dog in Middle English dating as far back as the 1600s?
Let the trend be your friend
Let the trend be your friend
One of the hot trends of the moment is interactive content. You have to excite and engage with your audience. Give them something tactile to experience. In content, you can do this in several ways. Polls are great ways to get people engaged. People love their own opinions, so why not invite them to poll it. Quizzes have the same response. No one wants to be outshone by not being the smartest in the room. Everyone loves to challenge their own intelligence.
Blogs, vlogs and virtual reality
Podcasting is not new to content but if you don’t take that next step at least, your web presence is going to suffer. Next up is video. Moving pictures are the next basic requirement for a 2022 rendition of consumed content. Video too is not all that new, but pay attention to quality. You’re not going to get away with just anything so invest some time in this.
J.K. Rowling rose to fame with the Harry Potter series but also wrote other genres under a pen name.
5 Reasons to write under a pseudonym
Writing under a pseudonym (pen name) or a nom de plume as the French like to call it, is as old as time itself. Disguising your true self may come with some good reasons. You may choose to write under a pseudonym simply to change things up or to give yourself a fresh view of things. African writers may opt for a more simple-sounding name to fit in with popular writers/genres.
Pic by Johan Pettrich, unsplash
Can you count to 10? – idiom
Can you count to 10? Good then you can help with the untelling of the decuplets saga. In the Financial Mail today, a staff writer says Iqual Survé, the owner of the newspaper, that shared the story, would reveal all.
A cheesy but wise tale about Hem and Haw
My take on ‘Moving Cheese’
Having read Spencer Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese for the fourth time, I decided to put together my own take on things. In 2021, I can't help seeing the parallels…
Relative and relevant: word usage
Relevant, according to the Oxford English Dictionary means “closely connected to or appropriate to the current matter”. Relational; compare Relative, in the same source is explained as “considered in relation or in proportion to something else; existing only in comparison to something else: months of relative calm ended in April.
Verity Price brings home authenticity
Idioms add colourful expressions to the language. This post looks at the origin and usage to better understand English and use phrases correctly. This one is about 'dog and pony show'