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Speaking tip #7.
Gotta speak publicly soon? Don't be like Evan, the other newscaster, in Bruce Almighty. Rattle off these tongue-twisters quickly just before taking the podium. It'll get your jaw working well.
eleven benevolent elephants
preshrunk silk-shirt sale
three short sword sheaths
an Argyle Gargoyle
gobbling Gargoyles gobbled gabbling goblins
I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch
lovely lemon liniment
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It's the Stupid, Economy!
Rising prices. Campaign promises. The Fed. The price of gas. It's all a big, fat mess. The secret to your success might be found in words. Buy - er, try these.
1. Hamiltonianism: (a) the theory or practice of mercantile pursuits; (b) economy in the use of means to an end; (c) the political principles and ideas held by or associated with Alexander Hamilton that center around a belief in a strong central government, broad interpretation of the federal constitution, encouragement of an industrial and commercial economy, and a general distrust of the political capacity or wisdom of the common man; (d) the economic and political ideas of actor George Hamilton that center around the belief that a deep, dark tan and a silly grin are the engines of the economy that drive America.
2. shakeout: (a) the failure or retrenchment of a significant number of firms in the economy or a sector or an industry that usually results in a depressed market; (b) economy of explanation in conformity with Occam's razor; (c) the act or process of entering into, participating in, or introducing a free market economy; (d) the step before the bakeout.
3. monetarism: (a) the study of the history of currency; (b) a theory in economics that stable economic growth can be assured only by control of the rate of increase of the money supply to match the capacity for growth of real productivity; (c) a theory in economics: changes in the price level tend to vary directly with the amount of money in circulation and the rate of its circulation; (d) the study of the economic effects of the voracious monitor lizard of Australia, e.g., it eats everyone in the village and the economy disappears.
4. cash cow: (a) a consistently profitable business, property, or product whose profits are used to finance a company's investments in other areas; (b) a fund earmarked for a specific purpose, action, or campaign; (c) an expensive cost center that seems to consume infinite amounts of cash; (d) the cow that, when sold, marks the transition from loss to profit for the rancher.
5. cliometrics: (a) a study of the influence of such factors as geography, economics, and demography on the politics and especially the foreign policy of a state; (b) a study of economics in terms of individual areas of activity (as a firm, household, or prices); (c) the application of methods developed in other fields (as economics, statistics, and data processing) to the study of history; (d) the numbers behind the Clio award.
6. supply-side: (a) of, relating to, or being an economic theory that advocates use of government spending and growth in the money supply to stimulate the demand for goods and services and therefore expand economic activity; (b) economy in the use of means to an end; (c) the theory that an increased supply of currency made by the Federal Reserve stimulates economic growth; (d) of, relating to, or being an economic theory that reduction of tax rates encourages more earnings, savings, and investment and thereby expands economic activity and the total taxable national income.
7. numismatics: (a) the study or collection of coins, tokens, and paper money and sometimes related objects (as medals); (b) the study of the effects of metal coinage supply on the macroeconomy; (c) analysis of wages measured in money as distinct from actual purchasing power; (d) a study of the influence of such factors as geography, economics, and demography on the politics and especially the foreign policy of a state.
8. land bank: (a) a maritime bank located on dry land near a port of call; (b) a bank that provides financing for land development and for farm mortgages; (c) a parcel of land, as in an estate, held in trust; (d) a bank of last resort.
9. fieri facias: (a) a writ authorizing the sheriff to obtain satisfaction of a judgment in debt or damages from the goods and chattels of the defendant; (b) of or relating to financial matters; (c) the stock of the British national debt � usually used with the; (d) Latin for fire sale.
10. liberalism: (a) a theory in economics emphasizing individual constraint and usually based on highly regulated competition and the elimination of the gold standard; (b) a theory in economics emphasizing individual freedom from restraint and usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard; (c) a theory in economics: changes in the price level tend to vary directly with the amount of money in circulation and the rate of its circulation; (d) junk science.
If errors in printed publications are penalizing your brand, causing you to lose ground to the opposition, ProofreadNOW has the perfect play to score lots of points with your readers. We examine the spelling, punctuation, and clarity of your ad, proposal, Web page, brochure, or anything else in print. We're on the ball and executing a winning game plan, always in your favor.
Answers: 1:c 2:a 3:b 4:a 5:c 6:d 7:a 8:b 9:a 10:b Rate Yourself: Bank foreclosed on your brain.
3 to 5 correct: Well, you could run for president...
6 to 7 correct: Somewhere above minimum wage.
8 to 9 correct: Smarter than the average Fed governor.
All 10 correct: Smart! And you probably are debt-free, too!
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Today's Poll
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| Weekly Grammar Tip |
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"Attributions in text," he said.
Attribution is the addition of he said, John asked, she wrote, or some similar construction to a direct or indirect quotation to indicate the source. Attributions such as as he said indicate that the writer agrees with the quotation.
Verbs such as smile and frown have been used with attributions for generations: "You're a penny short," he frowned. This practice permits writers to vary their verbs of attribution and to express very compactly the manner in which something is said, but it is absurd, from the strictest point of view, and many readers are annoyed by it. There are many verbs that are not objectionable in attributions but still connote manner, such as agree, beg, complain, hint, insist, propose, and scold. Even these should not be used just to vary the common said and asked. A writer may feel that there are too many repetitions of said and asked, but in fact these verbs of attribution are almost invisible to the reader, and their repetition is not annoying. Dialogue sometimes can, of course, run for quite a few exchanges without any attributions and still be clear to the reader, though the writer, who always knows who's talking, may sometimes overestimate the reader's ability to follow.
Colorful verbs such as grunt and hiss are acceptable when they are appropriate--"Hunh?" he grunted; "Just taste this, my sweet," he hissed--but grunt and hiss are ludicrous when the quotation could not actually be grunted or hissed: "I suppose you consider this an adequate periphrasis," he grunted (difficult to grunt); "You will enjoy the cocktail," he hissed (impossible to hiss).
Source: The Handbook of Good English by Edward D. Johnson.
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| Word of the Week |
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aphotic
Pronunciation: a-FO-tik
Function: adjective
Date: c. 1900
Definition: being the deep zone of an ocean or lake receiving too little light to permit photosynthesis
Example: "I gained so much speed from jumping off Frye's Leap that my plunge took me to the aphotic zone of Sebago, I'm certain. It took me nearly two minutes to reach the surface. Well, it seemed like two minutes anyway..."
-the editor, 2008
Definition source: Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary.
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Copyright 2008 by ProofreadNOW.com, Inc., 447 Boston Street, Topsfield, MA 01983 USA. Published weekly (we try) by the editors at ProofreadNOW.com, Inc. and sent to customers of record and to opt-in guests. Many readers find it is best to read a portion, put it aside, then come back and read more.
Please rate this GrammarTip (10=high, 0=low):
10 - Like having all your picks win the bowl games.
8 - Like having half the day off after New Year's Day.
6 - Like finding a parking space at the mall.
4 - Like finding a parking space near the mall--across the street.
2 - Like working all day the day after New Year's Day.
0 - Like staying home and forgetting the office was open all day the day after New Year's Day...until they tracked you down.
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