Did you know that it is Mark Twain who gets credit for saying that everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it? He also wrote that thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it's lightning that does the work.
Did you know that it is Mark Twain who gets credit for saying that everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it? He also wrote that thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it's lightning that does the work.
Topics: vocabulary test
In the United States, one of our major holidays is Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July. In neighboring Canada, as anywhere else outside America, the same day is noted simply the fourth of July, of course. (Yes, they have a fourth of July in Canada.) What about capitalizing (or capitalising) other calendar and time designations? Here is a list we hope you find useful.
Topics: capitalization
In punctuation-speak, a point is a period. Here's a tip on using points.
Topics: punctuation, abbreviations, points, periods
Substituting that for because will generally restore grammar; but, as some of the examples show, it may result in a wordiness that requires attention. He was nominated because and He was nominated for the reason that are correct equivalents, but the second is labored.
Source: Modern American Usage, edited by Jacques Barzun, 1966. (Despite the book's title, our tip applies to UK and Canadian English as well as American English.)
Topics: editing, use of because, spelling
By this time in June, many people have left their schools for good, after years of study. Did people at Yale, for example, "graduate Yale" or did they "graduate from Yale"? Or did Yale "graduate them"? And if one is attending a "commencement" ceremony, why is it called that? Isn't the ceremony all about the end of their college careers? What are they commencing, anyway? Take our test, and see if you graduate with highest honors.
Topics: word test, vocabulary test
True or False: Never Use Two Negatives in the Same Sentence
The logic behind this rule is that two negatives in the same construction cancel each other out. When we say, "We never did nothing," what we are saying, in effect, is that "At no time did we ever do nothing," which means that at all times we did something. Something like that, anyway.
Topics: double negatives, double negative, negatives
The zookeeper wanted to order four buffaloes for his new display, but he didn't know how to pluralize buffalo.
The comma, aside from its technical uses in mathematical, bibliographical, and other contexts, indicates the smallest break in sentence structure. It denotes a slight pause. Effective use of the comma involves good judgment, with ease of reading the end in view. Here are some guidelines.
Here are some examples of when the letter s is added to a possessive form.
Nouns plural in form, singular in meaning. When the singular form of a noun ending in s looks like a plural and the plural form is the same as the singular, the possessive of both singular and plural is formed by the addition of an apostrophe only. If ambiguity threatens, use of to avoid the possessive.
Topics: possessive form, possessives
Always be sure you're using the right word. If you're not sure, don't use it! Here's a great list from Woe Is I.
Topics: misused words, word usage, word meaning
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