Just when I thought I knew what a word meant, I find myself lost in confusion. Or maybe at the turn of the century.
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A misused word that brings out the Tolkien in me
If you see a big guy with wild eyes and wild hair running down a street near you screaming, “It’s a lectern, not a podium! It’s a lectern, not a
Continue readingAffect, effect and the peril of snakebites
Homophones slither through writing like hungry snakes, striking hard and fast when disturbed and leaving a painful mark behind. Affect and effect are among the slipperiest homophones. Much of the
Continue readingA lesson about ‘refute’ from the NYT crossword puzzle
Lessons often come from unexpected places. Yesterday, it was the New York Times crossword puzzle. Clues for the crossword often push the boundaries of obscurity (that’s what makes the puzzles
Continue readingLaying down the principles of ‘lay’ and ‘lie’
Two Associated Press leads from Sunday’s newspaper sent up a signal flare. They reminded me that it was time to talk again about “lay” and “lie,” if only to remind
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