Quote of the Day

“When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them–then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are far apart.” –Mark Twain

Quote of the Day

“Enormous numbers of people are taken in, or at least beguiled and fascinated, by what seems to me to be unbelievable hocum, and relatively few are concerned with or thrilled by the astounding—yet true—facts of science, as put forth in the pages of, say, Scientific American.”–Douglas Hofstadter

Clarity and Wordiness

Does grammar matter? Take a look at these two sentences from the website of the Plain English Campaign(http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/). The first sentence is from a actual document on school children. High-quality learning environments are a necessary precondition for facilitation and enhancement of the ongoing learning process. Here’s the plain English translation: Children need good schools if … More Clarity and Wordiness

Grammar Myths

    Nobody likes the grammar police. There’s a joke about two women sitting on a plane. One of them, a Texan, turns to the other and asks, “Where are you all from?”  The woman looks at her and answers disdainfully, “I’m from a place where people don’t end sentences with prepositions.” The Texan smiles … More Grammar Myths