“In the life cycle of a theory, it starts off simple and then gets fancier and fancier, as brainy thinkers mount objections and the theory’s proponents develop more subtle, complex, and well-defended theory to stave them off. Then it dies. Actually, before it dies, it lives in a special preserve for theories too complicated to … More Quote of the Day
Rabbi Robert Alper of Vermont beat out more than 4,000 people from 47 different countries who submitted jokes in a contest organized by the Pontifical Missions Society called “Joke With the Pope.” The contest was supposed to promote engagement with the Pope leading up to his visit to the U.S. Here’s Rabbi Alper’s joke: “My … More Harper’s Comedic Adviser
Linguists—not polyglots who speak many languages, but scholars who study language—are concerned with describing how a language works. That’s descriptive grammar. Those who teach English are concerned with prescriptive grammar, that is, with teaching the grammar and usage rules of Standard English. But who made the rules? We can easily forget that grammar does not … More Descriptive vs. Prescriptive Grammar
When I was a kid, my widowed mother rented out two upstairs rooms in our house to help make ends meet. One of the rooms was occupied by Homer, a short-order cook in a small café a few blocks from our house. Homer was a very slight man with a glass eye that looked very … More Saturday Chores in a Different Time
“You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”–Jodi Picoult
He fashioned an altar And placed upon it a fantasy To which he sacrificed his reality And traded his carnality For the celibacy of expectation
Mark Twain once wrote, “If you catch an adjective, kill it.” It’s good stylistic advice, although Twain was exaggerating, of course. We couldn’t very well kill off all adjectives. “What color was the dog that bit you?” “What?” “The color of the dog?” “Uh…” But using too many adjectives (and adverbs) is a common mistake … More Killing Adjectives
“We’re the most aggressively inarticulate generation to come along since, you know, a long time ago!” ― Taylor Mali
I feed crows. I am definitely not alone. People have probably felt a need to feed crows from time immemorial, but recent documentaries on crows and crow behaviour have certainly increased their admirers. Crows are very intelligent. There is a video of a crow fashioning a straight metal wire into a hook that allows it … More Crow Theology
Anyone who has to do much writing needs to understand the difference between active and passive voice. Look at the following sentences: Gloria parked the car under the bridge. The car was parked under the bridge by Gloria. The car was parked under the bridge. The first sentence is in the active voice; the second … More Active and Passive Voice
No Harm Spilt 