Quote of the day
October 4, 2015
“If you do not have the possibility of abandoning your religion, you do not enjoy the possibility of freely embracing it, either.” ― Paul Berman
Author: Alan Rutkowski
Quote of the Day
October 3, 2015
“The dominant theories of elite art and criticism in the 20th century grew out of a militant denial of human nature. One legacy is ugly, baffling, and insulting art. The other is pretentious and unintelligible scholarship. And they’re surprised that people are staying away in droves?” ― Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial … More Quote of the Day
Wordiness Again
October 2, 2015
Using too many words per thought is actually a bigger problem than bad grammar in writing these days. In many cases, bad grammar—i.e., usage that violates the rules of Standard English—doesn’t affect meaning at all. Look at these two sentences: Jadwiga don’t got no cigarettes. Jadwiga doesn’t have any cigarettes. Both … More Wordiness Again
Quote of the Day
October 2, 2015
Well, actually two quotes: “We can clearly see that there is no bi-univocal correspondence between linear signifying links or archi-writing, depending on the author, and this multireferential, multi-dimensional machinic catalysis. The symmetry of scale, the transversality, the pathic non-discursive character of their expansion: all these dimensions remove us from the logic of the excluded middle … More Quote of the Day
Obscurity Can Seem Profound
October 2, 2015
There are some good reasons for writing wordy, incomprehensible prose. Suppose you need to write about some topic, but what you have to say is mostly simple and obvious. You’re afraid you will look like a fool. But it is possible to take the simple and obvious and make it really complicated and obscure. Here’s the … More Obscurity Can Seem Profound
Spotting Errors
October 1, 2015
Of the following sentences, only three are correct. Can you spot the errors? Elmo’s mother who is from Nevada loves to play poker. Everybody, including the players and the fans, were surprised by the easy victory. As a teenager, politics never interested Stephen. Colbart has a bad habit of barging in rooms without knocking. Walking … More Spotting Errors
Verbs That Link and Verbs that Don’t
October 1, 2015
If asked to define a verb, most people would say it’s an action word, which is true. Jump, run, sleep, snore—these verbs express actions. They’re action verbs. But not all verbs are action verbs; some are linking verbs. You can probably get through life just fine without understanding the difference between action verbs and linking … More Verbs That Link and Verbs that Don’t
Parts of Speech
October 1, 2015
It’s probably not true that we can’t think about things we don’t have words for. Schadenfreude is a German word that has come into English and means “pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.” As cognitive scientist Steven Pinker has pointed out, when people first learn this word, they don’t suddenly acquire the concept of … More Parts of Speech
Quote of the Day
October 1, 2015
“The scriptures present a God who delights in genocide, rape, slavery, and the execution of nonconformists, and for millennia those writings were used to rationalize the massacre of infidels, the ownership of women, the beating of children, dominion over animals, and the persecution of heretics and homosexuals. Humanitarian reforms such as the elimination of cruel … More Quote of the Day
Words: Don’t Exceed the Recommended Dosage
October 1, 2015
Has anybody ever suggested that your writing is wordy? Learning to avoid, or at least not overdo, certain grammatical structures will automatically make your writing more concise and easier to read. One such structure is nominalization. Nominalization turns a strong verb into a noun and uses the noun with a weak verb when the original … More Words: Don’t Exceed the Recommended Dosage
No Harm Spilt 