Category Archives: writing

Political Theater

Posted on March 9, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Maybe I’ve been following the news too closely lately, but I am tired of hearing every event in Washington, D.C., being described as political theater. When President Obama tries to get a bill passed and republicans fight him, it’s called … Continue reading →

Posted in language, politics, writing | Tagged language, political theater, politics, President Obama, trite words, Washington D.C., writing | Comments Off

Voila!

Posted on March 6, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Yo no hable frances (and my Spanish is kind of rusty, too), but if I did, I would be even more annoyed with how many times I’ve heard the word voila butchered by Americans. It’s not Wa La or Walla … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged grammar, language, misused words, voila, writing | 2 Comments

Bringin’ ’em back from the dead: hitherto and henceforth

Posted on March 4, 2009 by languageandgrammar

I thought I’d take a break from pontificating about grammar rules and share with you some of my favorite words that have gone the way of the whole two tin cans and a string thing—-except whenever I can work them … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged henceforth, hitherto | 1 Comment

Nip it WHERE????

Posted on March 2, 2009 by languageandgrammar

No matter how many times you’ve said it—and you know who you are—nip it in the butt is NOT the correct phrase. Nip it in the butt? Ouch! If you must use this cliche, then use it properly: Nip it … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged cliche, English, grammar error, Henry Chettle, nip it in the bud, nip it in the butt, writing | Comments Off

THAT’S Incredible; I’M Incredulous.

Posted on February 24, 2009 by languageandgrammar

I’ve heard the word incredulous attributed to situations, as in That’s an incredulous story. The problem is that incredulous means skeptical or disbelieving, which is a human trait, not something that can be attributed to an inanimate object, a theory, … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged English, grammar error, incredible vs incredulous, language, Miller Lite controversy, Shakespeare, writing | Comments Off

Look Mom, Hands Free

Posted on February 23, 2009 by languageandgrammar

One of the terms that I wrote about in Literally, the Best Language Book Ever was our use of -friendly. We use the same construction, pairing a word with -friendly, in ways that are inconsistent, which leads to understandable confusion. … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged grammar, hands free, hands free phone, language, trendy language, trendy words, writing | Leave a comment

Political Pundits

Posted on February 17, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Being a political pundit must be a great job. That has to be the case with being able to provide opinion, mainly critical, without having the responsibility to do any better—especially when it’s done on national television or in a … Continue reading →

Posted in language, politics, writing | Tagged grammar, language, politics, pundint, pundit, spelling errors, writing | Comments Off

More Than an Upgrade Needed

Posted on February 13, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Although not everyone will agree with us, we at languageandgrammar.com believe that language subtlety is important. Thoughts are precise, and a lack of subtlety in language usage is often a reflection of a lack of sharpness of thought. That brings … Continue reading →

Posted in language, writing | Tagged appliances, English, language, stainless steel appliances, upgrade, writing | Comments Off

Road to Hoe

Posted on February 10, 2009 by languageandgrammar

If there is anything worse than using a cliche, it’s trying to use a cliche and getting it wrong. You would think we wouldn’t get something wrong that’s been repeated so often! I like to call these instances Close but … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged cliches, English, grammar, language, misused cliches, road to hoe, row to hoe, writing | 4 Comments

Subordinating Conjunctions

Posted on February 9, 2009 by languageandgrammar

While coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet), which connect clauses of equal importance, get a great deal of press in every grammar book, they’re not the only conjunctions in town. Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses as well, but … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, writing | Tagged comma use, coordinating conjunctions, English, grammar error, subordinating conjunctions, writing | Comments Off