Tag Archives: writing

Close But No Cigarette

Posted on April 30, 2009 by languageandgrammar

We’ve all done it–either misstated something or slightly mangled a common statement or cliche, and the result was a humorous sentence that didn’t make sense. I call this “close but no cigarette.” One of our blogger friends, Pamela Villars, recently … Continue reading →

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Don’t Torture Me: Tortuous, Torturous

Posted on April 29, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Sometimes, learning grammar rules can be torturous. Or is it tortuous? Be careful with these two words; the second -r makes all the difference. Torturous has torture as its root, and it means that something is very painful, that is, … Continue reading →

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Why Language Changes

Posted on April 23, 2009 by languageandgrammar

We at languageandgrammar.com don’t throw around the term “great” loosely, but Forbes.com has a great article on the evolution of words.  Actually, we’re just having a little bit of fun. It wouldn’t be fair for us to comment on the … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, language, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

We’re Not the Only Ones with Pet Peeves!

Posted on April 22, 2009 by languageandgrammar

This is another installment of your pet peeves, taken straight from the comment section of the Your Pet Peeves page. We’re doing this because we ran out of topics–I mean because we want to highlight your pet peeves. Seriously, one … Continue reading →

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Spring Greening?

Posted on April 19, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Spring is that special time of year. Flowers bloom, little woodland creatures awaken from their long winter’s nap, and the grass and trees start to green up. Wait a minute. Everything starts to green up? What does that mean? Maybe … Continue reading →

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Only 70 Curses Today–Below Average

Posted on April 16, 2009 by languageandgrammar

I was shocked by a recent article that claims that teenagers use curse words 80 to 90 times per day on average (Curse words trendy language among teenagers). I was shocked because I thought it would be more like a … Continue reading →

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Pre-Prepare to Not Like This Word

Posted on April 13, 2009 by languageandgrammar

I recently heard the word pre-prepared, and not being a word historian, I don’t know whether this is an old word that’s being used again or a new word needed to meet the demands of our fast-paced society. (Please note … Continue reading →

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What Annoys You…

Posted on April 10, 2009 by languageandgrammar

It’s time for more of your pet peeves, taken straight from comments left on the Your Pet Peeves Page. We’re grateful for all of the comments that we’ve gotten so far, so wanted to highlight them. I’m listing them in … Continue reading →

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Cancel One L

Posted on April 6, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Remember that spelling rule you learned in elementary school about doubling the final consonant before adding -ed or -ing to a verb? Well, if you remember, then you know that there is a little more to the story. When making … Continue reading →

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The People Have Spoken

Posted on April 1, 2009 by languageandgrammar

Now that we’ve received over 100 comments in our Pet Peeves page, I thought that it might be a good time to highlight what annoys readers of the blog–about 20 per post. This will be the first installment. I’m doing … Continue reading →

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