“That” or Not “That”…That Is the Question!
There is a movement afoot in publishing and academic circles to remove “unnecessary” instances of the word that from writing. The problem is that it is difficult to codify when that is unnecessary and when it isn’t. For example, more than half of the “experts” would omit my use of that between “problem is” and […]
There Was No Cavalry at Calvary
At least, not a cavalry as we know it. A cavalry, pronounced /kav ul ree/, is a group of mounted soldiers. Calvary, pronounced /kal vuh ree/, is the place where Jesus was crucified, on Mount Golgotha, just outside the gates of Jerusalem. While there were soldiers present at the Crucifixion, they were infantry — Roman […]
Focusing on Double or Nothing…And No Bussing, Please!
The word focus is, like so many words, “a puzzlement” when it comes to adding suffixes. According to Fowler, the proper inflections are focus, focused, focuses, focusing. Fowler notes, however, that many printers and publishers use the “-ss-” form instead. It is not, apparently, solely a British tendency. Fowler also points out an interesting exception […]
Don’t Flaunt Your Tendency to Flout the Rules….
… it might make you look silly. Here are a couple of words that are oh-so-frequently interchanged — incorrectly. Flaunt (pronounced “flawnt”) means to ostentatiously display your behaviour, to show off. The little girl who has just gotten a new dress will show off, strutting about and making it obvious to everyone that she knows […]
Double or Nothing?
“How do I know when to double the last letter when I want to add -ing to a word?” — A query from a confused blogger, who didn’t identify him- or herself. Actually, this is a lot simpler than you might think. It all depends on the vowel preceding that last consonant. (Usually. Remember that English is […]