The easy answer is fewer because you can count thrones. But if you’re talking about “Game Of Thrones” as a concept, you’d say, for example, “I think your concept for the school dance should be less GOT and more American Grafitti (not really, but fewer parents will complain).” Here’s a “journaless” who doubles down on […]
Less vs Fewer Game Of Thrones? Read More »
Thomas Jefferson finding typos in the Declaration of Independence? A royal scrivener having to squeeze the last sentence into the margins of the Magna Carta? Writing a great play and then finding out that somebody already wrote “Hamlet”? Spelling St. Peter’s name wrong in your Heaven admission essay? Finding passive-voice constructions in your blog post
What would be the scariest writing mishap? Read More »
The next time you burn the roof of your mouth eating hot pizza, consider this: Isn’t the roof of the mouth actually the ceiling? Why does this misnomer persist? Oral tradition? (The “oral tradition” joke illustrates the power of puns, which I cover in another post.) Misnomers are incorrect usages that tradition (i.e., years of
Misuse: “Roof of the mouth,” a Persistent Misnomer Read More »
Literally for Virtually or Figuratively Another mass-misused word is “literally” when the writer or speaker means “virtually” (nearly, almost) or “figuratively” (a departure from a literal use of words; metaphorically). Follow the link in the previous sentence to see how these mass misuses that defy meaning and logic vex Merriam-Webster usage experts. They know they should banish these
Misused Words: Literally vs. Virtually and Figuratively Read More »
As my Dad used to say, “Eschew obfuscation.” In plain English, he jokingly meant to avoid using sesquipedalian words if short, powerful, one- or two-syllable Anglo-Saxon English words were available. Okay, I couldn’t let a joke opportunity go unused. “Sesquipedalian,” translated from Latin, means “a foot and a half long.” These often-pretentious, important-sounding verbal lead
Fundamentals of Bad Writing: Word Choice Read More »
Not all Corporate Communications (CC) writing is horrible. But much of it exists in a landscape of cliché and jargon-laden, passive-voiced, overly formal, and unpleasant-to-read verbal hardtack. Stodgy, flabby, and self-important CC writing destroys the power of your products, services, and thought-leading ideas. Whether written or spoken, corporate communications provide the refuge where clichés, ramping-up phrases,
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This clip from Monty Python Flying Circus’s “Pirana Brothers” sketch illustrates their comedy-writing genius. Perhaps only they could make a punchline out of a list of literary devices in a sketch parodying a 1960s-era London crime family, the infamous Kray Brothers. For all who love the English language, history, and humor that is simultaneously intellectual
Good English in the strangest places: Monty Python on literary devices Read More »
Clichés are writing devices that have long outlived their use-by dates. I like to imagine the first person to come up with a phrase that then became a cliché. When created, the eventual cliché was a witty confection. But after years of tireless overuse, it’s become a smelly, moldy piece of cheese in the English
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Misuse is a subset of word choice. It’s not that there’s a better similar word. You’ve just picked the wrong word. Try to do better; your copy will improve. Ironic/Ironically for Unusual or Coincidental Probably, the most wrongly cast, misused word in contemporary English is “ironic” when the writer or speaker actually means “unusual” or
Misused Words: Ironic and Ironically Read More »