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A Word on Contractions
*This post originally appeared on my previous blog on October 31, 2014 Don’t, won’t, can’t, shouldn’t, couldn’t, it’s (which will have a post of *its* own), and more. I believe in high school I was told it was better to use two words than one contraction. If I remember correctly, I did not use one contraction in any of my college application essays. This practice varied throughout my college career, and while now I prefer not to use contractions, I don’t completely avoid them. Many people, if not most, use contractions when they speak and write. But is this wrong? According to the AP Style Guide and the Chicago Manual of…
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A or An ?
Today I’m featuring another post I published on my previous blog one year ago. The post has aged, but the lesson is timeless. *This originally appeared on my previous blog on November 5th, 2014 Today, while I was catching up on episodes of The Tonight Show (hey, I’m doing that now!) and eating lunch, I opened this game on my phone – it’s called Compulsive – and was browsing its features. I clicked on the “Awards Page” and a hover over one of the awards produced the image shown below. First of all, an app/smartphone game that gives the user an award – that cannot be put on a resume, mind…
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Happy Birthday Choice Words!
One year ago today I debuted my Choice Words feature (on my original blog domain). Here is the sass I chose to start it off with: *This post originally appeared on October 23rd, 2014 I was scrolling through tumblr, and I found a picture with the words “Stop correcting my grammar, this isn’t English class.” I would post it, but the image behind the text isn’t something I want on my blog, and it’s not the actual post I want to discuss anyway. You don’t want your grammar (or spelling, punctuation, etc.) corrected because we aren’t inside a school or classroom? Girl/boy, please. Yes, I understand you may find it…
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Literally and Figuratively – OR – Two Words, Two Meanings
Literally: truly, actually, exactly. Figuratively: metaphorically, not actually. I’m getting severely concerned that “figuratively” will soon cease to exist because of society’s obsession with dramatizing and embellishing sentences, thoughts, and stories. I’m not so much concerned with individuals’ not understanding the difference between the two words at the beginning of this post; based on my experiences [with correcting people’s use of “literally”], the definitions are clearly understood. Perhaps I will never understand. Perhaps I should stop using “literally” sarcastically in order to save its f-word opposite. Perhaps…ugh. I literally can’t even. Anyway, I’ve rounded up a couple of my favorite images/cartoons/memes that really drive home the misuse of literally, and I would…
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Punctuation: The Difference Between…
Let’s eat grandma! Let’s eat, grandma! We’re going to cut and paste, kids. We’re going to cut and paste kids. Were going to cut and paste kids. Your shit. You’re shit. (Your, You’re; They’re, Their, There) I like eating my family and my dog. I like eating, my family, and my dog. We met the strippers, a frog and Channing Tatum. We met the strippers, a frog, and Channing Tatum. (Oxford Comma > no Oxford Comma) Periods and question marks are probably the most well known and properly used forms of punctuation. What about the exclamation point, you ask? I didn’t include it in that sentence, because the indicator of emphasis is frequently overdone, or used…
A blog about books and miscellany
