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Category: Notes from Stonehaven

  • Two Words: Forbear / Forebear

    Two Words: Forbear / Forebear

    We just discussed ā€œforgoā€ and ā€œforegoā€. The situation is similar with ā€œforbearā€ and ā€œforebearā€. To forbear is to manifest great patience under extreme difficulty or suffering. ā€œForbearā€ is a verb. Its noun form is ā€œforbearanceā€. A forebear is an ancestor. With that extra ā€œeā€, the word normally is a noun. Your forebears are your forefathers…

  • Two Words: Forgo / Forego

    Two Words: Forgo / Forego

    What is the difference between ā€œforgoā€ and ā€œforegoā€? Are these just alternate spellings of the same word? No, these are words with distinctly different meanings. And sometimes devilishly hard to tell apart. So letā€™s fix that! To forego (with an ā€œeā€) means, literally, to ā€œgo beforeā€. That telltale syllable ā€œforeā€ is our clue: It normally…

  • Two Words: Inept / Adept

    Two Words: Inept / Adept

    Is ā€œadeptā€ the opposite of ā€œineptā€? Yes ā€“ and no. Both in sound and meaning, these words are near-perfect opposites. Their respective origins and histories, however, indicate they have nothing to do with one another. First, some history of my own: Back in the early Seventies, I was a reporter for the Tullahoma News in…

  • How to Write a Book by Accident

    How to Write a Book by Accident

    My latest book came into being by accident. The story behind that is fun (for me, anyway). Maybe even useful (for you and me). What really happened is that I was writing one book, but it ended up being two. The second one is the accident. Hereā€™s the scoop: Sometime last year, I started writing…

  • Two Words: Dependent / Dependant

    Is it dependent or dependant? Perhaps either one? And what does this have to do with smoking hippopotamuses? First, the grammar gremlin: To be dependent (with an ā€œeā€) is to rely on, or be supported by, something or someone. Maybe Iā€™m dependent, for example, on coffee to get me going in the morning. In British…

  • The Healing Power of Anagrams

    The Healing Power of Anagrams

    Cheri and I benefit from the work of two exceptionally gifted healers: Dr. Rocio Huet, our primary-care physician; and Dr. Craig Hennie, our chiropractor. Iā€™m therefore pleased to note that the letters in ā€œRocio Huet, healerā€ rearrange to spell ā€œHoorah! Elite cureā€. And that those in ā€œDoctor Craig Hennieā€ also spell out ā€œcondition rechargeā€. In…

  • The First Firefly of Summer

    Cheri spotted it (I didnā€™t): the first firefly of summer. She saw it on the evening of June 1. Yes, we know it technically isnā€™t summer yet. That doesnā€™t arrive this year till June 20. But it sure feels like summer, with temperatures suddenly spiking into the 90s. Seasons are all higgledy-piggledy nowadays anyway, what…

  • Two Words: Flaunt / Flout

    The words ā€œflauntā€ and ā€œfloutā€ are sufficiently similar to cause endless confusion. We flaunt our assets when we show them off, especially with the goal of drawing attention and exciting envy. We flout laws or rules when we disregard them, brazenly and blatantly. If weā€™ve won a huge lottery jackpot, we might flaunt our new…

  • One Word: Jocular

    One Word: Jocular

    Are you ever jocular in your use of words? Well, you are, if you ever speak in a joking, humorous, playful manner. Till recently, I divided words and their usages into two categories: formal and colloquial. Formal speech follows the strictest rules and conventions. Itā€™s conservative, prim, and proper. Colloquial speech is more relaxed. Itā€™s…

  • Two Words: Prescriptive & Descriptive

    Two Words: Prescriptive & Descriptive

    In choosing your words, are you prescriptive or descriptive? Thereā€™s nothing necessarily wrong with either one. But youā€™ll choose words more effectively if you know which approach youā€™re favoring. More precisely, you should know where you fall along the spectrum between these two extremes. Because these really are opposite ends of a continuum. Hereā€™s the…

  • Six Words: Rainbow!

    Six Words: Rainbow!

    How many colors in a rainbow? Six! What? Doesnā€™t ā€œeverybody knowā€ there are seven? No, but seven is what most of us were taught: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Thatā€™s how I learned them in school. We even were taught to remember them using the name ROY G BIV. Too bad it…

  • What’s Your Favorite Color?

    What’s Your Favorite Color?

    Whatā€™s your favorite color? Why do you like it? Mine is blue. It soothes me. Not that blue is the only color I like. Red excites me ā€“ especially those deep maroon shades. In winter, I crave the deep lush green of midsummer. There really arenā€™t many colors I donā€™t like. But always I come…

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