-
Does Gary Matthews Really Cut His Own Hair With a Vacuum Cleaner?
Short answer: Yes! I cut my own hair ā and yes, with a vacuum cleaner. The slightly longer, just slightly more precise answer is that I use a vacuum cleaner attachment called a Flowbee. I can hardly believe this works. And I can even less believe that Iām owning up to it. Hereās the story:…
-
Two Words: Forbear / Forebear
We just discussed āforgoā and āforegoā. The situation is similar with āforbearā and āforebearā. To forbear is to manifest great patience under extreme difficulty or suffering. āForbearā is a verb. Its noun form is āforbearanceā. A forebear is an ancestor. With that extra āeā, the word normally is a noun. Your forebears are your forefathers…
-
Two Words: Forgo / Forego
What is the difference between āforgoā and āforegoā? 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 letās fix that! To forego (with an āeā) means, literally, to āgo beforeā. That telltale syllable āforeā is our clue: It normally…
-
Two Words: Inept / Adept
Is āadeptā the opposite of āineptā? 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
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. Hereās 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 āeā) is to rely on, or be supported by, something or someone. Maybe Iām dependent, for example, on coffee to get me going in the morning. In British…
-
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. Iām therefore pleased to note that the letters in āRocio Huet, healerā rearrange to spell āHoorah! Elite cureā. And that those in āDoctor Craig Hennieā also spell out ācondition rechargeā. In…
-
The First Firefly of Summer
Cheri spotted it (I didnāt): the first firefly of summer. She saw it on the evening of June 1. Yes, we know it technically isnāt summer yet. That doesnāt 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 āflauntā and āfloutā 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 weāve won a huge lottery jackpot, we might flaunt our new…
-
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. Itās conservative, prim, and proper. Colloquial speech is more relaxed. Itās…
-
Two Words: Prescriptive & Descriptive
In choosing your words, are you prescriptive or descriptive? Thereās nothing necessarily wrong with either one. But youāll choose words more effectively if you know which approach youāre 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. Hereās the…
-
Six Words: Rainbow!
How many colors in a rainbow? Six! What? Doesnāt āeverybody knowā there are seven? No, but seven is what most of us were taught: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Thatās how I learned them in school. We even were taught to remember them using the name ROY G BIV. Too bad it…