-
What’s Your Favorite Color?
Whatās 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 arenāt many colors I donāt like. But always I come…
-
Two Words: Were / Where
Has anyone else noticed a recent uptick in the frequency with which people misspell āwhereā as āwereā? That is, leaving out the āhā? Resulting in written sentences like āI wonder were I left my car keys?ā Iāve seen this a lot recently. In emails. In text messages. Even in supposedly well-edited articles in newspapers and…
-
Contribute a Verse (Thanks, Dev!)
Contribute a verse! Thatās the message from my friend and fellow blogger, Dev Samaddar. So Iāll try. (Read on!) But first, some background: Devās irked by the hype heās hearing lately about ābeing uniqueā and ādeveloping your own styleā. He thinks thereās way too much emphasis on this notion. He challenges it on his website,…
-
Tall Oaks From Tiny Eggcorns
Do you use eggcorns in your speech and writing? Donāt answer too quickly! Most of us do use eggcorns, at least occasionally. But by their nature, theyāre something we do without being aware of it. Although eggcorns are common, the word isnāt. Not yet, anyway. An eggcorn is an expression in which we unknowinglyreplace one…
-
Whatever Happened to the First Robin?
The first robin of spring! How long has it been since weāve heard about that āfirst robinā? Or seen one? When I was a kid, we took the first robin seriously. Birds had the good sense to fly south for the winter. That was back when we had real winters. At least we did in…
-
A Musical Saint Patrick’s Day
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, dear reader! In lieu of shamrocks and leprechauns, here’s Irish nightingale Louise Morrissey with a song that’s deeply meaningful to me: Everybody’s Reaching Out forĀ Someone. Enjoy!
-
One Word: Convey
The real challenge is to convey what we mean. Itās tough enough to say what we mean. But itās more difficult ā and far more important ā to convey it. Those two are not the same. To say something well, we put it into precise words that capture, and perfectly express, our meaning. But what…
-
One Word: Auto-antonym
An auto-antonym is any word that functions as its own opposite. The very idea seemed bonkers when I first heard about it. But English has quite a few such words. Normal antonyms are words with opposing meanings ā up and down, in and out, good and bad. Whatās different in the case of an āautoā…
-
One Word: The Elephant in the Room
Want to write and speak with lasting impact? Want to convey thoughts that touch, that move, that heal? Donāt worry too much about the right words. Focus first on finding the right topic. (The words come later.) Thereās one right topic, and itās always the same: Itās the elephant in the room. No, not the…
-
One Word: Next
Weāre hurtling down the freeway in my friendās car. Heās driving. Iām riding shotgun, giving directions. I tell him: āGet off at the next exit.ā He says: āOkay.ā A few minutes later, as we approach the exit, he puts pedal to the metal and roars past it. āHey!ā I exclaim. āYou were supposed to turn…
-
One Word: Beg
My white-haired physicist friend assured me he could prove there is no life after death. That certainly caught my attention. He knew it would. Thatās because I do believe in human immortality. I think, God willing, that being dead willĀ be a lot of fun. My friendās bold challenge left me no choice but to hear…
-
One Word: Mild!
Cheri and I were with a group of fellow Peace Corps volunteers in Grenada. The year was 1989. With us (because we were guests in his office) was an American career diplomat. This gathering happened (coincidentally) at a time when most of the volunteers were dismayed by news of a recent political appointment in Washington.…