grammar

Idioms, and Where They Come From

Idioms, and Where They Come From

Written by on May 4, 2021 in blog, grammar with 0 Comments

Idioms and Horse Racing Idiomatic expressions are a part of everyday life. You hear and see them almost everywhere, but how many of them have mysterious origins. Do you know about the idioms and where they come from? How about beat a dead horse or wins by a nose? Quite a few sayings—popular ones—originated in […]

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The Best Apps for Writing

The Best Apps for Writing

Written by on June 9, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, self-publishing, writing with 0 Comments

The Best Apps for Writing One of the many questions that pops up in writing groups is which apps are the best for writing. I did a comparison of pure writing apps here, but there is more to writing than just writing. What? What else is there? Plenty Besides writing, there are apps that help […]

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The Importance of Editing

The Importance of Editing

Written by on June 9, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, writing with 0 Comments

Do You Need an Editor? Writing a book is easy. Writing a good book is much more difficult. And no matter how good a story you tell, in order for it to be made into a good book, it needs to be edited, and not self-edited. I have seen a few people who were able […]

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What Is a Dilemma?

What Is a Dilemma?

Written by on June 8, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, writing with 0 Comments

Dilemma or Catch-22 What is a dilemma? Dilemma is one of the rare words that is so specific that it denotes the precise meaning—at least the original definition does. Let’s take a look. Many of the dictionaries did a good job of defining the true meaning of this, and most without waffling. Vocabulary.com had a […]

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Meaning of Cognizant and Meaning of Prophylactic

Meaning of Cognizant and Meaning of Prophylactic

Written by on May 19, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, writing with 0 Comments

Meaning of Cognizant and Meaning of Prophylactic In my continuing quest to make note of words that have jumped to the forefront during this pandemic, I’ve identified two more offenders—cognizant and prophylactic. Don’t get me wrong; the words aren’t at fault, they’re fine words. I blame the people using them. The reporters, doctors, and analysts […]

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Safe Haven

Safe Haven

Written by on May 17, 2020 in blog, editing, education, grammar, writing with 0 Comments

Is Safe Haven Redundant? A lot has been written regarding “safe haven.” Some of it even by me in my grammar books. What draws the ire is the phrase’s built-in redundancy. But is safe haven redundant, and does it matter? Let’s look further. Is Safe Haven Redundant? The problem with words is that they’re subject […]

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Plethora—the Real Meaning

Plethora—the Real Meaning

Written by on May 13, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, self-publishing, writing with 0 Comments

Plethora—It’s Not What You May Think If you listen to people speak, you’re bound to hear the word plethora used sooner or later. And when you do, it will probably be used erroneously. Last year, I decided to do an informal self-conducted poll, and, in a thirty-day span, I heard the word used eleven times. […]

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Credible and Incredible

Credible and Incredible

Written by on May 9, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, writing with 0 Comments

How to Use Incredible Credible and Incredible are closely related words, and each of them used to mean something specific. The meaning of each was easy to decipher because of the root word: crediblis and because of their close association. Credible believable, worthy of belief, capable of being believed Incredible Incredible means (at least for […]

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When to Use Mitigate

When to Use Mitigate

Written by on May 8, 2020 in blog, editing, grammar, writing with 0 Comments

When to Use Mitigate You might recall I mentioned that during any time of crisis, the not-so-often-heard words come out of the woodwork. We discussed the prevalence of proximity or should I say the misuse of close proximity earlier, but it’s long past time to delve into when to use mitigate and mitigation. Nowadays it […]

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You Can’t Split Infinitives

You Can’t Split Infinitives

Written by on May 2, 2020 in blog, ebooks, editing, grammar, writing with 2 Comments

Many people say your sentences shouldn’t contain a split infinitive. In my early years of school, teachers drummed this rule into students’ heads—usually right after ensuring they wouldn’t end sentences with prepositions. Let’s first look at the issue of spit infinitives, and then we’ll show why it isn’t an issue. I realize I said I […]

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