by Donna | Feb 13, 2013
We teach three writing strategies in our books that I just heard used wonderfully together in Michael Connelly’s new novel (The Black Box). (I listen to fiction sometimes while I clean, drive, edit, etc., since time is short here!)
“The store owners shot looters. The National Guardsmen shot looters. And looters shot looters.”
Three elements to try to incorporate in your writing this week:
1. SSS5 x 3—Super Short Sentence of Five Words or Fewer Three Times in a Row
2. Redundancy on Purpose! Way cool when redundancy (repeating the same words) is done on purpose!)
3. Repeating sentence structure--Subject-Verb-Object Pattern
Try one–or all three–this week!
by Donna | Feb 6, 2013
WORDY WEDNESDAY
You know what one of my least favorite words is? FACADE.
First of all, I work week in and week out to try to teach that an A, O, U, or most consonants make the C say “kuh.” That would make this word fuh-kade, right? (Or even fay-kade.) Unfortunately, that is wrong.
It is pronounced fuh-sodd. (That A really doesn’t make the C say “kuh.”)
That clearly makes this word a FAKE, which is one of its only redeeming qualities–it means what it looks like! Smile…
That bring us to the second aspect of the word–its meaning. It is a noun that means “a face of a building or a superficial appearance.”
In that regard, it is as it is pronounced–even though it isn’t pronounced like it is spelled (which is true of many words that came from somewhere else).
So it is easy to learn the meaning of—it has to do with what it sounds like–FACE (albeit, a fake face). But it is not spelled as one would think.
So, don’t put on a facade today! Don’t try to put on a superficial front or fake face. Be yourself!
by Donna | Feb 1, 2013
I love a new site I just discovered–and thought any wordy people (or anyone writing practically anything–letters, thank-you notes, stories, essays, etc.) would enjoy hearing about it.
It is called Phrase Up–and I give it a hearty thumbs up! This amazing “search engine” allows you to type part of a phrase (colloquialisms, analogies, metaphors, or just common phrases) and put an * in the parts that you are missing. Then voila! It brings up a list of possible phrases that you might be looking for. (Watch out! It’s addicting for wordsmiths!)
Again, this may be a great help to get just the right phrase or tone in a cover letter or thank-you note. To get the perfect metaphor for a story. And so much more. I think you’ll like it!
https://www.phraseup.com/
by Donna | Jan 31, 2013
I recently had the misfortune of seeing a sign outside a chicken franchise that read hot, juicy, chicken. You can imagine my outrage!!! It, of course, took us here at Language Lady to Comma Clues #2: Use Commas to Separate Two or More Describers (But Not Between the Describer and the Word Being Described!).
I was thrilled to find the image above to instruct you in the commas-with-describers rule because those two benchmarks are the ones that I teach in my grammar books:
1. If you can reverse the order of the words that you are placing a comma between, and the phrase still makes sense, use a comma:
a. She had on that bright, beautiful dress. (She had on that beautiful, bright dress—YES…comma is needed.)
b. She had on that, bright dress. (She had on bright that dress–NO…comma is not needed.)
2. If you can put an AND in between the two words you are placing a comma between, and the phrase still makes sense, use a comma:
a. She had on that bright, beautiful dress. (She had on that bright and beautiful dress—YES…comma is needed.)
b. She on that, bright dress. (She had on that and bright dress—NO…comma is not needed.)
For those who like technical explanations, we teach that commas go between DESCRIPTIVE adjectivest (bright, beautiful) but not between CLARIFYING adjectives (that, five, this–which are usually called something else anyway, like pronouns, etc.).
More on comma before the and in a series of three or more (bright, beautiful, and colorful dress) in Comma Clues #3! Have a lovely, grammatically-correct day!
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by Donna | Jan 23, 2013
We tell our students all the time that you know more than you think you know! And that if you take what you already know and apply it to what you do not know, you will soon know even more!
Take the word homophone, for instance.
Homo—means same
Phone—means sound
Thus, homophones sound the same what you hear them. Homophones are words like their, they’re, and there and to, too, and two—words that sound the same when they are spoken but only look different when written.
I tell my students that homophones “sound” the “same” when you are talking on the phone (and all you can do is hear–you can’t see the words written–either how they are spelled or in context).
We will do a lot of “word dissecting” on LL 365! That is something we begin teaching early in our curricula as it can unlock the meanings of so many words—and helps everybody learn to take what they already know and add it to what they are trying to learn.
by Donna | Jan 22, 2013
Do you like to read Language Lady everyday or every day? Let me help you with that!
Every day
1. Two words
2. An adjective (every) describing a noun (day)
3. Used when you want to say EACH day or ALL days.
Everyday
1,. One word
2. Usually an adjective together (the entire word is an adjective–everyday)
3. Used when you want to say something is NORMAL or TYPICAL.
Tips:
1. Every day is an adjective and noun together already–do not use these two words to describe another noun! (NO: Those are our every day dishes.)
2. Everyday is an adjective alone–use it to describe another noun. (YES: Those are our everyday dishes.)
Tricky Trick to Help It Stick: A wise grammarian recommends “testing” your words by seeing if you could put the word “single” in between every and day. (EACH single day):
1. If you can put “single” in between the two words, then you want the two separate words meaning EACH day…every single day:
a. I went to the mail box every SINGLE day. I went to the mail box every day.
b. She wrote him a letter every SINGLE day. She wrote him a letter every day.
2. If you cannot put “single” in between the two words, tehn you want the one word meaning typical or normal:
a. I wanted to use the every SINGLE day dishes. NO. I wanted to use the everyday dishes.
b. She is the every SINGLE day kind of gal. NO. She is the everyday kind of gal.
So…to answer the first question: You like to read Language Lady every day (each day) because she is not your everyday (typical) grammar teacher! Smile…
