Monthly Archives: January 2012

The incredible story of Lillian Virginia Mountweazel and dictionary tomfoolery

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

apopudobalia: a Greco-Roman sport similar to modern soccer[i] esquivalience: the willful avoidance of one’s official responsibilities[ii] jungftak: a Persian bird, the male of which had only one wing, on the right side, and the female only one wing, on the … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Business jargon to avoid (so you don’t sound like a douche)

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

There’s English, and then there’s business English—that jumble of jargon and overly complicated words that serve no purpose other than to confuse your corporate minions. Last week we discussed utilize, which is a fancy and pointless way to say use—excuse … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, semantics | Tagged , , , , , | 31 Comments

Pass time and past time versus pastime

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

UPDATE: A friend of mine pointed out that he sees a lot of people also using past time instead of pastime. So, I have rewritten this post to include this error, as well. I noticed a couple of days ago … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, semantics | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Use versus utilize

Posted on January 17, 2012 by

There are very few words I despise. Today’s post is about the one at the very top of that list. Here we go. This word is . . . utilize. Utilize is one of those “smart” words people throw into … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, semantics, style issues | Tagged , , , , , | 26 Comments

Ouch! That comma splices!

Posted on January 13, 2012 by

Lesson: how to correctly join independent clauses Take a look at this sentence. The Martians want to look their best, they wear their green jumpsuits. There is something wrong here. (And it’s not that the Martians think jumpsuits are high … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, grammar, punctuation | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments