Tag Archives: grammar

Years old: Hyphen or no hyphen?

Posted on April 26, 2013 by

  Today we’re discussing when to hyphenate the phrases years old and year old. Let’s take a look at two sentences: His son is four years old. He has a four year old boy. In the first sentence, you would … Continue reading →

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Fools and apostrophes

Posted on April 1, 2013 by

Wondering where the apostrophe goes in the name of a certain April day marked by fools? It looks like this: April Fool’s day This is how Merriam-Webster has it and is the placement most agreed upon. To me, though, it … Continue reading →

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

Back to basics: metaphors and similes

Posted on March 8, 2013 by

metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them simile: a figure of speech comparing two … Continue reading →

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Angle vs. angel

Posted on December 18, 2012 by

angle: the figure formed by two lines extending from the same point; the precise viewpoint from which something is observed or considered <a camera angle> —Merriam-Webster angel: a spiritual being superior to humans in power and intelligence —Merriam-Webster These two … Continue reading →

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Acute mix-up

Posted on December 12, 2012 by

I hate to say it, but—sigh—I’m not perfect. I have yet to memorize every meaning for every word in the dictionary. And it wasn’t until last week with the Kate Middleton baby news/media takeover that I finally learned one of … Continue reading →

Posted in grammar, in the news, semantics, story time | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments