Aug 3, 2007 · The rule of putting a period at the end of every thought would be simpler, except that in English, we’re allowed to include more than one thought in the same sentence. These thoughts are …

Two words that sometimes get confused are “disparate” and “desperate”. They have quite different meanings, but they can sound very similar in some accents, and if you’re using autocorrect, you …

May 6, 2013 · Which symbol should be used with numbers: a hyphen (-), or an en dash (–)? The question may seem trivial -- a dash is a dash, right? -- but using the correct

Sep 14, 2011 · The English language includes an interesting category of words and phrases called contronyms (also spelled contranyms, or referred to as autoantonyms) --

May 19, 2009 · The Washington State University language site says: These two spellings [cannot/can not] are largely interchangeable, but by far the most common is “cannot” and you should probably …

Is “math” or “maths” the correct word to use as the shortened or colloquial form of the word mathematics? The answer is that it depends on where you are.

Jul 3, 2007 · In the post Show, Don’t Tell, I mentioned dialogue as one of the ways you can “show” your reader what’s happening in a scene. Effective dialogue is an essential part of both fiction and …

Jun 15, 2015 · 2. In-between as adjective An “ in-between hop” is a baseball term that indicates a bounced baseball that reaches an infielder at the midpoint of its upward bounce. (adjective …

Oct 13, 2015 · A random Web search suggests that people writing about families are not all on the same page when it comes to hyphenating terms for family relationships. For

Feb 18, 2012 · The words below are either obsolete, archaic, or old-fashioned, and though those in the latter category can still be found in modern writing, use all with