I don't have a lot of time for blogging what with the little one, but I do still find time to browse the net & I found this site:
Save the Words
Words that have fallen out of regular use ask you to adopt them - i.e. agree to use them regularly.
Some great words that are worth knowing just for their scrabble values. And because they sound cool. Examples include:
Quaeritate (to ask)
Odynometer (an instrument for measuring pain - nice word for a horror writer? I'm sure an evil character could find a use for one of those...)
Viliorate (to deteriorate)
Snollygoster (a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician - appropriate for the times we live in!)
...go check out the site! I'm sure we could all improve our vocabulary!
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Grammar - Use of the Apostrophe
Still busy, busy, busy :-( No time for writing this week.
All the same, I do like to keep the blog rolling, so here's a little post on grammar.
I was never given a proper grammar lesson at school, though in the course of English lessons, in primary school, the teachers did point out some very important points. I was lucky enough to go to a small school, (two classes per room but probably no more than 25 pupils per room) so maybe that's why my teachers were able to address the topic...or maybe other teachers address it and people just didn't pay attention. Or care.
We all make little errors from time to time, and that's fair enough. However, I think some people genuinely don't know the difference between key words that sound/are pronounced the same, but are different in spelling/how they're written - and of course, different in meaning.
The most commons errors are:
1. Your and You're
2. Its and It's
3. There, Their and They're
All but one of these mix ups (between "There" and "Their") can be fixed if you remember one little rule:
The apostrophe (this: ' ) stands for a missing letter (or letters).
"You are" is clearly the one that gets shortened to "You're" because of the key placement of said apostrophe.("Your" then, is left as the one meaning "belonging to you".)
"It is" becomes "It's" and "They are" turns into "They're". ("Its" means "belonging to it", "There" means "that place" and "Their" means "belonging to them".)
So before you use an apostrophe, think what letter it represents. Can the word you're about to insert an apostrophe into be broken into two words (Such as "didn't" can be written as "Did not", as well as the aforementioned examples).
There are a few exceptions to this rule - of course there are; English is a complicated language.
One is the word "Won't" which is actually short for "Will not" - but for some reason, at some point in time, someone changed it. Possibly because saying "Willn't" (try saying it out loud) isn't actually any easier or faster to do than just saying "Will not".
The other is the occasion where an apostrophe denotes ownership. As in the title of this blog:
Joleen's.
The apostrophe in such a circumstance indicates that it the object referred to (in this case, the blog) belongs to me, Joleen.
So I can see where confusion arises - apostrophes denote ownership in some circumstances, whereas in others, represent missing letters when often the alternative word (your/its/their) is the one that refers to ownership or belonging. Still, while it may be a bit confusing, it isn't rocket science. It isn't so complicated that it can't be learned.
Writers - it is to your advantage to know rules of grammar, as mistakes just tend to give editors an excuse not to lift your work from the slush pile - and as all us struggling writers know, many editors do not need a lot in the way of encouragement to reject work! Also - if you're self publishing, it looks a lot better to have the correct grammar in place.
Non-writers - it is also to your advantage, because communication is important, and being understood is key to effective communication. And because grammar is not some elitist concept like quantum physics, understandable only by the minority. You should not wear your lack of grammatical knowledge like a badge of honour. There is no honour in being unwilling to learn the right way to do something. Society may currently embrace vapid celebrities who wear their ignorance proudly, but this doesn't mean we should not, as a society, aim higher than this.
For a much less preachy, much funnier description of how and when to use an apostrophe, you should really check out The Oatmeal. It's hilarious. Enjoy!
All the same, I do like to keep the blog rolling, so here's a little post on grammar.
I was never given a proper grammar lesson at school, though in the course of English lessons, in primary school, the teachers did point out some very important points. I was lucky enough to go to a small school, (two classes per room but probably no more than 25 pupils per room) so maybe that's why my teachers were able to address the topic...or maybe other teachers address it and people just didn't pay attention. Or care.
We all make little errors from time to time, and that's fair enough. However, I think some people genuinely don't know the difference between key words that sound/are pronounced the same, but are different in spelling/how they're written - and of course, different in meaning.
The most commons errors are:
1. Your and You're
2. Its and It's
3. There, Their and They're
All but one of these mix ups (between "There" and "Their") can be fixed if you remember one little rule:
The apostrophe (this: ' ) stands for a missing letter (or letters).
"You are" is clearly the one that gets shortened to "You're" because of the key placement of said apostrophe.("Your" then, is left as the one meaning "belonging to you".)
"It is" becomes "It's" and "They are" turns into "They're". ("Its" means "belonging to it", "There" means "that place" and "Their" means "belonging to them".)
So before you use an apostrophe, think what letter it represents. Can the word you're about to insert an apostrophe into be broken into two words (Such as "didn't" can be written as "Did not", as well as the aforementioned examples).
There are a few exceptions to this rule - of course there are; English is a complicated language.
One is the word "Won't" which is actually short for "Will not" - but for some reason, at some point in time, someone changed it. Possibly because saying "Willn't" (try saying it out loud) isn't actually any easier or faster to do than just saying "Will not".
The other is the occasion where an apostrophe denotes ownership. As in the title of this blog:
Joleen's.
The apostrophe in such a circumstance indicates that it the object referred to (in this case, the blog) belongs to me, Joleen.
So I can see where confusion arises - apostrophes denote ownership in some circumstances, whereas in others, represent missing letters when often the alternative word (your/its/their) is the one that refers to ownership or belonging. Still, while it may be a bit confusing, it isn't rocket science. It isn't so complicated that it can't be learned.
Writers - it is to your advantage to know rules of grammar, as mistakes just tend to give editors an excuse not to lift your work from the slush pile - and as all us struggling writers know, many editors do not need a lot in the way of encouragement to reject work! Also - if you're self publishing, it looks a lot better to have the correct grammar in place.
Non-writers - it is also to your advantage, because communication is important, and being understood is key to effective communication. And because grammar is not some elitist concept like quantum physics, understandable only by the minority. You should not wear your lack of grammatical knowledge like a badge of honour. There is no honour in being unwilling to learn the right way to do something. Society may currently embrace vapid celebrities who wear their ignorance proudly, but this doesn't mean we should not, as a society, aim higher than this.
For a much less preachy, much funnier description of how and when to use an apostrophe, you should really check out The Oatmeal. It's hilarious. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Film/Movie - differences in the "same" language.
Here in Europe we call films, films. I know many of them are now shot on digital, but they're called films because they are (were) shot on film, and played on reels of it in the cinema.
In the USA they call them movies. As in, thing that something moves in. It's kind of babytalk really. First there were stills, then movies, then talkies...and for some reason, movies stuck and they still call them that. And because we watch ones that are made there, we start to call them movies as well.
Language is weird sometimes. Changes in it spread like a rash, or a virus.
As a writer, it can be fun to play around with it. Like trying to write very differently to how I normally talk. My story "White Christmas", that will be published in the forthcoming anthology, Stitched Up! for example, has a lot of 'Americanisms' in it, because it's set in the USA. It was difficult to write words like 'flashlight' instead of 'torch', but it was probably a good writing exercise. And since it got accepted, I'm going to take it that it worked!
Still - I'm just going to invite arguments here, and say that the USA way is wrong :-P
In the USA they call them movies. As in, thing that something moves in. It's kind of babytalk really. First there were stills, then movies, then talkies...and for some reason, movies stuck and they still call them that. And because we watch ones that are made there, we start to call them movies as well.
Language is weird sometimes. Changes in it spread like a rash, or a virus.
As a writer, it can be fun to play around with it. Like trying to write very differently to how I normally talk. My story "White Christmas", that will be published in the forthcoming anthology, Stitched Up! for example, has a lot of 'Americanisms' in it, because it's set in the USA. It was difficult to write words like 'flashlight' instead of 'torch', but it was probably a good writing exercise. And since it got accepted, I'm going to take it that it worked!
Still - I'm just going to invite arguments here, and say that the USA way is wrong :-P
PS - if you order a copy of Stitched Up!, please mention my name, I get royalties if you do! Thank you :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)