Last month, we had an article on the Quick and Dirty Tips website with the title 10 Facts You Should Know About Homeowners Insurance. What you didn't hear was that behind the scenes, the editor debated whether to put an apostrophe in the word homeowners.
This topic also comes up in the news when there's a writers strike or teachers strike.
...Read More
12/29/2016 9:10pm
'Hone In' or 'Home In'?
When you get closer to finding a difficult truth or finding a hiding criminal, you home in on them, just as a homing device allows you to find something.
'Home In'
Put an image in your mind of a homing pigeon arriving home to a lovely enclosure on top of a grand castle like the Windsor Castle or the Tower of London to remember that you home in on something.
...Read More
12/29/2016 1:59pm
4 Ways Good Stories Move Us
Element #1: Good Stories Engage the Senses
Your brain has specific gears for language processing--Broca's area and Wernicke's area, for example, have long been identified as language-processing regions and Mignon talked about those regions in an episode a few months ago about aphasia.
But more recently, researchers have found that other areas of the brain can be stimulated by language, particularly sensory words.
...Read More
12/22/2016 8:05pm
Why We Call It a 'Cummerbund'
This week I had occasion to look up the spelling of the word cummerbund and came across a tidbit you may find interesting as you fasten one around your waist if you're getting a tuxedo for New Year's Eve or a formal holiday party.
First, I always thought it was cumBERband, but it's cummerbund.
Second it comes from a Hindi word that has roots meaning a band that covers your loins:
...Read More
12/21/2016 10:40pm
FROM QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS Get More Grammar Girl
Visit the website. Subscribe to the Grammar Girl podcast at iTunes or via RSS. Find Grammar Girl books, gear, and more at the Quick and Dirty Tips store.
Have Questions? Search the Quick and Dirty Tips website. We have more than 600 articles about grammar and language. There's a good chance your question has already been covered.
Best wishes,
(and the Quick and Dirty Tips Team)
Want more tips? If this was forwarded to you by a friend and you'd like to receive future tips, you can sign up here. Please don't use the subscribe/unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page because this will overwrite your friend's subscription. (If this came directly to you, you can use the subscribe/unsubscribe link below to manage your subscription.)
