Eats, Shoots, and Leaves

Published in September 26th, 2007

I’ve been reading Lynne Truss’s book, “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves”. It’s nice to read something from someone who is just as frightened and appalled as I am when we encounter blantant spelling, punctuation, and grammar abuses on signs, billboards, menus, flyers, programs, and just about everything that has words written on it.
It’s not that people don’t make […]

Foul vs. Fowl

Published in September 26th, 2007

Posted by Shawn in Spelling Swamp

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I was in a foul mood when I went for a walk. The fowl flew away when I approached its nest. That fowl had a foul smell when it passed by me. Suddenly, a foul ball hit the flying fowl when it flew over the baseball field. (It survived and flew out of sight. The fowl […]

Alternate vs. Alternative

Published in September 26th, 2007

Posted by Shawn in Spelling Swamp

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When you pick an alternate route, you have substituted one route for another. If you took an alternative route, you have chosen to travel on that route rather than another.
Alternate - one in a series, a substitute for something, occurring or succeeding in turns
Alternative - offering or expressing a choice, something that can be chosen
The difference is […]

Tortuous vs. Torturous

Published in September 20th, 2007

Posted by Shawn in Spelling Swamp

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Traversing this tortuous trail has sapped what energy I had left. My limbs and ankles have been under torturous strain for hours. When will the agony end? Where will this horrible twisting path lead to?
Tortuous - repeated twisting, turning, bending - or - crooked, devious, tricky
Torturous - causing torture, agony, intense pain, extreme discomfort, painfully […]

Parentheses - period (or stop) inside or out?

Published in September 9th, 2007

Posted by Shawn in Punctuation Playground

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I had a friend ask me to explain this once and for all. Where does the blasted period go? Quite simply, put the period on the outside if it isn’t a complete sentence. Put it on the inside if the complete sentence is surrounded by the parentheses.
For example:
Outside - Johnny went down to play ball […]

Accept vs. Except

Published in September 9th, 2007

Posted by Shawn in Spelling Swamp

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You must accept that these words have to be spelled correctly or no one except you will understand what you’re talking about. If you do accept that the meanings are remarkably different then you will find your way to more exceptional writing.
Accept is to receive, to give approval, to recognize as true, to take on
Except […]