If the English language lives inside you, and if you live inside your language, The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English
invites you to embrace grammar with
glamour.
Avoid
speed bumps caused by misspellings
“But
if spelling has the power to express, misspellings have the power to distract
and confound.
British
spellers prefer programme, centre, cheque, and humour to the conventional
American spellings.
And
how do you spell butterfly?
Well,
if you are Spanish, you spell it mariposa; if you are French, you watch a
papillon flutter by.”
Adopt
a favorite letter of the alphabet
“Make
believe you have a favorite letter. Write the letter on a piece of paper and
then randomly list words that begin with that letter. Read the words aloud.
Consult the AHD, and write down other interesting words that begin with your
letter. Now write a hundred-word profile of your favorite letter.”
Learn
seven ways to invent words
“With
no disrespect to Abraham Lincoln or Grover Cleveland or Dwight Eisenhower,
‘Barack Obama’ is, by acclamation, the most unusual name among the forty-four
men elected to the American presidency. And while his name, including his
middle name, Hussein, may have been an obstacle to his election, the musical
rhythm of ‘Obama’ inpired writers and commentators to coin a new lexicon to
describe his historical achievement.
The
online magazine Slate offered up this collection of neologisms, or new words:
Obamaphoria, Obamanation, Obanarama, Obamanos, Obamatopia, Obamalujah,
Obamatrons, Obamascope, Obamanator, Obamalicious, Obamaloha, Oh-bama, Bamelot,
Obamerika, Barackstar.” [I
have also heard of Obamacare]
Fight
to the death for the serial comma
“The
longer the elements in a series, the more likely you will need the serial
comma, even if you belong to a language club that reviles them.”
Embrace
the three amigos: colon, dash, and parentheses
“The
colon can be used to introduce a statement or a quotation, to signal the
beginning of a long list, and to highlight a word or a phrase at the end of a
sentence: like this.
Do
not use the dash because you have not mastered other forms of punctuation, such
as the colon or semicolon.
In
general, limit the number of reader interrumptions caused by the roadblock of
parentheses. Strive, instead, for a steady advance.”
*****
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an inspirational novel about the courage to be oneself freely.
Click to order Deconstructing INFATUATION
a thought-provoking novel about infatuation.
an inspirational novel about the courage to be oneself freely.
a thought-provoking novel about infatuation.
Copyright © 2013 by THE PYTHAGOREAN
STORYTELLER. All rights reserved.
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