21 examples of portmanteaus

As a word nerd, I am fascinated with how language changes over time. In particular, I like to learn about portmanteau words, or words that are formed by combining two words and their definitions into a new word. Common examples include smog (from smoke and fog) and motel (from motor and hotel). “Portmanteau words are the sound bites of modern English, calculated to catch on the first time people hear them,” says linguist Geoffrey Nunberg, author of The Way We Talk Now. Below are a few portmanteau words you may be familiar with, along with some more obscure...

One space or two between sentences?

Other than the use of the serial comma, perhaps no other style guideline causes more contention among writers and editors as that of how many spaces to use after a period. Several weeks ago, I wrote about 10 writing pet peeves. Among them was content written with two spaces after a period. I always use the find-and-replace feature to change two spaces to one in documents that I edit. My insistence on one space after a period (or question mark or the dreaded exclamation point) touched off a barrage of comments from PR Daily readers. Many insisted that one space after a...

8 great books for writers

It’s never too early to think about that perfect holiday gift for the writer in your life. How about books that will make the arduous tasks of writing and editing a little more fun? Here are eight titles to enjoy: 1. “Wretched Writing: A Compendium of Crimes Against the English Language” A “celebration of the worst writing imaginable.” Reading this book is like driving past a car wreck—you want to look away, but you can’t.   2. “I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar” Any editor would judge you unfit for duty if you made mistakes like...

Examining ‘smart’ habits for better writ...

I recently attended a presentation called Maximizing Mental Agility by Dr. Art Markman, a cognitive scientist and author of the book “Smart Thinking.” Markman describes “smart thinking” as the content of what you know and how you use it. This differs from intelligence, which is typically measured by testing abstract reasoning skills, “independent of your specific knowledge.” Markman explains that by developing “smart habits,” you can improve your work performance, decision making, and creativity. An example of a “smart habit” is to avoid multitasking....

Fortunes for professional writers

I’ve always thought it would be fun to write the fortunes in fortune cookies. Over the years, I’ve seen some funny ones: “You will be hungry in exactly one hour,” and, “Pass the bill to the person on your left.” I’ve seen preachy ones: “Never miss a chance to keep your mouth shut.” And I’ve seen fortunes that aren’t fortunes at all: “You are able to juggle many tasks.” So for this week’s post, I’ve written fortunes for writers, editors, and PR professionals—a pleasant surprise is in store for you. Hyphens will soon be made clear to...

Your writing pet peeves

Last week, I shared some of my writing pet peeves, among them: periods in a phone number, misuse of apostrophes, and lazy corporate verbs. I also asked PR Daily readers to share some of theirs. Turns out, you all have a lot of issues. Here is just a sampling (Editor’s note: Posts are unedited): • “One of my biggest writing pet peeves is hyphens used after prefixes when the punctuation is not needed, such as nonproper. Some other examples: nonmarketable, noninvasive, nondairy, noncommercial, nonmilitary.” • “My #1 pet peeve is hearing ‘John and I’s...