An inelegant solution
Did you ever have an English teacher tell you not to use the same word twice in a paragraph? If so, he or she was encouraging you to use “elegant variation,” a practice as misguided as the ban on starting a sentence with a conjunction. Elegant variation occurs when a writer uses synonyms simply to avoid repeating the same word. Here’s an extreme example: Bananas are a good source of potassium. Eating this elongated yellow fruit can also provide you with Vitamin C. A less extreme example: Four of the defendant’s witnesses were women, while all of the plaintiff’s...
87 ways to describe 2020
Since nothing else has worked to make 2020 pass more quickly or be any less horrifying, I thought I would try some writing therapy. Below are a few alternatives to the worn-out words and phrases used to describe the events of 2020. Do these fit the feeling of 2020? Alternatives to “unprecedented” In 2020, any time a politician or a news anchor describes one event as “unprecedented” another “unprecedented” event occurs, making the first event no longer “unprecedented.” If you’re confused by all of this . . . try using one of these when something unheard-of...
Hey 2020, don’t let the door hit y...
2020 . . . it’s time we said goodbye. With your pandemic, and your lock-downs, hurricanes, forest fires, and your political unrest and economic instability, and your Russian bots and your disappearing mailboxes, a presidential election and now a Supreme Court fight . . . the door is right there. Behind you. I’ll open it for you. Like an unwanted party guest, 2020 lingers on. Everyone else has gone home, the music has stopped, you’re turning out the lights . . . and 2020 refuses to take the hint. Well, since we have 97 more days of 2020, let’s play a party game. A...
Do you use any of these “banished” corpo...
What happens when the faculty from the English Department at a local university start talking to the university’s PR director at a New Year’s Eve party? It was New Year’s Eve, 1975. Professors and staff from Lake Superior State University (LSSU) began discussing words that people love to hate . . . and the “List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness” was born. Every year since 1976, wordsmiths from the English Department at LSSU have published a list of banished words based on nominations they receive...
Pandemics and epidemics in literature
Mysterious illnesses, epidemics, and pandemics have always played a role in storytelling and literature, from classical works to modern dystopian novels. In early depictions, epidemics were considered divine punishments or portrayed as supernatural events. Often the occurrence of an epidemic provided moral commentary on the characters in the story or on the society they lived in. By the early 20th century, scientists had discovered that epidemics were caused by microorganisms, and public health experts began suggesting more empirical ways to prevent or limit epidemics....
Unusual words to describe the people in ...
English is full of words that capture the depth and breadth of the people in our lives. Take a look at these words to see if they describe anyone you know. Autodidact — a person who is self taught As an autodidact, I relied heavily on my neighborhood public library. Braggadocio — someone who engages in empty or false boasting; one who brags Our coach was nothing more than a braggadocio who bored everyone with stories of his glory days. Clerisy — a group of educated people; intellectuals; a person who reads for pleasure I always ask the clerisy from the...
