25 (more) words that are fun to say

With two children in school, we’ve been talking a lot of phonetics at my house. This has inspired me—once again—to put together a list of words that are fun to say. Have some fun pronouncing these on your own. Then click on the word for an audible pronunciation. (Definitions and pronunciations are from Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com.) Archaeopteryx—a reptile-like bird from the late Jurassic period. Arugula—a Mediterranean plant from the mustard family. Befuddle—to confuse; to make drunk. Dirigible—an airship. Effervescent—bubbling; vivacious;...

10 intriguing rhetorical devices — and h...

by Laura Hale Brockway It’s an election year and we’re all being regaled with political messages: TV and radio ads, Twitter posts, blogs, debates, and so on. Although I’m not particularly interested in politics, I am intrigued by the ways candidates use rhetorical devices in their messages. As writers and communicators, we’re all familiar with the more common devices, such as hyperbole, allusion, and analogy. Some others are more obscure. Next time you hear a political message, see whether you detect any of these rhetorical devices. 1. Allusion—an indirect or...

The 8 parts of speech — do you know them...

by Laura Hale Brockway, ELS   There’s no easy way to admit this. Last week my fourth-grader asked me to name the eight parts of speech, and I could come up with only five. I remembered nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, but I drew a complete blank on the other three: prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Of course, I know all of these parts of speech and can identify each one when I see them, but naming all eight parts had me stumped. As professional writers and editors, we sometimes focus so much on diction, sentence structure, and clear...

11 puzzling phrases and their meanings

by Laura Hale Brockway, ELS As an unabashed word nerd, I am fascinated with how language changes over time. In particular, I like to learn about expressions and phrases that were once commonly known, but that puzzle us today. Fifty years from now, will people know what “bad hair day,” “big brother,” and “Elvis has left the building” mean? Here are some phrases that were once in common use, along with their definitions. 1. Bee’s knees — means the height of perfection. (Also, “the cat’s pajamas,” “the cat’s meow.”) The...

How to punctuate list stories

by Laura Hale Brockway, ELS We see bulleted lists everywhere — and for good reason. In the age of distraction, in which people crave more information but read less, bulleted lists help readers skim and scan. But how do you punctuate and capitalize them? Here are some general guidelines taken from the Chicago Manual of Style and the American Medical Association Manual of Style. 1. When full sentences are used in a list, the first word should be capitalized and appropriate end punctuation should be used. For example: The various arguments for and against the use of the...

34 redundant, repetitive, and superfluou...

by Laura Hale Brockway, ELS As writers, editors, and PR professionals, we are keenly aware that we must fight for readers’ attention. My daily sanity check is to ask, “Is someone actually going to read this?” To help readers, I use concise language and eliminate redundancies. As Strunk and White say, “Make every word tell.” Below are phrases in which every word does not tell. They are redundant, repetitive, wordy, verbose, and superfluous. Eliminate such phrases to tighten your writing. (Redundant words are italicized.) • added bonus • advance planning •...

20 more words you need to stop misspelli...

by Laura Hale Brockway Last week, I posted an article about 50 commonly misspelled words (such as inoculate, susceptible, bellwether). At the end of the post, I asked PR Daily readers to share words they have trouble spelling. Turns out, there are nearly two-dozen other words giving you grief: 1. Campaign 2. Carburetor 3. Commission 4. Contributor 5. Counterfeit 6. Definitely 7. Gauge 8. Hors d’oeuvre 9. Iridescent 10. Liaison 11. Losing 12. Millennial 13. Mise en place 14. Necessary 15. Occasion 16. Premiere/premier 17. Restaurateur 18. Separate 19....

50 words you need to stop misspelling

As writers, editors, and avid PR Daily readers, we are all above-average spellers. We’re the people others call for spelling advice; we’re the ones who kick butt at Words with Friends; we’re the ones who remember the spelling rules we learned in elementary school. And yet, sometimes even we get stumped and make spelling mistakes. I’m guilty of misspelling words. Just last week, I had to double-check the spelling of “inoculate.” I could have sworn there were two N’s in that word. As they say, admitting you have a problem is the first step. So yes, there are...