Profound thanks to the Greeks for creating sound effect words. The term comes from two combined Greek words, onoma meaning “name” and poiein meaning “to make” or … [Read more...]
Truisms – Pithy statements of obvious truth
Tru·ism - a statement that is obviously true but says nothing new or interesting. Synonyms for the term include platitude, cliché, banality. This post exists because … [Read more...]
Books accomplish many important things
Books accomplish many important things . . . They refresh and fill our minds, encourage our hearts, and rest our feet—sometimes literally. At least that’s what … [Read more...]
Improve your writing by joke-writing and -telling
For those eager to write prizewinning stories, consider mastering the art of joke-writing. Jokes are miniature stories with a definite beginning, middle, and end. … [Read more...]
Who created these North American flags?
Until July 4th approached, I didn’t know there were doubts that Betsy Ross created our first American flag. The Betsy Ross Facts website says, “Of all famous … [Read more...]
Word Fruit Salad
We’ve all done it, gotten our words fractured and said the wrong thing. English clergyman William Archibald Spooner became so famous for his accidental tongue twists … [Read more...]
Travel is its own reward
For many, June officially kicks off travel season. Because I take writing seriously, and also love meaningful travel, it boosted my morale when Trip Advisor told me … [Read more...]
Would you live in a library if you could?
When I was a young mom and grad student with two little boys ages 5 and 3, I took them with me everywhere I could (sometimes even to classes I taught). We often … [Read more...]
What if familiar stories ended differently?
Twice so far, the University of Northwestern-St. Paul where I teach has hosted the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association annual championships … [Read more...]
Spoonerisms, plus Victor Borge, and too much alphabetized logic for me
Spoonerisms are verbal errors in which speaker accidentally transpose the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, usually to humorous effect, as in the … [Read more...]
