April showers bring May flowers—or so we’ve been told. One source traces that phrase to an 1886 saying which might have deeper roots in a 1610 poem. Another source … [Read more...]
May these thoughts spurn you on. What?
You may have seen this great post about Acryologia shared on Facebook. But wait, there's more; and I make no apologies. I love delightful word misuses and have a … [Read more...]
More Punctuation History and Oddities
My post on using the Oxford Comma (or not) made me examine other punctuation. From speech class, I know that commas are visual directions to take a breath when … [Read more...]
To use, or not to use, the Oxford Comma
While critiquing a friend’s work, I questioned her comma usage so checked the definition of the Oxford Comma. Here’s what I found. “The Oxford comma is used before … [Read more...]
Happy Valentine’s Day Tomorrow and Every Day
Valentine’s Day is a happy occasion for receiving flowers, chocolates, sweeter words, and maybe good books. If you’re a book lover, there are few things finer—and … [Read more...]
Humorous words to make us sit up and take notice
Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected, and frequently humorous. (Winston Churchill loved … [Read more...]