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Refudiate: 2010 Word of the Year

By on December 6, 2010. 4 Comments
sarah-palin

Sarah Palin may not have succeeded in her quest to become the Vice President of the United States, but her time in the spotlight is not really over. While she did not` seek to be re-elected as the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has been busy with a host of other activities. Her own TV show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, is attracting some attention, together with her Twitter account: @SarahPalinUSA. Some time this year, Twitterverse was abuzz with Sarah Palin’s tweet using a one-of-a-kind word. Can you spot it below? “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Word Usage Tags: , , Writing Jobs | Blogger Jobs | Online Content Jobs

Beggars Can’t Be Choosers

By on November 19, 2010. 4 Comments
Begging dog

Don’t you just love it when you learn something new unexpectedly?  I was reading the news today when I saw an article titled “To beg or not to beg” and for some reason, I decided to take a look at it. I am glad I did, because it was a very interesting read, which I would like to share with you. How often do you hear the phrase “to beg the question”? How do you use it? In my case, I don’t really hear it that often, but I always understood it in the context of someone making a statement [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules, Word Usage Tags: ,

How Consistent Are You?

By on November 8, 2010. 14 Comments
Marathon

Running is the thing right now.  Everywhere I look, it seems that people are talking about running.  My Twitter timeline is flooded with people’s tweets about 5k, 10k, and LSD! (Apparently, that means long slow distance and not what I initially thought.)  On Facebook, I see wall posts about runs left and right.  It’s the same thing with forums. Here’s one post that caught my eye and gave me an idea for today’s grammar post. i started running because i want to be more active. now i run because i love it and i’m obsessed with it. Let’s get the [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules Tags: , , Writing Jobs | Blogger Jobs | Online Content Jobs

And I Quote…

By on November 1, 2010. 2 Comments
Fine

We all have our pet peeves when it comes to writing, and I think that some of you will agree that the prevalent habit of misusing – or overusing – quotations marks is of those things.  To be honest, this does not bother me as much as interchanging your and you’re.  However, the discovery of a blog focusing on the unnecessary use of quotation marks has led me to write about the issue. Before I bombard you with some rules on the use of quotation marks, let me add a little bit of fun to your Monday by sharing how [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Humor, Punctuation Tags: , ,

When Grammar Goes Bad…So Does Romance?

By on October 25, 2010. 8 Comments
Bad Romance

I have a Facebook friend who, I think, is the head of the Grammar Police in our neck of the woods. He always has these posts that set me off on grammar review sprees. Today, this is his status: The first thing I did was to google (yes, I used that as a verb) the lyrics of Bad Romance.  So why did my friend write that note to Lady Gaga?  Here are some lines from the song: I want your love, and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance. I suppose I can write a [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules, Musings & Style Tags: , Writing Jobs | Blogger Jobs | Online Content Jobs

Are You Ingenuous or Ingenious?

By on October 18, 2010. 4 Comments
Confused

When I was teaching ESL, lessons on confusing word pairs were inevitable.  The level of the learner was irrelevant.  My students all needed clarification on certain word pairs.  Interestingly enough, I have discovered than even native speakers of English have similar issues.  The words in question may be of a more advanced level, but the confusion remains.  Just take some time to browse blogs, and you’ll find at least one example! For this week’s grammar post, let us take a look at some of words that are used interchangeably, when they shouldn’t be. Ingenuous and Ingenious I’ll be honest here [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Word Usage Tags: , , , ,

More Funny Signs that Could Use Better Grammar/Spelling

By on October 11, 2010. 9 Comments
Lot's

It’s been more than a month since I posted the first group of funny (or not-so-funny for some) signs on FWJ. When I woke up this morning, I thought that it would be a good idea to post some more signs for the grammar section. After all, it is a Monday, and we can all use some cheering up on this day of the week. First up comes lots of lot’s. Photo courtesy of Steve Dinn We can’t point fingers at Sony here, but the sign sure does take something away from the message, doesn’t it? Just so we’re all [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules, Humor, Punctuation, Spelling Tags: , , , , Writing Jobs | Blogger Jobs | Online Content Jobs

What’s Missing?

By on October 4, 2010. 2 Comments
Scattered puzzle pieces next to solved fragment

In oral communication, it is quite normal to speak in fragments.  This is especially true for informal conversations.  While I have nothing against that, it is another matter altogether when it comes to formal speech and writing.  Actually, even if you’re writing informally for your blog or web site, sentence fragments should be a no no. What are sentence fragments anyway? I like OWL‘s simple definition: Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. One of the easiest ways to correct them is to remove the period between the fragment [Read more…]

Categories: Freelance Writing, Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules Tags: , ,

It’s National Punctuation Day!

By on September 24, 2010. Leave a Comment
prod-ellipsis

It’s not yet too late to celebrate one of the most important days of the year: National Punctuation Day!    I am not making this up, although my love for quirky holidays is well known.  You can check the official web site for the holiday to confirm that this is for real. With the tag line “A celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis,” National Punctuation Day is a great excuse to party tonight.  If it’s too late for you to organize something, you can always do [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Humor, Punctuation Tags: , , , Writing Jobs | Blogger Jobs | Online Content Jobs

I’m Loving It, Are You?

By on September 17, 2010. 5 Comments
Lovin ItMcDs_Print

Are you loving McDonald’s popular slogan? “I’m lovin’ it!” became even more popular when the fast food chain launched its first global advertising campaign in 2003.  Suddenly, everywhere you go, you hear people say “I’m lovin’ it.”  What used to be considered incorrect is now being used on a daily basis. But isn’t that what language is all about?  I will always remember what a friend (English professor) told me: “Language is dynamic.  It continuously evolves, and that’s the beauty of it.” While I totally agree with that idea, I sometimes cannot help but flinch when I hear something that [Read more…]

Categories: Freelance Writing, Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules, Musings & Style Tags: , ,

What’s the Apostrophe Doing There?

By on September 10, 2010. 6 Comments
apples

The apostrophe is an innocuous-looking thing, but it does have the power to screw things up – just like the comma.  I don’t know about you, but I feel so uncomfortable when I see signs and other written material that look like the following. Photo credit: Jeffrey Hill Photo credit: Quezi So what’s wrong with the images? While not everyone has the same issues with apostrophes, we cannot deny that there are a lot of people who struggle with the use of this squiggly punctuation mark.  I know some people who are reasonably good writers but still sometimes put an [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Punctuation Tags: , ,

Parallel Structure in Writing

By on September 3, 2010. 4 Comments
parallel parking

Parallel structure, or parallelism, is a basic concept that students learn in writing class.  Over the years, we may forget the term, but the idea should continue to be applied.  Whether you are writing for your personal blog or for a big client, avoiding faulty parallelism can help you get your point across more clearly. I think parallelism comes naturally to most people.  As humans who appreciate beauty and balance, we easily detect if something is off.  Take a look at this sentence: I like to play soccer and swimming. You don’t need to spend minutes going over that sentence [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Grammar Rules Tags: , , ,

100 Most Commonly Misspelled Words

By on September 2, 2010. 12 Comments
english_dictionary

If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have already seen the great list of the 100 most commonly misspelled words that I tweeted yesterday.  YourDictionary.com put together the list and it’s filled with words that most people have trouble spelling. I scrolled through the list and found several that often cause me to pause as my fingers fly across the keyboard.  Accommodate and embarrass are two such words that always make me second guess myself. The best part about the list on YourDictionary.com is that most of the words include a helpful little clue so you can remember [Read more…]

Categories: Spelling, Writing Resources Tags: , , ,

Do You Make These Capitalization Mistakes?

By on August 27, 2010. 2 Comments
4930653843_51bc8a0436

I remember a classmate in university who failed a test simply because she did not use proper capitalization. For some reason, at that time, it was a cool thing to write everything in small letters. Unfortunately for her, the professor didn’t think it was “cool” – she was given an automatic failing mark. Today, it seems that the fashion of not using proper capitalization is making a comeback. For some, it may be borne out of ignorance or apathy. For freelance writers, there are no excuses. I did a little digging and found some common capitalization mistakes people make. Is [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide, Humor Tags: ,

Funny Signs that Could Use Better Grammar/Spelling

By on August 20, 2010. 17 Comments
proud-gradute-500x846

You’ve heard of these kinds of signs before. They’ve caught the attention of everyone from Asia to Europe to the Americas. Sometimes, the mistakes are so blatant that even the worst English speaker/writer can spot them easily. Sometimes, though, the mistakes can be subtle, forcing even seasoned writers to think a little bit. Here are some signs that make me chuckle. Photo courtesy of Funny Typos. The happiness and pride of whoever wrote the sign is quite apparent, but I am pretty sure that the “gradute” isn’t that proud about it. (Unless he/she wrote the sign – I certainly hope [Read more…]

Categories: Humor, Spelling Tags: , ,

Mistakes that Make You Look Stupid

By on August 13, 2010. 12 Comments

We all have our bad moments. There are times when, even if I go over my work twice or thrice, typos still go unnoticed. You know what I am talking about, don’t you? However, there are mistakes that are just so common that you think people know better than to commit them. Committing these mistakes, in my eyes, can chip away at your credibility. (That’s a nice way of saying that making certain mistakes can make you look dumb.) What are these mistakes? Your /You’re “Your” is a possessive pronoun: You should proofread your blog posts in order to avoid [Read more…]

Categories: Editing & Proofing, Parts of Speech, Word Usage Tags: ,

When Punctuation and Law Collide

By on August 6, 2010. 3 Comments

As freelance writers, we are all very much aware of the importance of grammar and punctuation. We know that all sorts of confusion can arise from improper usage. Sometimes it can be quite hilarious. Check out this incident I read about at The Spokesman-Review: A little punctuation can make a lot of difference. When Bob Strick and Vicki Tomsha had business at the Spokane County Courthouse on June 2, they drove around from parking lot to parking lot, looking for some free public parking. Lot after lot required a permit or some cash. They thought they hit pay dirt in [Read more…]

Categories: Musings & Style, Punctuation Tags: , ,

If You Will, I Will?

By on July 30, 2010. 3 Comments

Marcy Sheiner asked a question about an English expression “if you will” several weeks ago. So Marcy, this post is for you. Here’s Marcy’s comment/question/pet peeve. Marcy Sheiner says: July 14, 2010 at 12:09 pm This is a pet peeve rather than a question, but maybe you can tell me if there is ever a sane reason to use the phrase “if you will.” I’ve noticed it’s beoming most trendy, in speech more than writing, but sill. And what on earth does it mean????? I have been hearing – and reading – this phrase used for as long as I [Read more…]

Categories: Musings & Style Tags: ,

Justifying a Comma Splice

By on July 23, 2010. 1 Comment

In the last post, I talked about a major error in writing – a comma splice. As I mentioned in that post, there are some cases wherein using a comma splice just might be acceptable. In fact, this is in an ongoing debate. So when is a comma splice acceptable? According to Strunk & White, one can use a comma splice “when the clauses are very short and alike in form.” The most commonly cited example for this case is the popular line: I came, I saw, I conquered. Diana Hacker of A Writer’s Reference also gives some examples: Man [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Rules, Musings & Style, Punctuation Tags: , , ,

What Is a Comma Splice?

By on July 16, 2010. 5 Comments

There are certain words in the English language that I love to hear and say. “Splice” is one of those words. I don’t know why, but it just sounds so good to my ears. This post, however, is not going to be about words that you like to hear. It is going to be about this thing called comma splice. What is it anyway, and why are some people so gung ho on avoiding it? Consider this: I woke up at 3 in the afternoon, I was not able to go to church. The two clauses – one before the [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Rules, Punctuation Tags: , , , ,

Noemi Twigg: Your New Grammar Accomplice

By on July 9, 2010. 5 Comments

Hi Freelance Writing Jobs readers!  This month has brought about a lot of changes in this community, and I would like to take this chance to share a little bit about myself before diving into the finer points of grammar. I know that you all have been following Dawn’s posts, and that her departure from the site has brought about a range of emotions.  It is with hope and optimism that I begin this journey with all of you. I’ve always thought that I had a proclivity for being nitpicky when it comes to grammar, but it wasn’t till I [Read more…]

Categories: Grammar Guide Tags: , , ,

Are You Down With Grammar?

By on October 5, 2009. 15 Comments

by Dawn Allcot I was dismayed to see #DownWithGrammar trending on Twitter the other day. Some people used the hashtag to bemoan their high school English classes, others to confess to bad spelling, and many to make fun of politicians and political signs. Others – and these are the ones I commend – turned the phrase around in a clever play on words: “I’m #downwithgrammar,” JoannaOC tweeted. “That’s why I want the line to be for people with ‘fewer than 10 items’ instead of those with ‘less than ten items.’” If you’re scratching your head at why the first is [Read more…]

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