Making words work better
-ize verbs are 'like lavatory fittings, useful in their proper place but not to be multiplied beyond what is necessary for practical purposes.’ Some people…
Continue reading → -ise or -ize? (3/3) In praise of monetize, diarize, etc.
Summary Inspector Morse was a snob and a pedant -- but you probably knew that already. The -ize spelling is exclusively US = MYTH. The…
Continue reading → -ise or -ize? Is -ize American? (2/3) Damn your -ize, Morse!
In brief... The -ize spelling is exclusively US = MYTH For words with an -ise/-ize or -yse/-yze alternation, the -ize spelling is used in British…
“See you later, alligator” – “In awhile, crocodile” This catchphrase of the 1950s greatly amused my brother and me when very young. Saying goodbye, you…
Continue reading → “A while” or “awhile”; “for a while” or “for awhile”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqrw3_604_c While Annie Lennox was keening ‘Don't ask me why’ and lamenting lost or unachievable love, the question in this word geek’s mind (and perhaps…
Continue reading → Anymore or any more? Does anybody write anymore any more any more?
What’s the issue? The other day I was writing this sentence: “The exotically handsome man in the corner lowered his Arabic newspaper and smiled shyly…
Continue reading → dryly or drily, slyly or slily? A spelling conundrum
The other day, the chirruping bird alerted me to an issue that I hadn’t previously given much thought to. Is it to have (got) another…
Continue reading → ‘To have another think coming’ or ‘another thing coming’?
