|
|
|
|
Solving your writing problems since 1998! |
|
| |||||||||||
|
The Write Way 22 March 2002 Squiggles and Things Greetings, Camm found this gem and sent it to me last week: What's Amoré?
When the moon hits your eye Neither of us know who penned it but we both agree that some people have an inordinate amount of free time ... (As always, if you know the author, please let me know so I can give credit - I think this is very clever.) It started me thinking about one thing and another and I wondered if you knew how to add all the accents, graves etc (as in amoré) ... No? But you'd love to find out? Funny you should ask ... You just hold down the ALT key and press the different sets of numbers to get the following symbols:
Isn't that natty? There are lots more, but that will give you something to play with till next week! When you stop and think about all the things your word processor can do that you don't know about, it literally blows your mind! Kapow! It would be kapow if these things did "literally" blow your mind ... Have you ever heard people complain about how their boss literally tore them limb from limb for making a mistake at work ... or the parents who claim they literally walk a tightrope with their teenagers ...? Nancy from Tallahassee, FL shares my amusement with the way this word is used: I've noticed so many people (say) "it's literally raining cats and dogs." If that were true, cats and dogs would be falling from the sky! These users are confusing the literal with the metaphorical. Literally means ..."in a literal or strict sense; in a manner that accords with the literal sense of the words." So if your boss literally tore you limb from limb you could expect to see an episode of Law and Order, focusing on the grisly crime, coming to a television near you sometime soon. Had these people said that the boss metaphorically tore them limb from limb, we'd all nod sympathetically ... Well, maybe not ... who wants to listen to other people whinge about their jobs? Metaphorically describes a situation when one thing is conceived as representing another, such as rain being very heavy - almost as if the air was filled with cats and dogs... Come to think of it, that's a pretty silly expression, isn't it? It's actually an example of an idiom - you can read more about them here: http://www.write101.com/W.Tips131.htm This little newsletter has been wending its merry way into email boxes around the globe since 1998 and has covered a variety of language matters in that time. You can peruse all 172 past issues on the Archives page here: http://www.write101.com/archives/index.htm or search for a particular topic by using the Search box. (Tip: just enter the key word, not all the extra words - this search engine searches for every word!) Thank you to all those who, like Mary-Jo, took the time last week to send off their donation to my Running Away Fund :) $17.00 seems a small
price to pay for your content-rich newsletter. Keep up the good
work! Feel free to join in the fun! Remember, it's just a little over 30 cents a week and you can choose how you want to pay: 1. Click here to subscribe for a full year. (If that link doesn't work, please click below to access it ... the link to the direct subscription page is about 500 characters long!) OR 2. Use your credit card on my secure order form: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you - with PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR 3. end a cheque: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm If you've said nice things about the site or newsletter, you may find your name up in lights ... almost. You'll find your words on my Testimonials page. If you would rather your comments didn't appear, please let me know and I'll remove them immediately. A lonely frog telephoned the Psychic Hotline and asked what his future held. His Personal Psychic Advisor told him: "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you." The frog was thrilled, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party?" he croaked. "No," said the psychic, "in a biology lesson." And you think you've got troubles ... My instructions about how to shut down surplus programs so your defragging could potter along uninterrupted confused some people ... sorry. Here's the full story on how to Beat the Beast ... Follow these steps when you're ready to defrag:Step One 1. Go to Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box 2. On the General tab, uncheck all items listed under Selective startup (make sure that Selective startup is selected) 3. Hit apply and OK and restart Windows 4. This starts Windows with only the basics running and ensures nothing will interfere with ScanDisk and Defrag Step Two Run Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup is found on the Start menu under Programs, Accessories, System Tools. When you run Disk Cleanup choose C as the drive to clean. Check the boxes for Temporary Internet Files and Recycle Bin to clean them.Step Three Run Scandisk. This is also found on the Start menu under Programs, Accessories, System Tools. When you run Scandisk, choose C as the drive and select Standard. Step Four Go to Start menu under Programs, Accessories, System Tools then click on Disk Defragmenter . Choose C as the drive to defragment. The go away and leave it do do what it does in private ... it may take less than an hour or all night! Step Five When the box says that it's finished, close the window and run Scandisk again. (Repeat Step Three.) Step Six 1. Go to Start > Run and type msconfig in the Open: box 2. On the General tab, select Normal startup 3. Hit apply and OK and restart Windows. This will put everything back in its normal spot! Step SevenCelebrate - it's done :) If you really want to make sure your PC is in tip-top condition, here's a super article that Donna Prusik found on how to spring clean your system: http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/Articles/SpringCleaning/ It's by Jason Levine and has some excellent tips on ways to keep everything purring along. I'm definitely going to download Jason's Cookie Jar - one of my son's computer whiz friends says cookies are "evil!" Thanks to Bruce for this next little tale: So there's this bloke who's a
stubbie short of a six-pack out for a walk. He comes to a river and sees another The second bloke looks up the river, then down the river, then shouts back, "You are on the other side!" This week's quiz: Match 'em up: hasten, unlucky, broadcast, introverted, increase, create, illustrate, excessive, impulsive, passion 1. disseminate 2. engender 3. exemplify 4. expedite 5. fervour 6. hapless 7. impetuous 8. increment 9. inordinate 10.introspective Here's a thought: Computer games don't affect Kids. If they did, the teenagers today who grew up on PACMAN would be locking themselves in dark rooms, eating little pills and listening to repetitive music ... Oh ... Last week's quiz: Match the words with their meanings below: fetter, grandiose, hierarchy, idyllic, inaugurate, judicious, lucid, marshal, martial, nihilism1. pertaining to battle - MARTIAL 2. charmingly simple - IDYLLIC 3. to hamper - FETTER 4. impressive in effect - GRANDIOSE 5. easy to follow - LUCID 6. belief that existence is senseless - NIHILISM 7. to induct into office - INAUGURATE 8. ordered groupings - HIERARCHY 9. to gather together - MARSHAL 10.good judgement - JUDICIOUS If you know someone who'd like to start the weekend with a bit of a chuckle (and some educational material of course) - just send them this link: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com A Little Something Extra Tips for Writing Mysteries for Children Mysteries are very popular with middle grade readers. They are generally fast-paced stories that build self-confidence by allowing the reader to solve the crime. Simple mysteries for this age group follow a clear formula where the author lays out clues for the reader in a predictable fashion, using escapes, setbacks and coincidence. The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books fall into this category. Read the rest of this article by Laura Backes, Publisher, Children's Book Insider here: http://www.write101.com/chmysteries.htm Palindrome: Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? Word of the week: Disconfect (dis kon fekt') v. To sterilise the piece of confection you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, assuming this will somehow 'remove' all the germs. You mean this doesn't work?! Aio! Hui! Hem! O! Plus! Perge! (Yes! Ooh! Ummm! Oh! More! Go on!) ... That brought the colour back to your cheeks, didn't it? Here's something I just found ... Well, it's sort of relevant ... It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon." Now that's got to come in handy to fill those embarrassing lulls in conversation when you're stuck on a table with people you don't know at weddings! Regards, Jennifer To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: mailto:WritingTips-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or go to the web site, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritingTips This menu will also let you change your subscription between digest and normal mode. |
|
Home
| Contact
| Order
| Site
Map |Subscribe
Copyright 200 |
