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I LOVED your golfing
story. Read every word. You're a wonderful writer.
(Peter Bowerman, the Well-Fed Writer)
Big Things rule! ... and the video
of the Airbus is great. (Jim McDonald,
Birmingham, UK)
Having enjoyed reading your
biographical, They
can't take that away from me... I
would love to post your article (for my) course for
seniors entitled Autobiography and Journaling ... and
let them read your article as a good example of what
I call the reader's writer, clearly expressed and easy
to read. (Howell)
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The French language has
always appealed to me ... so I enjoyed Lavinia's
experiences en
France! (Di Sullivan, Perth, Australia)
I am an American and an
expat here since 1990. I have been a subscriber to Writing
Tip for a few years now and look forward to the Friday
editions. I archive by creating topics of the tips
relevant to me and often refer. (Mary, Lagos, Nigeria)
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Your Own Best Seller!
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year, don't just read a best-seller ... Write
your own using the software program that works
in the same way J K Rowling writes her Harry
Potter novels!
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Who said Aussies would
bet on two flies crawling up a wall? Now I know
better! (Bill Denham, Chicago, USA)
I enjoy reading your page
every week, Jennifer, it's never boring and there's always
something to bring a smile to my face! (Kenny Dima,
Tenerife, Spain)
Thanks for pitching in to
help clarify
the English Language for and with us. (Paul, Portland,
USA)
Your story about the evil
glasses made my day :) (Edith, Derbyshire, UK)
I enjoy your
letter and use it in my advanced writing class here in
China. (Bugs, Shenzhen, CHINA)
I always look forward to
your Latin
quote of the week. (Paul, Mexico City, Mexico)
Aah! Those evil
marionettes are everywhere! Thanks for another great
laugh! (Jim Fraser, Vancouver, Canada)
Your remarks regarding the alien
contact had me in stitches, figuratively speaking, of
course. (Dave Wagner, Sacramento, US)
The best part of the
missive is the introduction to Australian
humour and expressions. (Chaska, Prince Edward
County, CANADA)
Like your
site...very inspirational when you get writer's
block like me! (Peter, Seoul, South Korea)
Nice letter, I
was using google for once, twice, thrice
and quince, and found this page, great ;) (Marv, Zwolle,
NETHERLANDS)
One of the most
amusing and erudite newsletters that makes my day.
Keep going. (David Vasnaik, Bangalore, INDIA)
Read
more testimonials ...
Great newsletter -
originally found this site after searching for
clarification on a contentious
point amongst work colleagues. Just had to look at old
issues and now look forward to Fridays (Juliet Wallace,
Manchester, ENGLAND)
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The Write Way
12 July 2002
Elvis Has Left
the Building
Greetings,
Last week's oxymoron, "100%
virgin polyester" wasn't really one it seems. Jim Noble shed some
fascinating light on the subject of polyesters - pure, fallen and otherwise:
"Though it does
have a strange ring to it, the term
"virgin" is actually meaningful and proper in this
context. As used in the plastics industry, "virgin"
means first-time use. When synthetic fiber is made, the
plastic is compounded, melted, and then extruded into a
hair-thin fiber; fibers are then twisted into threads,
and the threads are then woven into cloth. "Virgin"
means that the fibers are freshly compounded. In
some cases, scrap plastic is re-melted and reprocessed
as if it were fresh, but in the gathering and re-melting
process, dirt and contaminants are introduced, which
results in weakening of the fibers, as well as a lack
of uniformity in flexibility, color variations and the
like. So, "virgin" means "no scrap has been used in the
manufacture of the fibers" (or fibres, if you prefer).
"At one time, premium LP records (remember those?) were
manufactured using transparent vinyl (usually colored)
to prove that they were made from "virgin vinyl" - the
normal LPs were intentionally black to hide the otherwise
mottled appearance of the scrap vinyl usually used for
LPs. In this case, scrap added a lot of noise to the
music, since dust and contaminants made for rough edges
on the grooves which the needle would pick up.
"More than you ever wanted to know, huh?"
See? It pays to display your
ignorance on the Internet, because you always learn something new :)
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And, as it happens, I not only have
a collection of LPs, but also 45s and ... wait for it ... one 78! One of my 45s
is by a new chap called Elvis Presley, singing two unforgettable numbers,
"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" and "Mystery Train" with
his mates, Scotty and Bill.
Now if that hasn't dated me once and
for all, I don't know what will!
It's funny how some performers just
seem to go on and on, isn't it? Poor soul's been gone for yonks now and yet you
still hear his songs everyday.
What's that?
You're right, of course -
"everyday" is an adjective that means "daily; suitable for every
ordinary day; usual or common."
There was nothing
everyday about Lavinia's gold lamé leotard and she turned heads every day she
wore it.
As you can see from Lavinia's
exploits, "every" is also an adjective, but it means "all"
and it gives us more information about nouns and pronouns.
Whenever "every" is used,
there's a risk of it being misused, but if you stop and think about the meaning
of the sentence, it's easy to avoid confusion:
Everyone followed
Lavinia's progress through the supermarket and every one of the shelf-stackers
was hoping she would pause in his aisle.
"Everyone" is a pronoun
and it pays to pause for a moment to consider the word ... it's "everyONE"
- singular. This means that it takes a singular verb:
Everyone loves a
lover.
Not,
Everyone love a
lover.
OK, that was an easy and obvious
example ... what about this, then?
It was so busy, it
seemed as if everyone and their dog was at the park.
Hmm ... everyONE ... THEIR. Nope.
You see, if you start with a
singular subject, you have to keep that subject singular - you can't whack in a
plural pronoun half-way through the sentence or everyone will start wondering
where all these extra people came from.
Now I know that there's quite a bit
of discussion in some circles about whether to use a plural pronoun for the
possessive form of pronouns like "everyone" but, well, call me
old-fashioned if you must, but it just sounds odd to me. The simplest solution
is to begin with a plural subject if you know you're referring to people as a
group. It only takes a moment to restructure your sentences:
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It was so busy, it
seemed as if the entire neighbourhood and their dogs were at the park.
Thanks to everyone who has sent a donation to my
Running Away Fund ... I've had a few people ask me just where I'm running to
when I go ... Ummm, haven't quite decided yet - but it has to be somewhere I can
take The Girls, the cat, Betty Boop the budgie ... oh and my husband says he
wants to come too ... and my mum ... and daughter and son and his wife and ...
Maybe it'd just be easier to stay put!
1. Pay by PayPal:
2. Click
here to subscribe for a full year OR
3. Use your credit card on my secure
order form: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm (You
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didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account
or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR
4. Send a cheque: http://www.write101.com/fund.htm
This week's quiz:
Match each word with its synonym:
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abdicate
abysmal
affinity
archetype
blasphemy
capitulate
charlatan
conciliatory
culpable
degenerate |
original
fraud
blameworthy
resign
deteriorate
hopeless
obliging
profanity
bond
yield |
Thanks to Bob Hale and Richard
English for these wonderful contributions to the FOTA board. http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=3170114826
On the subject of telling fibs:
"Labour politicians tell lies, Liberals tell
untruths, and Conservatives use terminological inexactitudes."
"And our
allegedly apolitical Civil Servants are economical with the truth."
Last week's quiz:
1. unfledged falcon or other bird of
prey - EYAS
2. small island in a lake or river -
EYOT
3. eyelike and ringed; having
an eyelike spot or spots - OCELLATED
4. having eyes - OCULATE
5. round window, especially over
main door in church - OCULUS
6. divination using teeth (shudder
... don't even ask!) - ODONTOMANCY
7. an ogle; a glance or wink -
OEILLADE
8. smelling terrible - OLID
9. navel-like (as in belly-button,
not sailors ...) - OMPHELOID
10.like a fingernail - ONYCHOID
You'll enjoy this ...My son (who
often has to attend meetings at work) sent me a great technique to stay awake:
Do you keep falling
asleep in meetings ? Here’s something to change all of that.
WANK Words ...
How to play: Simply tick off 5 WANK Words in one
meeting and shout out BINGO!
It’s that easy!
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synergy |
paradigm |
strategic fit |
tender |
gap analysis |
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revisit |
capability statement |
bandwidth |
e-commerce |
knowledge management |
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ball park |
proactive not reactive |
win win situation |
think outside the box |
fast track |
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results driven |
fly it up the flagpole |
slippery slide |
non-billable time |
mindset |
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best practice |
bottom line |
core practice |
wip |
touch base |
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globalisation |
bench marking |
big picture |
value adding |
movers and shakers |
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billable hours |
empowerment |
move goal posts |
left hand not knowing
right hand |
bread and butter |
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process reengineering |
vision |
client focussed |
quality |
no blame |
Chuckle ... I can hear you grinding
your teeth from here!
One more I'd add is
"24/7."
Aargh! If I hear one more person use
this I'll be forced to do nasty things I just know I'll regret.
Thanks to everyone who's dropped by to leave a
message and stick a pin on the map - it's never too late:
http://pub37.bravenet.com/guestmap/view.php?usernum=3170114826
Please encourage your friends and rellies to
subscribe - just send them this link: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
It's much easier than you having to forward the newsletter to them every week.
A Little Something Extra ...
Editors and agents may read your
manuscript with a critical eye, but readers read it because they expect to be
entertained. If they're not entertained, if it's too much work to figure out,
they'll not only become confused, they'll get angry.
Oxymoron: McDonald's
restaurant (And I challenge you to tell me that this isn't an oxymoron! You
stand in a queue ... you eat off cardboard ... drink out of plastic ... use
paper napkins and then clear up your own mess!)
Word of the week: Here's another of
those words that proves, without a shadow of a doubt, that English has a word
for every occasion. Abature (n) trail through wood beaten down by a
stag.
Not a trail through a forest or across a plain,
but through a wood ... and not beaten down by a horse or a bear or a tiger, but
by a stag - not a doe ... a stag!
How can you not love a language like this!
And a Latin phrase for those meetings where even
Wank Words won't work:
Credo nonnullos hic mortuos esse. (I think
several of the people here are dead.)
Regards,
Jennifer
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