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The Write Way 9 January 2004 How Do They Know? Greetings, I knew the holiday was over when, on Monday morning around 7.05, just as we were sitting down to breakfast on the deck, our phone rang. Twice. Now I wasn't upset because the call had woken us; as I said, we were about to have breakfast. Those of you who know me, will remember that we're up with the sparrows out here! None of this lolling around in bed, reading the paper, getting toast crumbs in the sheets for us. No, Sirree. As soon as the sun's up, so are we. We've usually had our morning cuppa by 5.15 and are harnessing up The Girls for our regular walk along the beach at the bottom of our street. We used to walk between 4-5 kilometres with them (further if it was cool, not as far if it was hot - even though they have four legs and we only have two, they're both a lot closer to the ground than we are and have to take more steps, so we adjust our walk to suit them).
Here's a site that tries to sort out all the possible variations you may come across: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/numbers.htm I think the best advice is to be consistent - at least in each individual piece of writing! And now for something completely different ... a recipe for Dukkah (experiment with the combinations - that's half the fun!)
Firstly toast the nuts in a hot oven for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Toast the spice seeds and sesame seeds separately in the same way. Cool and combine with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Grind the mixture until it resembles small breadcrumbs. The mixture should be very dry and crumbly, not a paste. Be careful as over processing can release the oil from the nuts making the mixture moist, which you don't want. Simply dip small pieces of fresh bread in good quality olive oil and then into the Dukkah and eat! http://www.cuisinedumonde.com/dukkah.html This week's quiz: Since we've been having a bit of a think about maths and the like this week, let's see how well you listened in classes back in high school ... match the terms with their definitions: algorithm, cube, decagon, congruent, apex, vertex, polygon, polyhedron, pi, rhombus 1. a 3-dimensional shape, all whose surfaces (faces) are flat. Each face consists of a polygon and the interior of the polygon. 2. in a pyramid or cone, the vertex opposite the base 3. the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. It is the same for every circle, approximately 3.14. 4. the point at which the rays of an angle, two sides of a polygon, or the edges of a polyhedron meet 5. a solid figure bounded by 6 congruent squares 6. a parallelogram whose sides are all the same length. The angles are usually not right angles, but they may be right angles. 7. a closed figure consisting of line segments (sides) connected endpoint to endpoint 8. two figures that are identical-the same size and shape 9. a polygon with 10 sides 10. set of step-by-step instructions for doing something carrying out a computation, solving a problem and so on Did you know that "Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs and 50 percent imagination?"
OK - this next story is guaranteed to elicit a
groan ...
A few months later, Noah decides to take a stroll and see how the animals are doing. Everywhere he looks he finds baby animals. Everyone is doing fine except for one pair of little snakes. "What's the problem?" says Noah. "Cut down some trees and let us live there," say the snakes. Noah follows their advice. Several more weeks pass. Noah checks on the snakes again. Lots of little snakes, everybody is happy. Noah asks, "Want to tell me how the trees helped?" "Certainly," say the snakes. "We're adders, so we need logs to multiply." (What did I tell you?) Ready for another? There was once a very smart horse. Anything it was shown, it mastered easily, until one day, its teachers tried to teach it about rectangular coordinates, and it couldn't understand them. All the horse's acquaintances and friends tried to figure out what was the matter and couldn't. Then a new fellow looked at the problem and said, "Of course he can't do it. Why, you're putting Descartes before the horse!" Subscriber, Darwin, has found an interesting new concept for those of you who'd like a bit of feedback about your writing ... I'll let her explain: "In the past couple weeks I've gotten hooked on a site called Redpaper.com. This is an experimental site right now and is still in its first year but appears to be breaking even already! "Here's how it works: writers post/publish their work on the site and readers can purchase it using the "micro pay" concept. All writers/authors/poets/artists/musicians retain the rights to work that is posted (this is clearly stated at the bottom of all posts), and can chose whether to leave something up or "unpublish" it. "The site has a thriving core of poetry people (poets and poetry lovers), artists and art lovers (photography, digital art, and I believe even a traditional-media artist or two), plus musicians who post their new songs, a band manager from San Antonio who posts her bands' songs, and a former commentator from NPR. "I'm not getting rich from this because most posts only sell for between a penny and a quarter. I have seen a few that will go for more from established contributors, so if you build a reputation on the site you can raise your prices. The quality of the content is rather good, and the general attitude on the site among the regular contributors is to constantly improve the quality. Feedback and suggestions can be in the form of public comments, listed for each post, or private messages between users. This is where the true value of this site is right now. "It's an unusual mix
of public exposure for your work, critique group, and the opportunity to make a
little from your work all at the same time. This is an experiment that I
hope really takes off." Last week's quiz: Some words that may have applied over the recent Silly Season: pixilated, dephlegmate, callipygian, dipsomania, feracious, floccinaucinihilipilification, jactitation, alopecia, pandiculation, nidus 1. fruitful; producing abundantly - FERACIOUS 2. yawning and stretching (as when first waking up) - PANDICULATION 3. extremely restless tossing and twitching usually by a person with a severe illness; a false boast that can harm others, especially a false claim to be married to someone - JACTITATION 4. pertaining to or having finely developed buttocks - CALLYPYGIAN 5. very drunk - PIXILATED 6. the act or habit of esteeming or describing something as worthless, or making something worthless by describing it as such - FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION Bet you thought I'd made that one up, didn't you? Wikipedia gives this interesting comment on its origins: It is the longest non-technical word in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), where it dates back to 1741. The first use the OED gives is from the poet William Shenstone in 1741: "I loved him for nothing so much as his flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money". It is said to have been made up by some Eton College students from four words meaning 'nothing' or 'worthless', presented in "a well-known rule from the Eton Latin Grammar", as for example:
In fact, as given in the OED, the word includes four sets of quotation marks and is presented thus:
It is often spelled with hyphens, and has even spawned the back formations: floccinaucical ("inconsiderable, trifling") and floccinaucity ("thing of small importance"). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floccinaucinihilipilification 7. an intense persistent desire to drink alcoholic beverages to excess - DIPSOMANIA 8. loss of hair (especially on the head) or loss of wool or feathers- ALOPECIA 9. to deprive of superabundant water, as by evaporation or distillation; to clear of aqueous matter; to rectify; used of spirits and acids - DEPHLEGMATE (Funny how that Scotch doesn't taste quite the same now you know that, isn't it?) 10. a nest in which spiders or insects deposit their eggs- NIDUS I regularly drop by to read the comments on the Map of the World: http://pub37.bravenet.com/guestmap/view.php?usernum=3170114826 It's wonderful to hear from people from all over the world, like Terri Pinon from Tallahassee, "I have only recently experienced the first symptoms of the writing bug and have found your site to be extremely helpful. I hope this fever lasts a long time," and Sintija from Riga in Latvia, Michelle Simmons from Tulsa Oklahoma, Barbara Brown from Merseyside in the UK, Marija Filipovic from Zagreb in Croatia, Elsa Neal from Melbourne Australia and all the others who have spared a moment to make their mark. If you have a moment, why not add yours? Are you looking for answers to questions about starting a business? Do you have to write a report for work or college? Will you be called upon to deliver a public speech any time soon? If so, you'll find answers here: http://www.write101.com/letters/upclose.htm There's also practical, helpful advice for all your New Year's resolutions - whether you're looking for information on how to get a good night's sleep, how to start an exercise program or how to create a successful budget. Drop by to browse the questions - I'm sure you'll find one that's been niggling at you ... http://www.write101.com/letters/upclose.htm Here's a way to creatively fill those idle moments when you're stuck in traffic, standing in bank queues or waiting for a bus. Gaile Wotherspoon writes, "So here I was with things I could be doing, and am solving an online computer crossword puzzle instead. The clue was a phrase and the rest of the sentence was supposed to be finished further down. The first part of the sentence read: A leader who has no the next word on the following line was: dory, so my mind being what it is, I created a whole new sentence. It read: A leader who has no dory, isn't fishing for your vote. "So I thought if you can create a sentence that way, what would happen if you picked a word randomly out of a dictionary. To test this, I did a random pick and came up with the word pericardium. So of course I created the sentence: A leader with no pericardium is pretty heartless." Try it next time you find yourself getting agitated about the time you're wasting ... it certainly beats fuming over delays. Far better to send your little grey cells into a spin than your blood pressure! A Little Something Extra For the past few weeks, I've been featuring books to help you with your freelance writing career, and this week I have a great resource for you. It's a book of actual query letters that real, live writers have used to jag themselves good paying writing assignments - in fact, every letter has resulted in a job that earned $2,000 or more. It's called, funnily enough, Query Letters That Worked and it's by Angela Hoy, publisher of WritersWeekly.com. Each of the letters includes a short bio of the writer and an analysis of the query - so you can see for yourself why each one worked. Once you know how it's done, it's a straightforward matter to write a query that indicates to busy editors that you are one of those most desirable of creatures - a writer who can make their lives easier. You'll see how to write the all-important hook that ensures your query is at least read; you'll discover how to link your article to timely topics and how to show that you are the perfect person to write this article. The best way to learn is to learn from successful people - whatever the field, and it's interesting to note the common elements in these queries. All advise (strongly) that you study the particular magazine or paper carefully before sending anything. Nothing screams "amateur" as much as a writer who zips off a query for a 2,000 word feature on Extreme Aerobics to a magazine that targets the over-65s. (Now don't yell at me because you're over 65 and regularly engage in extreme aerobics ... you get the point I'm trying to make.) You don't have to spend a fortune on magazines either; a few hours spent in your local library perusing a couple of issues of your target publication will give you the information you need. One useful tip is to study the ads as well as the articles, since this indicates the market of that particular publication. Why not take advantage of the squillions of research dollars the ad-men have spent? As well as the query letters, the book also includes some general pitch letters that brought in big bikkies (up to $30,000). Then there are chapters on how to query by phone, your rights as a freelancer and Angela's secret tips for finding steady freelance work (and no, I can't tell you ... it's a secret!) Read more about Angela's book and get your own copy here: http://www.write101.com/goodbooksfreelance.htm Word of the week: Fibonacci numbers - a sequence of numbers where each number is the sum of the previous two numbers i.e. you start with two ones, and then produce the next Fibonacci number by adding the two previous Fibonacci numbers, like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657... Hours of fun for the whole family! Leonardo Pisano, given the nickname Fibonacci posthumously, was an Italian mathematician who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. If you received this newsletter from
a friend and you'd like to have your very own copy delivered to you on Friday,
just click here: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
and why not spread the word? Send your friends a
copy and invite them to join our merry band - we number over 8,500 now. Ask a question about grammar, punctuation or any other language matter; suggest an answer or post a comment on the all-NEW, all-electric, all tap-dancing forum: http://forum.write101.com This week's Latin phrase applies to me when it comes to anything to do with maths... Pons Asinorum (The Bridge of Fools i.e. anything that divides the capable from the incapable ... like a geometry question, physics equation, algebra ...) [POHNZ ah-see-NOH-room] And this next note will tell you why my subconscious so often forgets to include the pronunciation guide for our Latin phrases: "Regarding the pronunciation of "Cartago delenda est"...we can let you sneak by with day-LAYN-dah instead of the arguably more correct day-LEN-dah, but kar-TAY-goh delenda est (kar-TAY-goh must be destroyed). It's kar-TAH-goh." (Ed Micca Bayport, NY, USA)Ed tells me he learnt Latin in the days when altar boys got their knuckles wrapped (literally) if they put the wrong ending on their nouns ... so I'm pleased to have found someone who can keep me honest! Regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how: 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 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 4. Send a cheque (made payable to Jennifer Stewart): http://www.write101.com/fund.htm 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.
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