Every elementary school student is taught never to start a sentence with but. But why? Teachers of young students often warn against beginning with but or and simply as a way of avoiding a verbal crutch. All mature writers develop an instinct for...
Ever thought about getting that novel published? Apparently, others have too, and some of their queries are less than persuasive for the admittedly grumpy literary agent who writes the blog SlushPile Hell. He posts some of the more colorful queries...
Text-messaging is destroying our kids’ ability to write, right? Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Texting and Writing Ability” You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m...
If you’re having a conversation with someone, are you speaking with them, speaking to them, talking to them, or talking with them? A caller wonders what differences, if any, exist among all those expressions. This is part of a complete episode...
gorno n.— «Dubbed gore pornography, or gorno for short, this sickening new sub-genre depicts torture, suffering and drawn-out death that tests the staying power of audiences as much as the victims. Sex has nothing to do with it, but, like...
raincoat crowd n. an audience (of a film) mainly interested in prurient content. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)