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Last week, we took a look at the effects of long words and complicated language, and how they can actually limit your writing rather than enhance it. In slight defiance of our own advice, this week we’re going to look at the longest words in our language (according to

When writers are trying to impress, a tendency they often have is to use long and obscure words. You might see penmen trying to dazzle readers with words like ‘crepuscular’, ‘pulchritudinous’, ‘quaquaversal’, ‘verisimilitude’ and ‘iconoclastic’. This is all well and good and there’s certainly a place for grandiose language, but are you confusing your writers […]

Today is Friday the 13th, a day connected with horror, fear and misfortune, and nothing sends a shiver down a writer or grammarian’s spine like bad spelling. Tools like autocorrect have made the gift of learning how to spell less valuable, and spelling errors harder to make, but they remain common in online forums, chat […]

With autumn now well in motion, it’s a beautiful time of year to head outside with your four-legged friend to take in the brisk air, dim evenings and scattered, brown leaves. However, many dog owners have reservations, with two common seasonal sights being a particular concern. Start a Google search with the words “are conkers” […]

For as long as the exam process has existed, people have always tried to find ways to give themselves the upper hand by not exactly following the concept of ‘exam conditions’. Loopholes in the rules are exploited just as much in real life as in the exam room. You might remember the case of the

Where would we be without the ability to ask questions? Whether rhetorical (like that one) or specific requests for information or responses, we would be a very boring and ignorant species if we never questioned anything. When talking, we can use intonation to make it clear that what we’re saying is a question. In writing, […]

Dog owners know that their pets are fantastic, but as humans, we often forget that even though we are the most developed of all creatures, there are plenty of things we can’t do as well as other animals. Here are just four areas where dogs leave us completely barking up the wrong

The thought of exams probably reminds you of commonly uttered phrases like “turn over your paper”, “pens down” and “neat crossing out”, but in an era where we use computers and digital devices every day, why are we still taking pen and paper exams? Currently, the University of Cambridge is considering making a move from […]

For whatever reason, the spelling bee has never quite taken off on these shores. While Americans seem to lap it up, precocious children spelling obscure words out loud is something that doesn’t seem to appeal to British audiences. Those who have never watched a spelling bee may not realise that competitors are not simply given […]

Speaking to your dog is natural – any owner will tell you that unloading the grumbles of the day onto a pair of furry ears can help – but one expert thinks that talking too much can ruin his training program. Glenn Redmond, a dog trainer, has said that many owners are the source of […]

The internet is littered with statistics on the cost of acquiring new customers and clients as opposed to retaining existing ones, with some sources claiming the former can cost up to 25 times more than the latter. The exact figure is clearly debatable and may even vary from one sector to the next, but there’s […]

Words that are pronounced the same way but have different meanings are known as ‘homophones’. Often, as well as sounding the same, they are

Writing can be a lot like building a house or cooking a meal. Once you’re some way into the task, it’s not too difficult to add to it, but it can be hard to get going if there’s literally nothing in front of you. ‘Blank page syndrome’ is the name given for the struggle many […]

As most of us now have an electronic notepad in our pockets, it means we can write while we travel on a train, wait for a bus or sit in a waiting room at the dentist, allowing us to use time that would otherwise have been wasted in a productive way. It’s not exactly a […]