Month: October 2017

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” […]