Bigwords101 Blog
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Grammar, punctuation, common issues, grammar workshops, classes, presentations, and word usage. It is all here in this blog by The Grammar Diva - Arlene Miller.
Bigwords101 Blog
6d ago
Image by G.C. from Pixabay
I had never heard of kangaroo words until recently, when a friend posted about them on social media. And they have nothing to do with Australia!
A kangaroo word carries within its spelling its own synonym, with the letters in the correct order, although not necessarily right in a row. For example: regulate and rule or encourage and urge. They are difficult to think of, but more common than you might think.
They are called kangaroo words because they carry their smaller selves with them, as a kangaroo carries its joey, or baby, in its pouch. They are also called ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
1w ago
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Ever think about how many idioms come from articles of clothing? Probably not, but you have likely used many of them.
At the drop of a hat – without delay or good reason
Feather in one’s cap – something someone can be proud of
That’s old hat – old fashioned; outdated
Take your hat off to someone – praise them for something
Put on your thinking cap – think seriously about something; use your brain
Hot under the collar – angry
Give someone the shirt off your back – give someone anything they need
Off the cuff – without preparation
Wear one’s heart on one ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
2w ago
Image by Pexels from Pixabay
I have. And I have finally started to read two books (or even more) at a time. I never used to be able to handle reading more than one book at a time, since I can barely remember a book right after I have read it, or even in the middle when I come back to it. To be fair, I read only one novel at a time, so I read one novel and one nonfiction. And most of my nonfiction lately has been a little out there. Due to what is going on in my life, I have been reading a lot of books about intention, manifestation, and the law of attraction — but also because the topic ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
3w ago
Image by philm1310 from Pixabay
Well, I already got the “myself”-used-everywhere-incorrectly off my chest a few weeks ago…and the drug used-as-a-past- tense of drag. But there are more.
Less and fewer is still an issue, even with the people who get paid to talk on television, but sometimes they get it right. Even the express lanes in the grocery store are beginning to get it right.
But…..what’s with have went? I hear it everywhere — from friends to, once again, people who get paid to talk on television. I have went, I should have went.…NO please stop! Go is one of those irregular verbs that ha ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
1M ago
Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay
There is a phobia for just about everything. Here are some that might help out your diet!
Acerophobia- Fear of sourness – no Sour Patch Kids for you!
Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens – I don’t know if this includes after they are cooked!
Alliumphobia- Fear of garlic
Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth – Eat with caution!
Carnophobia- Fear of meat
Cibophobia- Fear of food – That’s a tough one!
Consecotaleophobia- Fear of chopsticks – You can also use a fork.
Deipnophobia- Fear of dining or dinner conversations
Dipsophobi ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
1M ago
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
I still hear it everywhere, and I am sure you do too. Confusing I and me — still! It is mostly the I used instead of me that really gets me going. I am so used to people using me for a subject by now that it doesn’t have the impact it used to: “Me and Jimmy are going to the bar.” You wanna say it like that? Fine. Not my business. Well, actually it is my business…
But using I when it should be me because you think you sound so erudite — NO!
1 Between you and I, I think they will break up.
2 He split the pizza with her and I.
3 She gave ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
2M ago
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
“Rachel and myself agree on this topic.”
“I remember myself taking the stage.”
“The conference speakers will be Joe and myself.”
“Myself and my whole family are taking the cruise.”
STOP! DON’T! ICK! WRONG!
I hear myself used incorrectly everywhere, mostly on television by people whose job it is to speak. Myself is a pronoun. However, it is an unusual pronoun because it is not a subject, and it is not generally a direct object. Actually, the second example above is probably okay, but it sounds weird to me. It is a direct quote I heard. You could le ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
2M ago
Image by Mike from Pixabay
This past week, I twice heard drug used as the past tense of drag by those who should know better – a TV host and a politician. (Yeah, I know, but we should have well-spoken politicians!) The exact words in one of these cases: “My mother drug me around the store.”
Drag is a verb, and the past tense is dragged. It is a regular old verb that adds -ed to make it a past tense — although some people in some regions still use drug.
Drug can be its own present tense verb. You can drug someone, in which case the past tense is drugged. Another regular verb t ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
2M ago
Image by Esa Riutta from Pixabay
Since yesterday (February 9) was the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, it seems appropriate to talk about song lyrics today.
The word mondegreen, meaning a mishearing of a popular phrase or song lyric, was coined by the writer Sylvia Wright.
As a child, she heard the Scottish ballad The Bonny Earl of Murray and though that one verse went like this:
Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
Oh where hae you been?
They hae slay the Earl of Murray,
And Lady Mondegreen.
Poor Lady Mondegreen, thought Sylvia Wright. Years later, she ..read more
Bigwords101 Blog
2M ago
Image by ha11ok from Pixabay Nah! Spoonerisms have nothing to do with knorks and fives — or forks and knives.
A spoonerism is a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, for example, ” You have hissed the mystery lesson,” accidentally said instead of what was intended: “You have missed the history lesson.”
Here are a few more:
Bunny phone instead of funny bone
Belly jeans instead of jelly beans
It is kisstomery to cuss the bride
bad salad instead of sad ba ..read more