Word of the Every So Often

pithy:  (adj.)  brief, forceful, and terse; generally not a compliment.  We tired in a hurry of her pithy sayings.

Quick Rule:  Quotation Marks and Punctuation

The period and the comma will ALWAYS – always always always – go inside of the quotes.  Exclamation points almost always (but then, you shouldn’t be using exclamation points in formal writing).  Question marks… that’s a longer lesson.

Just a Thought…

Religion is a bit like vegetables.  Which one you like the best is truly a matter of opinion, and try as you might, you can’t prove an opinion.  So why even try?  

Word of the Every So Often

parse:  (verb)  to break something down into smaller parts; usually dealing with sentences, but who says we have to stop there?  We tried to parse meaning out of the politician’s speech, but quickly found that his pithy sayings really meant nothing.

Quick Rule:  Writing Numbers

If less then ten, spell them out. 

Word of the Every So Often

unctuous:  (adj.)  someone who is excessively or ingratiatingly flattering .  Bob, the office brown-noser, was unctuously chatting with the boss… again.

Quick Rule:  Clichés

There are tons of you out there who are using clichés, such as “tons” and “out there.”  Aside from being hyperbole (a gross over-exaggeration), “tons” (either metric of US) implies that you have measured something.  As such, where’s your documentation?  And “out there”?  Where, exactly, is “out there”?  Is there an “in here”?  Is my “in here” a part of your “out there”?  Because my “out there” is pretty much everything that happens outside my head, which means that “out there” is everything.  Pretty pointless to state it, I would say.  What it comes down to is that you are using trite phrases without even thinking about what you’re saying, which is the antithesis of writing. 

Bottom line:  At all costs, avoid them like the plague.

Word of the Every So Often

smarmy:  (adj.)  You know those people you meet and there’s just something about them?  You know how they look at your boobs just a bit too much, or seem just a bit too interested in your 13 year old daughter, or there’s just something about them that makes you wish they would go away and never come back?  Yeah, that’s smarmy.  Eddie Haskell acted smarmy around adults, but Mrs. Cleaver was on to him.

Quick Rule:  Rhetorical Questions

These are questions asked for no reason whatsoever.  Really, stop using them.  They get tiresome in a hurry and just end up sounding like you really don’t know, which, truly, you don’t.  But if you really like them, then here’s your limit:  One per paper.  Use it well.

Trivia! 

Sequoia, as far as I know, is the only word in the English language that uses all seven vowels -- and each only once.