Editor Urgently Needed
27 Nov 2012
These bloopers need no introduction. I'll let the headlines speak for themselves. ...
Grammar tips
Lindsay Johns: Ghetto grammar robs the young of a proper voice
02 Sep 2011
I was writing about teen slang the other week. You may recall there was a quiz. Now, I love slang. And teenagers in particular love slang. But I have to admit there's a time and a place. And what's worrying is there seems to be a whole generation of kids who don't know when to drop the innits. Because no-one's...
‘I’ll bare that in mind’. Or will I? Is it bare or bear?
08 Dec 2010
There are some words which get even the most competent writers in a twist. I always struggle to spell the town Grimsby (luckily it’s not a word I have to type often). And I have to really think about the homonyms bear and bare. Is it ‘bare that in mind’ or ‘bear that in mind’? So this post is for me...
Portmanteaus. What are they? And where can I buy one?
05 Nov 2010
I was at a networking meeting the other day when someone declared that blog posts should always be infotaining. i.e. informative and entertaining. Well, quite. It got me thinking about portmanteaus: those words that are a blend of two other words. Or to be more precise they’re the beginning of one word joined to the end of another. Some are rotten. Like...
They think it’s all over…and other football clichés we love
29 Jun 2010
Well that’s that then. The fat lady is singing and we’re all as sick as a parrot. Following England’s early bath we’ve started the post mortem and the clichés have been spewing out quicker than Lionel Messi on speed. ‘We’re failing at grass roots level’. ‘We need to have a roots and branch investigation.’ ‘England needs an English manager.’ What is it...
Capital Punishment: When to use (and not use) capital letters
28 Jun 2010
The other day I asked my nephew what the capital of France is. He replied ‘F’. Yep, most of us know that capital letters are used for proper nouns and at the beginning of a sentence. But take a quick look at the intertubes and you’ll discover that the misuse of capital letters is now reaching epidemic proportions. So here’s a handy...
Where do commas go in a list of adjectives?
28 Apr 2010
A comma should be used to separate two or more co-ordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Or to put it more simply, if you’re using two similar words to describe a thing, person, place, animal or idea you should use a comma to separate them. She worked in a happy, relaxed office. He pointed to the big, tall guy in the gym. Her boss...
Your dirty laundry is coming home to roost. And other metaphors, similes, idioms and clichés we love
19 Feb 2010
I was thinking about metaphors on the journey into work this morning. And that’s because practically every single segment on the radio used a metaphor at some point. Metaphors make a comparison between two things that are basically different but have something in common. So Arsene Wenger was boiling mad over Porto’s dodgy goal Bankers’ bonuses are difficult to swallow The ball rocketed into...
A sign of the times? Bloopers from around the UK
10 Feb 2010
Friend and SEO colleague, Rob Dobson, emailed me this pic this afternoon from the Fulham Road, London. Hmmm…nice shop. Poor sign. But La Maison is in good (bad?) company. Take a look at these corkers that have been sent to the MSN News site recently. Do not cling? Do not climb? Or what the heck. Let's have both. Yeah, help us reduce crime against...
Need any stationary?
02 Feb 2010
I spotted this on the Holloway Road this week. Well we have just had a recession. So I guess some businesses may be stationary. But I don’t suppose this is what they are talking about. Come on people. This is a schoolboy error. The easiest way to remember the difference: stationers (with an E) sell stationery (also with an E). ...