Recently, I happened upon a newspaper that had somehow managed to avoid the recycling bin for more than 80 years. The paper itself had taken on the colour of lightly-brewed tea, and some of the pages were a bit frayed … Continue reading
More than 200 years ago, Samuel Johnson cautioned his fellow journalists ‘Do not accustom yourself to use big words for small matters’. Oh that some of today’s scribblers would heed your advice, Sam. Over the past few days, I have … Continue reading
Dining recently in a restaurant where 95 percent of the menu was in English, I couldn’t help noticing that one of the main course dishes was described as ‘Seared scallops with boudin noir’. I wondered if the chef had found … Continue reading
‘True ease in writing comes from art, not chance/ As those move easiest who have learned to dance.’ – Alexander Pope
Beauty, so the saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder. And my eye certainly beholds some words to be more beautiful than others. Beautiful is, itself, a beautiful word. So too is umbriferous (providing shade). And when a … Continue reading
The apartment building in which I live is about to have some maintenance work done. A couple of days ago, the company we have employed to do the work sent a note out to all residents. It’s just a short … Continue reading
‘What is written without effort is, in general, read without pleasure.’ – Samuel Johnson
Confusing statistics are up 18.7 percent on the same period a year ago. At least that’s how it looks to me. As I flick through a selection of the online newspapers that accompany my early morning cup of coffee, I … Continue reading
What is it with headline writers and the phrase ‘set to’? Is there something in their contracts that says they must use the two-word phrase on every possible occasion? If you Google ‘set to’ you are likely to find that … Continue reading