Grammar Police Undercover: Pet Peeves At The Donut Shop

I’ve admitted it before: I love words, and, conversely, it causes me physical discomfort (and even agitation) when simple grammatical phrases are misused, abused, and generally disrespected by the very professionals who are (ostensibly) supposed to treat them kindly. One of the more popular commercials that aired for the Super Bowl this year was notable […]

 

Adverbs and Adjectives are NOT Your Friends

Okay, maybe they are friends, but let’s agree to classify them as the kind of friends you invite to your house and after a half-hour spend the rest of the night hatching different plans to get them to leave. Seriously. Too many writers, particularly when starting out, think that the more they sprinkle their prose […]

 

Thank You. It’s Not Just For Breakfast Anymore.

Have you thanked a soldier lately? Yes? Yeah, most of us have fallen into an appropriate habit of doing that (whereas we should have been doing it all along). I thanked a Sheriff’s Deputy the other day for his service. I realized as I was talking to him (after having called the police for the […]

 

The Power Of (The “N”) Word(s)

My wife and I were recently watching Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Whether or not you are a huge sports fan, it is a tremendous show because of the serious world issues, questions, etc. it addresses, albeit from a sporting angle. One of the stories had to do with the fairly recent usage, umbrage, and […]

 

Come On Over And Conversate A Little

I read a very interesting post yesterday (“interesting” being defined as “for anyone with enough of a geek/time combination to find a full-length blog on word meanings an enjoyable way to spend a few minutes. It’s called 10 Words That You’ve Probably Been Misusing and it was written by Tyler Vendetti. Now before I get […]

 

Pawn Stars. You Could Learn A Thing Or Two.

When I write fiction, I do a lot of research (even if it’s comparatively easy these days), because I want the things I write about (guns, wars, lingo, cop procedure, CSI, etc.) to be as authentic and accurate as possible. I think readers appreciate authenticity, even when they read fiction. Here’s the rule I follow: […]

 

Word Usage. What a Hoot!

On July 9, 2013, in Drug Humor, Family, GEORGE CARLIN, Humor, Just for Fun, Marijuana Humor, Parody, Words, by rsguthrie

I was lying in my bed a few minutes ago (it’s three A.M. here in the U.S. Mountain Daylight time zone)—that reminds me of an old George Carlin sketch from his first album The 11 O’clock News, of the same title (as in when you call a song the “title song” when it’s the same […]