One of the most common culprits of wordiness is redundant phrases. Noticing and eliminating redundancy is one of the easiest ways to chop your final word count. Here are 17 common examples of redundant phrases and their chopped versions.
Category: Writing
Should of vs. Should’ve
If there is one thing in the last several years that has proven to me that people would rather type phonetically rather than use a dictionary, it’s Facebook. One of the most common phonetic spellings I’ve seen is the phrase “should of”. Or, for that matter, “could of”, “would of”, etc.
Difference between bemused and amused
Every once in a while, I come across someone using a word in a way that makes me think they think it means something else. One of those words is “bemused”.
Why we use eleven and twelve instead of oneteen and twoteen
Earlier this week, one of my children asked me why eleven and twelve aren’t “oneteen” and “twoteen”, so I thought that would make an interesting blog topic today.
4 tips for properly using “not only . . . but also”
Something many writers trip up on is properly using correlative conjunctions. A correlative conjunction links elements like words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. Some well-known examples are either…or, neither…nor, but…and, and, of course, not only…but also. Of the bunch, “not only…but also” is probably the hardest to master. Here are 4 tips to help you… Continue reading 4 tips for properly using “not only . . . but also”
Is funner a real word?
Grammar purists will insist that the comparative form of fun is more fun. That’s because for centuries, fun was used as a noun (or a verb), and nouns never take an -er ending. The use of fun as an adjective appeared in the early 20th century, and funner, according to Google, didn’t appear until the mid-20th century, but even then… Continue reading Is funner a real word?
6 headline tips for getting more clicks
One area that new bloggers struggle with is writing compelling headlines. I’ve been blogging for 12 years now, and along the way, I’ve learned a few tricks to increase visitors to my blog posts. Here are my 6 headline tips for getting more clicks.
Hot Pepper Hot Picks: 2 January 2015
Here are the 20 most popular social media and writing articles I shared this week that people liked the most. There’s a Word for That: 25 Expressions You Should Have in Your Vocabulary Marketing Automation – It’s Not All Evil! How to chop your word count like a lumberjack 6 Ideas to Help You Manage… Continue reading Hot Pepper Hot Picks: 2 January 2015
How to type special characters on your Chromebook
I recently purchased a Chromebook, and one of the first things I realized once I started it up was that I had no idea how to type special characters with it. I did a bit of research, and I discovered that the trick is using the Unicode for each character. Just type Ctrl+Shift+u at the… Continue reading How to type special characters on your Chromebook
More than me vs. more than I
I heard our 13-year-old son say something today that ended with the phrase “than me” (as in, he is taller than me or she is smarter than me). It reminded me of a debate that I thought I’d touch on briefly today. Grammarians have been arguing for years on whether “than” always operates as a… Continue reading More than me vs. more than I