Category: Writing

Double negatives: when to use them and when to abhor them

I can’t believe I haven’t written an article on double negatives yet! Double negatives are basically two negative words used to present a single negative meaning. A famous example are two lines from Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall:

Faulty parallelism: what it is and how to fix it

One of the most common grammatical errors I see on the web is faulty parallelism. I assume most writers are not even aware of the error. Faulty parallelism exists when two potentially related actions differ in structure. Let me illustrate.

Dictionaries don’t decide what words mean

You’ve probably heard by now that several dictionaries recently altered the entry for “literally” to include a definition that basically means the opposite of literally, that it can be used to described things that aren’t actually literal. I noticed in some of the responses to these events that people are quite irate that dictionaries have redefined… Continue reading Dictionaries don’t decide what words mean

Why I use the Oxford comma

The Oxford comma (also known as the serial comma) is a comma used before “and” at the end of a list. It’s named after Oxford University Press, which popularized its usage as a way to clarify the meaning of some sentences.

How to use 3 keyboard keys you’ve never used

There’s probably a good chance you know most of the punctuation symbols on your keyboard, but there’s an even better chance there are three you don’t know. In fact, you might not even know their names, let alone how to use them. Well, I’m going to explain what they are and how to use them.

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