Tabs on Writing

The best news about Cyber Monday, that on-line, holiday shopping escapade: no crowds with which to battle. Last Friday (if you dare went) saw not only 8.7% higher traffic than the previous year as the shoppers rushed home with their presents, but, also, you had to contend with the maddening crowd. That is, the shoppers’ frenzy was [...]

It has become an iconic phrase in American culture, thanks to the Wheel of Fortune TV show: “I’d like to buy a vowel.” While the technical definition (according to Merriam-Webster) may be ”one of a class of speech sounds in the articulation of which the oral part of the breath channel is not blocked and is [...]

Use of the wrong word at the wrong time: a “malapropism.” Often the result may be somewhat humorous. It happens to the best of us, and in this case, the “best” is the Wall St. Journal. Today in an editorial page article discussing the General Motors initial public offering (IPO), the writer stated that “an $18 billion IPO [...]

My eyes practically popped out this morning reading a local newspaper. It seems that Prince William has proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Kate Middleton. The headline screamed out this terrible faux pas: Prince William, Fiancé Announce Their Engagement.” I don’t think that Miss Middleton would like to called “a man engaged to be married.” Rather, she [...]

One day a while ago I surprised a few of my Jewish friends by meeting them unannounced at a local nosh shop for bagels after their morning minyan. They explained that such a service requires a min-imum of 10 adults, and that the word originates from the Hebrew word meaning ”to count.” By no means, however, could any one [...]

Let’s take a peek at what happened on this day in history, November 15, 1806. Although Zebulon Pike never quite ever made it to the top of what had been called Mt. El Capitan due to chest high snow drifts a week or so later, this is the day he first spotted the peak. So, he gets credited for [...]

In today’s Wall Street Journal MetLife announced that it was no longer going to offer to insure people for long-term care due to financial losses on the product and volatile future risks. Management at MetLife and other companies who have dropped this policy assure their clients who currently have coverage that it will continue as long as [...]

As a veteran myself, on this Veterans Day, I want to take a moment to recognize and thank all past veterans, living and deceased, and all current soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors who put their lives on the line for the country they love. God bless you all for what you to protect and serve [...]

Have you noticed the latest American Express ads where they reference prix fixe dinners? Let me preface my further comments by adding that, while the preferred French pronunciation for “the set price for a complete meal” is ˈprē-ˈfēks, an alternative, English one is also available: ˈprē-ˈfiks. We already have that same articulation and intonation in the word prefix, “a [...]

Whoever coined this phrase , (there are attributions to the Greeks, Shakespeare, Ben Franklin and others) each to his or her own way, penned and expressed as many beautiful variations of these words themselves. Aesthetic is an adjective that means pertaining to a sense or love of beauty. While not pronounced exactly the same, but closely enough, an ascetic [...]