by Jamie Chavez | Sep 24, 2016 | Words & Language
I use my Merriam-Webster online dictionary every day, and sometimes I find interesting articles or interesting people wiriting them. In this case, both. In an article called “An Oxford-Educated Southerner in Berlin,” I was delighted to read about a journalist who has...
by Jamie Chavez | Sep 19, 2016 | Words & Language
We’ve talked a lot here about how the language we use—the words, the grammar—is a constantly evolving, living, almost breathing thing. (And still, still we want to stop that process! Human nature, I guess.) I’ve written about it in various ways, from...
by Jamie Chavez | Sep 5, 2016 | Words & Language
Here’s a word that gets misused a lot, at least in the manuscripts I’ve seen in recent years. (And not just misused—overused.) Smirk. It can be a noun or a verb. But no matter how it gets used, I think some writers are missing the fine nuances in smirk, the subtleties...
by Jamie Chavez | Jun 27, 2016 | Words & Language
I love my subscription to Southern Living. It’s full of the things that interest me: good food, gardening, travel, history … and it’s just the right mix. But I was a little surprised the other morning when I got to Rick Bragg’s piece—always on the last page—about Pat...
by Jamie Chavez | Oct 25, 2015 | Your Editor Says …
Not long ago I wrote a (pedantic) post about two common usage errors that often come up when I am editing. One of them is the phrase begs the question. And yes, the actual meaning is difficult to grasp; I confess I have to sit very still and concentrate very hard. 🙂...
