Every now and then I undertake a large proofreading job, such as a manual or an annual report. The most recent was a meaty 90,000-word operations manual. What I’ve noticed is that the same writing mistakes crop up time and…
Am I just becoming more pedantic as I get older? Or is there a general decline in grammar today? Either way, I’ve recently noticed a rise in basic grammatical mistakes, including the increasingly rampant comma splice. And it’s starting to bug me,…
Whilst proofreading several websites and documents recently, one of the common mistakes I came across involved conjunctions. Seeing as I haven’t written a grammar-related blog post for a while, I thought it would make a good topic for this week’s…
Thanks again, you’ve made a difficult process much easier and saved hours of my life from me deliberating over commas!
Steph Madden, Owner, Testing Times Maths
I’ve known Geraldine for years and she really knows her stuff. Have been using her for some new projects recently and as well as great copywriting, she’s extremely easy to work with.
Sara Carnduff, Marketing Manager, telent Technology Services
This is all really fantastic – thank you for this. The flow is really good and the tone is perfect for the client.
Emily Wassell, Content Marketing Manager, tmwi
You rock Hawkeye! Thanks so much xxx
Craig Spivey Creative
Geraldine is an exceptional proofreader with a keen eye for detail and provides clear constructive feedback for improvements.
Ravinder Sandhu, Events and Media Manager, STA
Geraldine has the ability to quickly grasp complex business knowledge and translate into content for engaging communications. It’s wonderful to have a professional copywriter that we can call on to provide clear concise material with a quick turnaround.
Sophie Gibson, Director of Marketing and Communications, HealthTrust Europe
The client was extremely pleased with the level of attention to detail and asked me to pass on their thanks to you.
Jen Candilio, Aura Creative
Geraldine had the flexibility to understand what we were trying to convey and find a way of doing so in a succinct, polished and effective way – a true wordsmith.
Sally Dhillon, Career-Mums
I’m really pleased with it; it barely needs me to do anything to it before I can send to the client for approval.
Bernadette Sixsmith, EduCare
You’ve done a great job, thank you. I’m not sure how you write about a 15mm straight coupling but you’ve managed it!
Matt PierceAPP Wholesale
Thank you so much, you’re so efficient! You’ll be pleased to know the client agreed with almost all of your comments, which is fabulous, and with turning it around so quickly helped to get it signed off ahead of deadline!
Ashley ColeAura Creative
Geraldine has an excellent delivery record in regularly producing copy for our web material. Her expertise in producing clear, concise copy from our not so detailed briefs ensures we maintain excellent results from our website.
Clare PuplettTelstra International
We’ve worked with Geraldine for many years now. Not only is her manner professional and hard working, she always produces work to high standards and to set deadlines.
Martha WoodFA Simms & Partners
I just wanted to personally thank you for your work on our content project, you’ve done a fantastic job, and I’m really pleased with the end result. I’ll be sure to use you again in the future.
Jodie FoxCalor
Hi Geraldine, I love it! It’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
Adrian LloydBroad Lane Leisure
It’s great to be presenting work which gets signed off straight away and I definitely would not have been able to do that without your work.
Christa NortonBes Marketing
Geraldine – it is official, you are amazing! Those tweets look fantastic and are exactly what I was hoping for – so a huge thank you for doing that for me!
Kimberley HornbyWhitefoot-Forward PR
Geraldine is one of the few copywriters I’ve ever come across who actually ‘gets’ her trade, resulting in copy that not only connects superbly with the audience but is of high quality – meaning few changes or amends, if any at all.
Like many of you, the recent spate of spring sunshine has enticed me out into the garden to do some much-needed tidying and cutting back in the borders. While snipping away with my secateurs, it occurred to me that copy-editing…
Most people are familiar with acronyms, homonyms, pseudonyms and synonyms. But there are several other words with the suffix –onym that I’ve only recently discovered. As a linguist and bit of a word nerd, my natural instinct is to investigate further…
After visiting two delightful gardens last weekend – one belonging to the National Trust and a private one open under the National Gardens Scheme – I was inspired to research gardening idioms for this week’s post. As with most idiomatic…
After visiting two delightful gardens last weekend – one belonging to the National Trust and a private one open under the National Gardens Scheme – I was inspired to research gardening idioms for this week’s post.
As with most idiomatic phrases in English, few gardening idioms have anything to do with things that grow in the garden or gardening activities per se.
But whether you’re a keen gardener or prefer to relax with a glass in hand admiring other people’s handiwork, hopefully you’ll discover one or two interesting new sayings amongst this bumper collection.
Blooming marvellous
A bed of roses = a situation or activity that’s comfortable or easy (often used negatively)
A late bloomer = someone who only achieves success later in life
A rose amongst thorns = someone/something nice between two not-so-pleasant people/things
A shrinking violet = a timid or shy person
A thorn in the flesh/side = a person or thing causing persistent irritation
A wallflower = an introvert who prefers to remain at the edge of social events
As busy as a bee = very busy, industrious
As fresh as a daisy = lively and attractive
Everything in the garden is rosy = there are no problems in a situation (often used in a negative context)
Flowery speech = full of lovely words but lacking in substance
The bloom is off the rose = something that’s no longer new, fresh or exciting
To come up smelling of roses = emerge from a difficult situation with one’s reputation intact
To gild the lily = decorate something that’s already ornate
To have a bee in one’s bonnet = be obsessively preoccupied with something
To nip in the bud = prevent a problem from growing worse by dealing with it an early stage
Money doesn’t grow on trees
An old chestnut = a joke, story or idea that’s become tedious because of constant repetition
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow = all big or great things start off small
To be unable to see the wood for the trees = unable to see the whole situation as focused on the details
To beat about/around the bush = go about something in a roundabout way; avoid coming to the point
To grow on trees = be plentiful or easily obtained (usually used negatively)
Touch wood (or knock on wood) = words spoken to avoid bad luck, usually accompanied by the speaker tapping on something wooden
Up a gum tree = stuck in a difficult or embarrassing situation
How does your garden grow?
Salad days = one’s days of youth and inexperience
Salt of the earth = someone who shows great kindness, reliability and honesty
Seed money = money used to start a small business
Small dog, tall weeds = someone who lacks the ability or resources necessary to perform a task
The grass is always greener(on the other side of the fence) = other people’s lives or situations always seem better than our own
To cherry-pick = choose only the best people or things in an unfair manner
To go to seed = stop caring about one’s health or appearance
To grasp the nettle = tackle a problem with bravery
To hear on/through the grapevine = acquire information via rumour
To let the grass grow under one’s feet = delay taking action
To put down roots = start to lead a settled life in a particular place
To reap what one sows = get what one deserves
To sow the seed(s) of = do something which will eventually bring about a particular result
Tools of the trade
A tough row to hoe = a difficult task to carry out
Green fingers/thumb = ability or knack for gardening
In spades = as much as or more than could be desired
To call a spade a spade = speak plainly or bluntly
To dig deep = draw on one’s physical, mental or financial resources
To dig oneself into a hole = make things worse for oneself
To give it some welly = exert more effort or strength
To have a dig at someone = say something indirectly to someone to annoy them
To kick the bucket = die
To lay it on with a trowel = flatter excessively; exaggerate grossly
Miscellaneous gardening idioms
Between you, me and the gatepost = indicates that a confidence is about to be shared
Common-or-garden = very ordinary
To lead up/down the garden path = deceive or mislead someone
To make a mountain out of a molehill = make a small problem seem much greater than it really is
To mend fences = reconcile conflicting views; restore a broken relationship
To shake like a leaf = tremble with fear or nervousness
To turn over a new leaf = make a fresh start; resolve to change one’s ways for the better
As with most of the other blog posts in this series, I learnt several new idioms while putting this one together – my favourite being: Small dog, tall weeds.
Were there any expressions that were new to you? Or any other gardening idioms you think should be included? Do please share below.
(images courtesy of Feelart, rakratchada torsap, adamr and Simon Howden via Freedigitalphotos.net)
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As a standalone word, a graph is a diagram showing the relation between variable quantities – usually measured along a pair of axes at right angles. In Linguistics, it refers to a visual symbol representing a unit of sound or other feature of speech.
But it also appears in a combined form as a root of many other words. Most of these appear in everyday English, while others are quite rare.
The origin is the Greek graphē meaning ‘writing, drawing’. It’s not surprising then that most of the words it appears in denote something written or drawn in a specific way, or an instrument that records.
So, off the top of your head, how many words can you think of with graph as their root?
The list below isn’t meant to be definitive, but it contains nearly 50…
Words with ‘graph’ as their root
autograph: a signature of a famous or admired person
dysgraphia: inability to write coherently or legibly
grapheme: the smallest meaningful contrastive unit in a writing system (as used in Linguistics)
graphic: of/relating to visual art; of/in the form of a graph; giving vividly explicit detail; a graphical item on a screen or stored as data
graphicacy: the ability to understand maps or graphs
graphics: the products of the graphic arts; the use of diagrams in calculation and design; visual images produced or manipulated by computer processing
graphite: a grey, crystalline form of carbon used as a solid lubricant, in pencils or in nuclear reactors
graphology: the study of handwriting, primarily to infer a person’s character
graphomania: a mania for writing
graphospasm: writer’s cramp, when composing the old-fashioned way with a pen or pencil
hypergraphia: an overwhelming desire to write (a genuine mental condition when used in its specific medical sense)
infographic: a visual representation of information or data, e.g. as a chart or diagram
lexicographer: a compiler or writer of a dictionary
monograph: a detailed written study of a single specialised subject or an aspect of it
photograph: a picture made using a camera
pictograph: a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase (the earliest known form of writing, with examples discovered in Egypt and Mesopotamia from before 3000 BC)
seismograph: an instrument that measures and records details of earthquakes
Words ending in ‘graphy’
And then there are all the words ending in –graphy, which fall into three main camps.
Some relate directly to writing, whether that’s the techniques used or the subject matter addressed. Others relate to the production of images, graphs or diagrams. Plus there are numerous variants meaning a descriptive science or study (far too many to include them all here).
autobiography: an account of one’s own life
bibliography: a list of sources referred to in a particular work
biography: an account of someone else’s life
blogography: the expression of self through writing in the blogosphere
cacography: bad handwriting or spelling
calligraphy: the art of decorative handwriting
cartography: the science of drawing maps or charts
chirography: handwriting; the art of fortune telling by examining the hand
cryptography: the art of writing or deciphering coded messages
epigraphy: the interpretation of ancient inscriptions
ethnography: the study of different peoples and cultures
fauxtography: misleading presentation of images for propagandistic or otherwise ulterior purposes (blend of faux and photography)
geography: the study of the earth’s physical features and their relation to human populations
hagiography: a biography idealising its subject
haplography: inadvertent omission of a letter or letters in writing, e.g. mispell for misspell
holography: the study or production of holograms
iconography: visual images and symbols used in a work of art
lithography: a printing process
orthography: the act or study of correct spelling
palaeography: the study of ancient writing
pasigraphy: a universal system of writing, using characters or numbers rather than words
pornography: writing and images designed to stimulate sexual excitement
psaligraphy: the art of cutting paper silhouettes
punctography: a system of writing using dots (as in Braille)
radiography: the production of images by X-rays, etc
scoteinography: illegible handwriting
steganography: hiding a message so that only the sender and receiver know of its existence, e.g. using invisible ink
stenography: writing and transcribing shorthand
tachygraphy: shorthand, especially of ancient or medieval scribes
tomography: a technique for producing a cross-section image of the body
topography: the arrangement of physical features of an area
typography: the process of setting type; the style of printed matter
Bonus fact
The word graffiti comes from the Italian graffio, ‘a scratch’. This also gives us sgrafitto – a pottery decorating technique produced by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting colour.
Hopefully you’ve discovered a few new interesting words with ‘graph’ as their root in amongst this lot. Any major ones I’ve missed?
After visiting two delightful gardens last weekend – one belonging to the National Trust and a private one open under the National Gardens Scheme – I was inspired to research gardening idioms for this week’s post.
Everything in the garden is rosy = there are no problems in a situation (often used in a negative context)
Salad days = one’s days of youth and inexperience
To dig oneself into a hole = make things worse for oneself
As a standalone word, a graph is a diagram showing the relation between variable quantities – usually measured along a pair of axes at right angles. In Linguistics, it refers to a visual symbol representing a unit of sound or other feature of speech.