On the eve of Wimbledon – my favourite sporting event of the year – it seems fitting to write a blog about tennis. Like any sport, tennis has its own lingo but rather than focus on the common terminology, I thought I’d dig around a bit to find some of the lesser-known terms associated with the […]
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… As writers we’re often encouraged to keep things short and to the point. After all, […]
Home › Posts tagged celebrities I’ve blogged on the subject of names a few times. But thus far I’ve neglected to cover the singular most important one to me: my own. So this post aims to put that right. Even if it is a little indulgent. In… Have you ever met someone whose surname was a perfect […]
Like many others, I turned to various creative pursuits for a welcome distraction during lockdown. One of these was rediscovering a favourite childhood pastime: jigsaws. Not only has this helped take my mind off other things these past few months, but you could even say I’ve become a bit of a jigsaw addict. More than […]
Hot on the tails of my recent post on idioms about mums for Mother’s Day, this week’s blog takes a look at popular phrases and sayings related to Easter. Not surprisingly, most Easter idioms in English are associated with rabbits, chickens, eggs and…
As seems customary at this time of year, I’m taking the easy option this week and doing a blog review to see what worked and what didn’t. But instead of having to trawl through my blog’s stats for 2015, the kind people… As yet another year draws to a close, it seems to be customary for bloggers […]
Since writing my previous blog post containing 20 titbits of word trivia I’ve been on the hunt for more weird and wonderful word facts to share with you. All of these facts are about words in the English language, so… Posted in Language, Lists Tagged with: facts, words Today is International Left-Handers Day, which was […]
Like the majority of people, I take reading and writing for granted – whether that’s jotting down a shopping list, filling out a form, sending a text, browsing the newspaper or surfing online. Yet 1 in 5 adults don’t enjoy…
Home › Posts tagged clauses 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 […]
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 […]
Home › Posts tagged gardening 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 […]
Home › Posts tagged blog Go on any marketing for small businesses course and you’ll no doubt be told that building up an email list is an essential step to growing your business. So why have I recently deleted my blog subscribers from my website… One of the questions I’m often asked when I tell […]
I’ve recently noticed a growing trend of people misusing – or, to be precise, failing to use – apostrophes in expressions of time. It seems to be fairly widespread, ranging from emails and newsletter content to blog posts and social… Introducing the first in a new series of mini blog posts about common writing mistakes. […]
The English language is positively brimming with acronyms, such as ASAP, B2B, FAQ and TLC. And OMG, don’t even get me started on text speak, like BRB, LOL, ROFL et al! But did you know that what many people refer… Following hot on the heels of National Freelancers’ Day here in the UK, this week’s post aims […]