Than or then? These two words might look – and even sound – quite similar, but every day I see people mix them up. Not only is this a grammatical howler, but it can also give a totally different meaning to their sentence. In the heading, the first option implies that you’d prefer to read the book instead […]
So – deep breath – this is it! After blogging for several clients over the past year or so, and reading A LOT of blogs by other copywriters and experienced bloggers, it’s time to dive in and start my own… And what better time to launch my new blog than with the relaunch of my website? However, […]
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…
As yet another year draws to a close, it seems to be customary for bloggers to take a moment to reflect on their blog’s performance during the previous 12 months. This not only provides the opportunity to highlight some of their… Posted in Blogging, Lists Tagged with: blog, posts, roundup
In most industry sectors, employees get sent on various training courses as part of their continuing professional development (CPD). Whether run internally or by external providers, these courses all share something in common. They’re designed to: Enhance your knowledge Help…
Inspired by the OVO Energy Tour of Britain 2018 cycle race, which whizzed through leafy Warwickshire this week, I thought I’d check to see how many cycling phrases, idioms or other expressions I could find. Quite a few, as it…
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 Related Posted in Uncategorised
My recent adventure on the high seas (well, the North Sea to be precise) got me thinking about the numerous nautical idioms that permeate the English language. As an island nation, Britain has a rich maritime heritage. Our reliance on…
The inaugural Copy Cabana copywriting conference held yesterday at Silicon Beach in Bournemouth exceeded all my expectations. While it’s still fresh in my mind, I thought I’d share my favourite talks from the day – along with my key takeaways (which may well…
Ever find yourself with a burning grammatical question whilst away from your desk? Or need to settle a linguistic debate, such as whether to hyphenate coordinate? If so, help is at hand courtesy of a new writers’ app from London-based writing and…
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…
As the witching hour of Halloween approaches, it seems fitting to make spooky sayings and phrases the next topic in my series about idioms in the English language. I hadn’t realised quite how many spooky sayings we use in everyday conversation – from ghosts, witches and skeletons to bats, cats, rats and owls. I guess […]
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…
As yet another year draws to a close, it seems to be customary for bloggers to take a moment to reflect on their blog’s performance during the previous 12 months. This not only provides the opportunity to highlight some of their best posts, but also gives a boost to any that perhaps escaped under the radar. Who […]