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,…
Like many freelance copywriters, a large portion of my business comes via personal referrals from people I’ve previously worked for – sometimes several years ago. Not surprisingly, word of mouth is considered to be the most effective marketing tool, because it’s persuasive, credible and free. A win-win for all involved Being approached directly by new […]
As well as enabling me to practise my rusty German, a recent trip to Berlin got me thinking about the various German words and phrases that have infiltrated everyday English vocabulary. Although I thought there were more French words used in English than German words, I was surprised by just how many of the words that […]
Back in the ‘old days’ it was simple. If you wanted to speak to a friend, you picked up the phone and dialed their number. On a landline. But these days you have to choose from an overwhelming array of communication methods, including messaging apps and social media platforms. Spoilt for choice Personally I feel […]
Do you ever wonder what job or profession you might be doing now if your career had taken a different direction? Perhaps if you’d got better grades at school or had accepted job offer A versus job offer B? From…
A recent online chat with a graphic designer in Bristol (near my home town of Bath) reminded me of the different names we use for everyday objects. In this case it was footwear. Or, to be precise, canvas shoes. A dap…
Back in the ‘old days’ it was simple. If you wanted to speak to a friend, you picked up the phone and dialed their number. On a landline. But these days you have to choose from an overwhelming array of…
Would you believe it, but it’s been 21 years since I decided back in October 1996 to set up my stall as a freelancer? After initially offering four services – copywriting, editing, proofreading and translation – I soon dropped the latter to…
As a linguist, I’m always fascinated by how people in other countries use completely different words to effectively say the same thing. For this week’s blog post, I’ve therefore rounded up the many versions of Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas or…
Turning down work as a freelancer is never easy, but I recently did just that. “What?” I hear you say. “You must be mad!” Perhaps. But I like to think it was a rational decision. And the right one for…
Seeing as it’s Mother’s Day today here in the UK – I know that other parts of the world celebrate it at different times of the year – I thought I’d dedicate my latest blog post to language-related facts, trivia…
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 at Jetpack have emailed me a handy summary – which makes my task a whole […]
Home › Testimonial › Sophie Gibson, Director of Marketing and Communications, HealthTrust Europe 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 […]
As yet another fabulous series of Strictly Comes Dancing nears its conclusion (I’m a bit of a fan, in case you were wondering) it seems apt to focus on dancing idioms for the next post in my series. So, without further ado, put on your dancing shoes and let’s get on with the show… Hitting the […]