Create meaning by crunching the numbers (in January Wordnerdery)
The wildfires that dominated the news earlier this month are still blazing in Los Angeles. As I write this, the largest, Palisades, is only 59% contained. More than 200,000 people were evacuated; at least 27 are dead. More than 15,000 buildings have been destroyed or...
Dissonance and polarization in 2024? Sounds about right
The people who compile and edit dictionaries (lexicographers) and track word searches have spoken. After analyzing search engine results, newsworthy headlines, trends on social media and more, they identified the words that were on our lips, online and in the real...
Top 10 posts in the Red Jacket Diaries in 2024
Happy New Year! In what’s become an annual tradition for the Red Jacket Diaries, I’ve peeked under the blog hood to find the 10 most-viewed posts in 2024: 1. I’ve been known to rant about annoying words and jargon (like “hack,” “like a boss” and “resonate”). Here’s...
Looking back and forward to wrap up the year (in December Wordnerdery)
Are you ending 2024 with multiple “year in review” reports from the various apps you use? You can get a summary of the songs and artists you listened to through Spotify Wrapped. You can track the books you read through Goodreads. If you play Word with Friends, you can...
The latest winner in the quirky contest for wordplay lovers: Philosopher Fish
Voters have spoken: The oddest book title of 2024 is The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire, by Richard Adams Carey. While the title may be odd, the book itself looks at sturgeon, the fish from which caviar is harvested, and how the fish...
A way with words; November Wordnerdery looks at Taylor Swift lyrics
The city of Toronto went wild for Taylor Swift this month. I wasn’t at any of the city’s six sold-out shows in her blockbuster Eras tour, but I have the friendship bracelets to show I was “concert adjacent.” You can’t hear about Taylor Swift...
Even more writing tips you might have missed
After a writing webinar I sat in on this week, a follow-up survey looked for suggestions for future webinars. Don’t laugh, but I said…writing. I always want to know more about how to be a better writer, how to grab attention, how to tell better stories. In case...
Fun gifts for writers and readers, 2024 edition
Is it that time already? Yup. All the Halloween decorations are tucked away for the season and stores have been filled with Christmas decorations for weeks. I haven’t heard a cheerful “Only X weeks to Christmas!” yet but it’s only a matter of...