Words matter
To wind up the work week and provide some amusement for word nerds, here are a few errors spotted recently in print or online, some of them in places where someone really should have known better/proofread: …wore a vile of her blood (vial) …balling her...
IBD can’t wait
A woman knocked on my door one day, asking to use the washroom. I don’t remember if she had a card to say she suffered from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but that’s probably the only reason someone would ask to use a stranger’s bathroom....
Don’t be a hoarder
You wouldn’t believe it, looking at my office last week, but I am not a hoarder. Hoarders, as displayed to the world in the A&E show of the same name, have “an inability to part with their belongings” that is so out of control, they are on the...
Another odd book title wins a quirky contest
In case you missed it, the winner of the prestigious Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year has been chosen. Drumroll, please. It is Daina Taimina’s Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes. No doubt you are as surprised as I that Governing Lethal...
Thank a teacher
“If you can read this, thank a teacher.” This is how a post linked to by my friend and colleague Joan Vinall-Cox began. While blogger Ralf Schwartz suggested that the best way to thank your teacher is to teach others “by further developing what your...Points to ponder if you’re launching a newsletter
I’m working with a new client who wants to introduce a newsletter for his customers, and I thought the discussions we’ve been having might be of interest to other people. So here are just some of the points to ponder if you’re thinking of a...
Watch out for jargon, Olympic edition
Among the many sports my family watched during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics was one that vividly reminded me to watch out for jargon. I’m talking about curling. I’ve never curled, so I found the unfamiliar lingo quite confusing. The commentators talked about a...