by Sue Horner | May 31, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Stumbling over a few misused words recently brought to mind the 1987 movie, The Princess Bride. Vezzini (Wallace Shawn), the “mastermind” hired to kidnap the princess, constantly describes unfolding events as “inconceivable.” Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) says, “You...
by Sue Horner | Jan 4, 2018 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan are at it again. Among the words they’re trying to banish for “Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness” are fake news, gig economy, impactful and unpack. As an unnamed spokesperson said when releasing the...
by Sue Horner | Oct 19, 2017 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Like many Canadians, I was dismayed to hear of the death this week of Gord Downie, just 53, quirky lead singer of Canada’s Tragically Hip. His diagnosis with an incurable brain tumour last year made the ending inevitable, but it still came as a shock. Like many...
by Sue Horner | Jan 4, 2017 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Post-truth, on fleek, Dad bod and listicle are among the terms that made the 42nd annual list of words and phrases the wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan want to banish for “Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.” Distressingly, making the list...
by Sue Horner | Oct 6, 2016 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
As my friend Sue once said, “Every time I start to lose a little faith in my fellow human beings, along come the Bulwer-Lytton awards.” This annual celebration of the best of the worst is the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Writers apply their talents to...
by Sue Horner | Apr 1, 2016 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
At a time when attention spans are shorter than ever, a long-running quirky contest fits right in. Yes, I’m talking about The Bookseller’s Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title. “We don’t judge books on the contents within or even by their covers, but by their purest,...
by Sue Horner | Apr 29, 2015 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The clever folks at The Bookseller, a British trade magazine, have a way with words and a good sense of humour. Exhibit A: The Oddest Book Title contest. I’ve written before about this funny contest, conceived in 1978 by The Diagram Group’s Bruce Robertson as a...
by Sue Horner | Jan 2, 2013 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Bless the folks at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Every year for 38 years, they have tried — in vain, for the most part — to banish the top annoying, misused and overused words creeping into common use. You know it’s a futile...
by Sue Horner | Sep 11, 2012 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
National Punctuation Day is fast approaching; do you have your assignment yet? What, you haven’t been eagerly awaiting Sept. 24? That is the day when Jeff Rubin reminds us that “a semicolon is not a surgical procedure,” and urges us to freely toss...
by Sue Horner | Aug 3, 2012 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
It’s a long weekend in Ontario, so let’s lead into it with some Friday word fun! Creative haikus about traffic (thanks to Sue Ridewood for the link). Example appropriate to Ontario holiday weekend traffic: “Need a few days off / after Sunday night...
