How To Take The Tension Out Of Tenses
AT LAST, a grammar guide especially for South Africans. And not a moment too soon, I reckon. I’m not a snob about these things, but now we’re all part of a hugely competitive global village in which...
View ArticleHappy Birthday, Noah
Word Memorial by Felipe Gabaldón I’VE often wondered how some of the simple American spellings of English words – color, center, humor, etc – came into being, and now I know. It’s all down to Noah...
View ArticleWord Nerds Quote of the Week
Grammar is a piano I play by ear. All I know about grammar is its power. Joan Didion (Picture: Private Moments – Laura at the Piano by Stevie Godson)
View ArticleAn ‘I’ for an ‘i’
Pic by David Blackwell I HAD a couple of fascinating questions from reader Brett G Marshall the other day that gave me the perfect excuse to indulge my passion for plain English. Brett wanted to know –...
View ArticleFangs, But No Fangs
Pic by Enokson IS IT only me, or is anyone else fed up with vampires? These days, it seems, you can hardly search for something to read or turn on the TV without stumbling across a gazillion vampire or...
View ArticleMeet Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins
Pic by left-hand THERE are lots of dos and don’ts when it comes to English but one of the things I love most about it – despite my underserved reputation as a bit of a pedant – is that there are quite...
View ArticleConfessions of a Left-Handed Man …
… An Artist’s Memoir By Peter Selgin Reviewed for the New York Journal of Books by Stevie Godson IT’S no wonder Peter Selgin gleaned the title of this book of memoir from that ultimate Renaissance man...
View Article