Are you guilty of using as many of these redundant expressions as I am? Until I began looking at these expressions, I had no clue how many of them I had been speaking and writing. Once you look at the expression and explore what it really means, you will see that a redundant expression is…
Reading was a huge part of schooling my children, and we read many books by Mark Twain: Puddn’head Wilson, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and Life on the Mississippi. His life was something we didn’t study though. I knew that he didn’t like people…
Arsenic, cyanide, and strychnine are the classic poisons. The seemingly innocent little old ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace, one of my favorite movies, used these three poisons in their deadly elderberry wine. One gallon of this toxic wine contained one teaspoon of arsenic, half a teaspoon of strychnine, and just a pinch of cyanide. Unsuspecting…
Does a bear have clause or claws? Would a scene in a book be climacteric, climactic, or climatic? Would you climb or clime a mountain? Should you heat your home with coal or with cole? Are snowy winter nights coaled or cold? cited, sighted, sited Cited is the past tense of cite. The attorney cited the…
Where did the word “monkey” originate from? Adam is supposed to have named all the animals while he was in the Garden of Eden, but there is some speculation about how the monkey got its name. Moneke is the name of the son of Martin the Ape in a medieval animal story. That is one…
Monkshood, the queen of poisons, is known by many names: wolfsbane, aconite, leopard’s bane, women’s bane, devil’s helmet, blue rocket, and friar’s cap. Her beauty is astounding, but her flowers of white, cream, yellow, blue, or purple are deadly. The Plant and its Poison Each part of this gorgeous flower, especially the leaves and roots,…
When you read, the words should magically teleport you to another land, time, or universe filled with other people, animals, or creatures. You lose yourself in a fantasy world and live vicariously through someone, maybe even something, else. The enchanting art of teleportation needs to be used as you write. Put yourself in the place…
Would someone choose or chews a new car? Would one wear a coat when the weather is Chile, chili, chilli, or chilly? When you practice firing your gun, would you chute it or shoot it? charted, chartered If something has been charted, a course of action has been planned. The captain charted his route before he left…
Monday, Sunday isn’t a book that every person will be able handle reading. This book explores the boundaries of sexual attraction between older females and teenage boys. To broach such a difficult, almost taboo, subject took skill. Fenton Grace did an amazing job writing this tale of love and betrayal. I knew before I got…
A corset is an undergarment worn by some women to enhance the shape of their body. It is made stiff by whalebone or some other stiff material, and it is tightened by having the laces pulled. Remember Scarlett O’Hara’s tiny waist? She achieved such a small middle by wearing a corset and having the laces…
