Do You Make These 3 Mistakes in Expression?

We always intend to say what we mean, but do we always actually say what we mean?

‘She strode straight through the door.’ So, is ‘she’ a superhero, a ghost, or blind? She might well have walked straight through the open doorway. But it’s doubtful she ploughed through the barrier itself. A small adjustment, but one that’s vital to the correct understanding of your words.

‘Your not getting you’re wicked way with me.’ I know; you wouldn’t dream of doing this. But you’d be surprised how many times the possessive is mixed up with the contraction. And it’s easily corrected. Just spell out the contraction ‘you are’ in full and the sense becomes immediately obvious. So, perhaps, now you are getting your wicked way with me, after all. I look forward to the encounter.

‘More then anything else, this confusion drives me up the wall, than I go into a rage.’  Once again, you never do this, do you? One letter different, but such variation in meaning.

‘Then’ is an adverb, conjunction, noun and adjective we use to express an aspect of time. Examples?

Adverb – ‘Carelessly, in her infatuation for Bob, she caught what was then known as a social disease.’ Conjunction – ‘He went swimming, then he put on his trunks.’

Noun – ‘That was then, this is now.’

Adjective – ‘She approached the then Prime Minister and punched him on the nose.’

‘Than’ is a conjunction and a preposition that introduces comparison.

Conjunction – ‘It is better to have done that, than never to have done this at all.’

Preposition – ‘Jenny was bigger in all her proportions than was Jane.’

So, ‘then’ for time and ‘than’ for comparison. Easy isn’t it?  

The picture? I like to give a little colour to my posts, and Zemanta, my usual source for these, revealed nothing relevant, so enjoy the French countryside.

Related articles

• Most of What You Think You Know About Grammar is Wrong

Stuart's Daily Word Spot (Antonyms): Gaiety/Sadness

Image via Wikipedia

Gaiety/Sadness

Gaiety: noun - cheerfulness, mirth, frivolity, merrymaking.

Sadness: noun - the condition of being sad. Sad: adjective - sorrowful, mournful.

'Between evocative crashing of breakers on the sand, the hungry cries of the seagulls, and the light soughing of the onshore breeze, Jake could hear the gaiety of the beach party he approached, as they played, laughed, danced and ate around their driftwood bonfire.'

Personal note: I think it's rather sad that, as writers, we've lost the use of the word 'gay', which was such an evocative adjective for which there is no real synonym. Nothing against the gay community; just a tinge of regret that they chose that particular word as a label.

'Walking the shore, just out of reach of crashing breakers, feeling the lonely cries of gulls and allowing the offshore breeze to tangle her blonde tresses, Faith felt the deep sadness of her separation from all that she knew and loved in the world.'

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Habitué

Habitué: noun - someone who can usually be found in or at a specific place or kind of place; a devotee.

'You can always find Gina down at the seafront café; she's an habitué of the tawdry and superficially glamorous.


Pic: A leaf from a water lily in the pond in my garden. Included simply because I like the picture, and Zemanta failed to come up with a suitable illustration. 

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Ambiguity or uncertainty?

Image via Wikipedia

Ambiguity or uncertainty?

Ambiguity: noun - hesitation, doubt or uncertainty about your course; something that can be understood in more than one way; an uncertainty; double meaning; an expression having more than one meaning.

Uncertainty: noun - being uncertain; doubtfulness, hesitation or irresolution; a point of doubt; something of which the outcome is uncertain;

As you can see, these two words are interchangeable in many cases. However, I'm concerned here with their application to writing. An author can use ambiguity to express a dilemma experienced by a character. He can describe events, emotions and actions in terms that leave the reader feeling uncertain. And both of these techniques are valid. What a good writer will avoid, however, is the use of ambiguity to excuse his own uncertainty about elements of his story or characterisation. Such ambiguity is quickly seen for the uncertainty it is in reality and a reader thus alerted will then have difficulty in continuing to trust the honesty of the writer. Once you've lost a reader's trust, you've almost certainly lost a reader.

So, if you're portraying ambiguity, make sure your own lack of resolution is not the cause and that you display doubt in a way that makes it clear who or what is uncertain. Ambiguity is a subtle quality in writing and needs careful handling if it is to be understood for what it is.

'Martha's eyes grew soft and wide every time she saw Harry, but her hands clenched into tight fists as he approached.' 

Martha's feelings for Harry are ambiguous, but it is clear the writer intended this and there is no sign of uncertainty from the author.

'Brian was determined as he drew the gun from the holster; this was the chance he'd dreamed of for so long. He pointed it through the gap in the fence, but, suddenly, he wondered whether he should actually kill his rival.' 

This displays more uncertainty on the part of the writer than the potential killer. In particular, that give-away 'suddenly' suggests the author rather than the character is uncertain about what should happen. The first sentence makes it clear the character is set on doing the deed and it is only in the second sentence that the writer has had some doubts about whether he should allow his character to kill at this time.

'Brian drew the gun from its holster without hesitation and aimed it through the gap in the fence. As his intended victim wandered into view, and turned her face to him, he discovered his hand was shaking.'

Here it is the character who is uncertain and the writer has employed ambiguity to give more depth to the story.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Need or want?

Image via Wikipedia

Need or want?

Need: noun - necessity for a person or thing; a condition or time of difficulty, distress, or trouble, lacking or requiring some necessary thing; exigency, emergency, crisis; destitution, lack of the means of subsistence or of necessaries, poverty; requiring or being motivated to do, a necessity to do; something requiring action; a particular point or respect in which some necessity or want is present or is felt; a piece of necessary business; something wanted, a requirement.

Want: noun - lacking something desirable or necessary; deficiency or shortage; lacking the necessities of life; penury; poverty, famine, starvation; hardship or suffering; a condition marked by the lack of some necessity; need; something needed or desired; a requirement, a request; a defect, fault or shortcoming.

When I decided to compare these two words, in common with many older folk, I assumed their dictionary definitions would support my preconceptions. However, the good old SOED has educated me once again. On the face of it, the two words can be interchanged more or less unconditionally.

BUT, when it comes to that oft heard phrase, 'I need…' usually uttered by an offspring, there is a distinction that should be made, I think.

Children of all ages, and I include those adults who refuse to mature, often state that they need something when they simply desire it. Usage suggests that, in most cases, they 'want' what they call a 'need'. I think I can best express this by explaining that in this particular case, 'want' indicates desire and 'need' indicates necessity.

So:

'I need a new dress, skirt, etc.' should properly be expressed as 'I want a new…' since the item in question is not a necessity but something desired.

'I need a text book, set of pens, breakfast, etc.' is fine, as these are necessities for either life or schooling.

The dividing line is fine and, probably, subjective, but I think all parents will know where it should be drawn.