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Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Merriam Webster’

Word of the Day – Catawampus and Argufy

November 8, 2012 Mathias Leave a comment

cat·a·wam·pus
[kat-uh-wom-puhs] Show IPA Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.

adjective
1. askew; awry.

2. positioned diagonally; cater-cornered. Read more…

Categories: General Things, Writing Style Tags: Adjective, Cat, Catawampus, Dictionary Reference, Fi, Ipa, Merriam Webster, Midland, Noun, Pus, Transitive Verb, Wam, Webster Dictionary, Word Of The Day

Today’s Words Of The Day: Motte and Bailey & Quay

October 19, 2012 Mathias Leave a comment

motte and bailey
noun
: a medieval Norman castle consisting of two connecting ditched stockaded mounds with the higher mound surmounted by the keep and the lower one containing barracks and other buildings Read more…

Categories: General Things, The Writing Process, Writing Style Tags: Amp, Buildings, Medieval, Merriam Webster, Motte And Bailey, Mounds, Norman Castle, Noun, Quay, Waterway, Webster Dictionary

Warning: Readers Have Comfort Zones

October 14, 2012 Mathias 2 comments

Writers sometimes get a little too crazy.  One thing we often do is try to show how smart we are by using what are known as ten dollar words.  I call it the Plethora Rule.  What is the Plethora Rule?  It is best described from the scene that made me realize long ago that fancy words are not always good.  Here is that scene from ¡Three Amigos! that introduced 90% of people who know what plethora means to the word:

Read more…

Categories: General Things, Good Stuff, The Writing Process, Writing Style Tags: Authors Writers, Barbican, Bastion, Blade Of Grass, Brain, Comfort Zone, Comfort Zones, Common Names, Courtyards, Curtain Wall, Definition Of Plethora, Dollar Words, El Guapo, Fancy Words, Fantasy Reader, Jefe, Kind Of Prose, Literary Fiction, Merriam Webster, Noun, Parts Of Castles, Profusion, Sad Truth, Sci Fi, Superfluity, Synonym, Target Audience, Three Amigos, Times Readers, To Extremes, Typical Reader, Vocabulary, Voracious Reader
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