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The Difference between Incident and Incidence

posted on December 5, 2018 by Andy Hollandbeck

A happy white dog whose bottom half is covered in mud, with the caption "There has been an incident."

Uh-oh. He did something stupid again, and in public. Forget worrying about who exactly he is — is this yet another incident or incidence? These two related words can be confusing for many, and their similarities can make it easy even for copyeditors to miss. Incidence is a mass noun that refers … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage, Vocabulary Tagged With: Confusables, Vocabulary, word usage

Understanding Whether Patterns

posted on September 19, 2018 by Andy Hollandbeck

Whether can be a problem word for many writers and editors. Should it be followed by or not? Should it be replaced with if? Whether you need them or not, here are some guidelines to help you gauge your whether. Adding 'or Not,' or Not Adding or not after whether is usually unnecessary; whether … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: Confusables, Conjunctions, word usage

What Does ‘Forensic’ Really Mean?

posted on April 4, 2018 by Andy Hollandbeck

Police crime scene tape

A rabid fan of forensic science shows like Bones, Criminal Minds, and the various CSIs stumbles upon a copy of the National Forensic Journal at the library. Thrilled to dive into some real-world reading connected to his fiction fandom, he cracks open the journal to find an exciting article all about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: adjectives, Nouns, Vocabulary, word usage

What’s the Plural of Mentos (and Other Trade Names)?

posted on February 14, 2018 by Andy Hollandbeck

14 cinnamon Mentos on a white background

Yesterday on Twitter, copyeditor Ashley Bischoff was publicly pondering the singular and plural forms of the yummy candy Mentos. Would she eat one Mento from a roll of Mentos? Or would it be one Mentos from a roll of Mentoses (or even Mentosi)? Or is the word Mentos like deer and moose, both … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: plurals, trade names, trademarks, word usage

Disentangling Your Morning: Wake, Waken, Awake, and Awaken

posted on November 15, 2017 by Andy Hollandbeck

Adorable sleeping kitty.

As if mornings weren’t difficult enough, English has evolved to give us four tricky little verbs to describe the first thing you do each day: wake, waken, awake, and awaken. And the problems go all the way back to Old English. According to Merriam-Webster, Old English had two similar verbs that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: Confusables, Verbs, Vocabulary, word usage

On Using and Avoiding Adverbs

posted on June 28, 2017 by Andy Hollandbeck

Adverbs

Graham Greene called them beastly. Theodore Roethke said that, in order to write well, you had to hate them. Stephen King wrote that the road to Hell was paved with them. I'm talking, of course, about adverbs. While some English guidebooks and well-meaning authors warn writers away from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: adverbs, literally, parts of speech, word usage

The Language of Rejection

posted on May 24, 2017 by Andy Hollandbeck

"Rejection" stamped in red

The daily news is so chock full of arguments, accusations, and harsh criticisms nowadays that I am wary of reading it. Sometimes the ire is backed up with well-reasoned arguments and loads of data, and other times it’s fueled by frustration, rage, or a firm faith in a factitious "way things are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: Vocabulary, word usage

Fictions and Factions

posted on May 17, 2017 by Andy Hollandbeck

Do you know the difference between a fictitious statement, a factitious statement, and a factious statement? These are just three of a cluster of seven adjectives with overlapping definitions that help us separate fact from fiction from faction. Just the Facts Factional is the adjective form of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Language Usage Tagged With: Vocabulary, word usage

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