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Legal Writing

Daily Writing Tips

Are you trying to improve your writing skills? If so Daily Writing Tips is the right place for you. Featuring daily tips about grammar, spelling, punctuation, copywriting and more!

Post Frequency: 3.6/day

Last Entry: November 02, 2020 at 06:34:48

Ingenious vs. Ingenuous

Posted on July 24, 2010
Be careful with ingenious and ingenuous. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Ingenious vs. Ingenuous

Posted on July 23, 2010
The modern standard pronunciation of the word "sleazy" is with a long e. The word "slazy" is of doubtful value. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: “Sleazy” and “slazy”

?Fun, Funner, Funnest??

Posted on July 22, 2010
Enough educated speakers object to the use of "fun" as an adjective to indicate that its time has not yet come in standard English. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: “Fun, Funner, Funnest”?

Overwhelm and Underwhelm

Posted on July 21, 2010
If you can overwhelm and underwhelm, can you also ?whelm?? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Overwhelm and Underwhelm

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Spasmodic

Posted on July 21, 2010
Sometimes it's possible to reach for the word "spasmodic" and not quite succeed. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Spasmodic

Learn the Forms of ?drink,? Please!

Posted on July 20, 2010
There's no excuse for professional writers and television reporters to write or utter the phrase "had drank." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Learn the Forms of “drink,” Please!

Bunting and Bunting

Posted on July 19, 2010
The word "bunting" can mean a type of bird, a colorful banner, a baseball play, or a chubby baby. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Bunting and Bunting

Hyper and Hypo

Posted on July 17, 2010
Be careful with hyper- and hypo-. These two prefixes are easily confused as they sound so similar but they have, in fact, more-or-less opposite meanings. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Hyper and Hypo

A Friend of Jim?s

Posted on July 16, 2010
The construction has a name: "double genitive." Purists hate it, but either "a friend of Jim's" or "a friend of his." is idiomatic English. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: A Friend of Jim’s

What Exactly is ?Folk Etymology??

Posted on July 15, 2010
Linguists use the term "folk etymology" to describe the process by which an unfamiliar word is altered through use to resemble a more familiar word. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: What Exactly is “Folk Etymology”?

Math or Maths?

Posted on July 14, 2010
Is ?math? or ?maths? the correct word to use as the shortened or colloquial form of the word mathematics? Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Math or Maths?

Confronting and Affronting

Posted on July 14, 2010
Both "confront" and "affront" derive from a Latin word for "forehead." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Confronting and Affronting

A Blessing in Blood

Posted on July 13, 2010
The original meaning of "to bless" was "to mark with blood." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: A Blessing in Blood

Aerial, Areal, and Ariel

Posted on July 12, 2010
An "areal flood" is not up in the air. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Aerial, Areal, and Ariel

Vertical and Vertiginous

Posted on July 10, 2010
A steep climb up a mountain is sometimes described as ?vertiginous?, as in the following quotation from a description of a hike up the Inca Trail. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Vertical and Vertiginous

Spitting Image

Posted on July 09, 2010
The expression "spitting image" derives from the idea that nothing could be more like a person than his own saliva. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Spitting Image

Using the Adjective ?Lackadaisical?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Some people use "lackadaisical" as a synonym for "lazy," but that's not quite what the word means. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Using the Adjective “Lackadaisical”

Curbs and Sidewalks

Posted on July 07, 2010
A reader wonders about "curb" and "sidewalk" in English and Spanish. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Curbs and Sidewalks

Thank You Sponsors: July 2010

Posted on July 07, 2010
We just wanted to thank the current sponsors of the blog. They help us to pay the bills, and they also provide outstanding services for our readers, so it is a win-win situation. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Thank You Sponsors: July 2010

Bob?s Your Uncle!

Posted on July 06, 2010
The origin of this delightful expression is shrouded in mystery. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Bob’s Your Uncle!

Take Care with ?Album?

Posted on July 05, 2010
Some web writers misspell the word "album" as "ablum." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Take Care with “Album”

One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . .

Posted on July 05, 2010
English nouns that have been written with the same form in the plural as in the singular for hundreds of years are beginning to be written with an "s" in the plural. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish ...

Hear, Hear!

Posted on July 02, 2010
Dave Moloney has asked for a post on the pernicious misuse of the term "hear hear' as?"Here here". Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Hear, Hear!

The Difference Between ?Shade? and ?Shadow?

Posted on July 01, 2010
Both words derive from the same OE source, but they are not often used interchangeably. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: The Difference Between “Shade” and “Shadow”

One Feel Swoop

Posted on July 01, 2010
It's quite common for people to use the phrase "one fowl swoop" (or even "one foul swoop") when they want to convey the idea of an event taking place all at once and very suddenly. Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: One Feel Swoop

One Fell Swoop

Verbally and Orally

Posted on June 30, 2010
"Verbally" means "with words." "Orally" means "by mouth." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Verbally and Orally

Last Day to Grab Our Book For Half The Price

Posted on June 29, 2010
As you probably remember last Tuesday we launched our first book, titled "100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid." In order to celebrate the launch we were offering a 50% discount, but this is going to end today (midnight EST). Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook...

Is She a ?Lady? or a ?Woman??

Posted on June 29, 2010
A reader asks for help in describing the difference between the words "lady" and "woman." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Is She a “Lady” or a “Woman”?

Lucky Expressions

Posted on June 28, 2010
A reader points out that some speakers seem to think that "to luck out" means the same as "to be out of luck." Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook. Original Post: Lucky Expressions

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