"I don't care how thick he gets, I'm not inviting him!"

I overheard this in Galway recently, and it prompted me to write a few notes on the word thick as it is used in Ireland.  Continue reading...

Give anyone pen and paper, ask them to write two hundred words on any subject under the sun, and if they do, you'll get back a piece of writing brand-new in the history of literature and a glimpse into that writer's unique and personal vision.  Continue reading...

Last week we heard from Mike Pope, a technical writer and editor at Microsoft, about how mathematical terms evolve in common usage. Now Mike introduces us to some unusual jargon in the computer programming community.  Continue reading...

Terms from mathematics have a habit of working their way into common usage, especially among business types. Mike Pope, a technical writer and editor at Microsoft, takes a look at what happens when math terms with precise meanings turn fuzzy in extended use. The deltas (changes) can be significant.  Continue reading...

A new rant in Salon by Kim Brooks complains, "My college students don't understand commas, far less how to write an essay," and asks the perennial question, "Is it time to rethink how we teach?"

While it's always time to rethink how we teach, teaching commas won't help.  Continue reading...

Our old friend John E. McIntyre, longtime copy editor for the Baltimore Sun, has some pointed words on the craft of writing.

If you rummage around the Internet with a search along the lines of "college students can't write," you'll find that the "why Johnny can't write" jeremiad has a long history.  Continue reading...

Do you ever find writing is just plain tedious? Have you lost the joy of the endeavor? Does writing suddenly seem more like accounting than something delightful? I received an email recently from someone who told me he'd lost interest in technical writing, which had been his sole means of support for more than 25 years.  Continue reading...