Arlene Miller's Blog, page 12

FAPACON 23

Last weekend I was in Orlando for FAPACON 23. FAPA stands for Florida Authors and Publishers Association.  It is one of the dozen or so organizations all over the country that comes under the umbrella of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).  FAPACON is the annual conference at a Hilton near Disney World. It is the big event of the year for FAPA, ending in the President’s Book Awards ceremony, where everyone gets dressed up to the nines to receive bronze, silver, and gold awards for their books in about 30 categories.

I went last year as well. It is one of my duties as a board member (secretary) of the organization. And why would I refuse two nights in the Hilton and free food? Not to mention the camaraderie of other writers. I remember a few glitches last year, but this year the event went off without a hitch….and I won a raffle prize!

We started on Friday morning with a short board meeting at the Hilton, followed by registration and check-in. At one of the board member’s suggestions, this year we tried a Speed Dating with the Pros event, which was very well received. There were eight tables, and participants spent about 8 minutes at each table listening to, and asking questions of, the pro at the table. The topics included selling your book on Amazon, unconventional types of promotion, artificial intelligence, effective use of social media, book formatting, getting your book into libraries, and choosing a cover designer. 

Pros were available for additional conversation after the speed dating. The day culminated in a networking reception with a cash bar and “heavy oer d’oeuvres,” in other words, dinner.

There were four talks/workshops on Saturday, one at a time so everyone could attend all of them. 

How to Create an Amazon Bestseller. Judith Briles gave us all sorts of links and ideas, many of which were new to me. It was a very useful hour.The Power of Connection: Connecting to make connections, not to sell books.

Lunch! salads, tomato soup (excellent), macaroni and cheese, huge pieces of chicken, and a whole lot more including some really pretty desserts. (I heard they were good!)

Copyright and Intellectual Property Audiobook Production

Following the four sessions was “quick change” time. The ballroom tables were changed from workshop desks to tablecloth-dressed, and the check-in desk was replaced by the cash bar. And everyone went to their rooms to change into fancy clothes, appropriate for accepting awards.

The buffet: bruschetta, pizza, egg rolls, beef and peppers on sticks, fancy desserts, spiced cauliflower.

The awards ceremony is always lovely. I won an award in 2020 — the Covid year when the ceremony was held on Zoom, so I missed out. And we were Zoom-bombed by white nationalists, so the ceremony had to be stopped.

Following the awards was a reception for more networking and conversation.

It was a fun time, but I was glad to get home to my dog! And I had been away visiting friends the weekend before. 

Oh, and I won a raffle basket that I wanted so badly, I put all my tickets into one basket — so now I cannot say I never win anything.

Mostly I take notes and type them up and distribute them as secretary, but many other board members put in so much time and effort to make FAPACON a success. Lots of photos were taken, but I am not in very many of them – introvert. I was planning to donate some of my books for a raffle basket, but the time went, and I didn’t send the books. I was going to place an ad in the program or maybe even be an exhibitor — but I didn’t get around to that either. Next year!

Ways You Can Elevate Your Artistry as a Creative

Image by erge from PixabayI am happy to present this guest post by Amber Ramsey.Amber is a career woman. She’s fierce, confident, and has the “can do” attitude we all strive for. Like most of us, she started out in the corporate world, but she found that her fire, spirit, and creativity were better suited to the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Amber has been on both sides of the desk, as an employee and the boss, so she has plenty of career advice to share.———————————————-

In today’s fast-paced world, getting discovered as a creative can be a challenge. Whether you’re a fashion designer, artist, or maker, building a name for yourself and getting your work in front of the right people takes time and effort. Here are some tips to help creatives get discovered and turn their passion into a successful career.

Make Your Presence Known Online

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for getting discovered. Create a website or social media profiles that showcase your work and style. Share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your creative process and interact with your followers. Use relevant hashtags to increase visibility and connect with potential clients or collaborators. Consider reaching out to influencers or bloggers for collaborations or features on their platforms.

Attend Industry Events

Attending industry events can be a great way to get discovered and make valuable connections. These events range from trade shows and conferences to art exhibitions and fashion weeks. They provide opportunities to meet industry leaders, showcase your work, and gain inspiration from others. Be sure to bring business cards or samples of your work to hand out, and be prepared to network.

Share Your Talent with Others

Getting your artwork in front of as many eyes as possible is key to getting discovered. Submit your work to galleries, competitions, and art shows. Participating in group exhibitions or sharing your work in public places, such as coffee shops or libraries, can also increase visibility. Don’t be afraid to approach local businesses or organizations to display your work. You never know who may see it and become interested in your talent.

Showcase Your Skills

A solid portfolio is essential for showcasing your work and attracting potential clients. Include a variety of pieces that showcase your style and skills. Make sure your portfolio is well-organized and easily accessible. Consider creating an online portfolio that you can easily share with potential clients or employers. Keep your portfolio up-to-date and add new pieces as you create them.

Business Savvy

As a creative, it’s important to have basic knowledge of the business world. This includes understanding contracts, copyright laws, and pricing strategies. Joining a professional organization or attending workshops on topics such as marketing and branding can be beneficial. Consider taking courses on business management or partnering with a business-savvy individual who can help with the financial side of your creative pursuits.

Find a Guide

Having a mentor in the industry can provide valuable guidance and support as you navigate your career. Look for individuals who have experience in your field and share your values and goals. Reach out to them and ask for advice or feedback on your work. Mentors can offer insight into the industry, help you develop your skills, and open doors to new opportunities.

Technology to Your Advantage: Use a 3D Texturing Tool

In today’s digital age, technology has become an integral part of the creative process. Creatives can utilize helpful software like a 3D texturing tool to create stunning works of art. These tools allow you to add intricate details and textures to your designs that would be difficult to achieve by hand. By learning how to use a 3D texturing tool, you can take your artwork to the next level and stand out from the crowd – this could help if you’re looking for a place to get started. Consider incorporating these tools into your workflow and experimenting with different techniques to create unique and visually striking pieces.

 

Getting discovered as a creative takes time, effort, and dedication. Building an online presence, attending industry events, and getting your work in front of as many eyes as possible is key to success. It’s also important to have a solid portfolio, basic knowledge of the business world, and a mentor in the industry. Utilizing helpful software like a 3D texturing tool can also set you apart. By following these tips, creatives can increase their visibility and turn their passion into a successful career.

 

Letters, Numbers, and Apostrophes

Image by Myriam from Pixabay

We all know that we don’t use apostrophes in plurals. We use apostrophes mostly for possession. Girl’s is not a plural; it is a possessive.

But what about the plural of numerals? And while we are at it, the plural of individual letters?

The main issue is clarity. Do whatever you can to avoid confusion. 

I got all A’s on my report card.  Without the apostrophe, we have As. Looks like its own word (as), so an apostrophe is a wise choice.Same with I’s and U’s because without the apostrophe, they are their own words (is, us).But what about with other letters: E‘s? T‘s? ws? Well, technically a letter used as itself is written in italics, and the s  to make it plural is not, so that might take away some of the confusion: ws. That still looks weird. And confusing. Even the uppercase plurals look weird to me: Ws. There is no rule per se, so make your best choice. I would choose to use an apostrophe to make a single letter plural.

On to numbers: 7s? 25s? Once again, it is up to you. I am not a lover of putting in extra apostrophes unless necessary, so I would probably not put the apostrophe in. If there is a “rule,” it is to not use the apostrophe because there is really no cause for confusion.

People have a lot or issues writing the plural of decades. Of course, you can always just write out the words: the sixties. Everyone (probably) will know you mean the 1960s. So, yes, it is 1960s as a plural – no apostrophe as a plural. But as a possessive? I love 1960’s fashion. What about just the “60s” ? No apostrophe is needed — before the s. However, we need an apostrophe at the beginning to indicate that the  19 has been left out (or 18 if you are talking about the 1860s). So, it is  the ’60s.

the sixtiesthe ’60sthe 1960s

 

What’s New? Neologisms

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Neologism: neo (new) and logos (speech, utterance).

Neologisms are newly coined words or phrases that may be commonly used  but have yet to be formally accepted as constituting mainstream language.  Because of societal changes of all types,  language needs to evolve as well. So people create new words that express concepts or ideas that were previously expressed using other words or use words that may not have existed at all. Neologisms can be completely new words or just new meanings for existing words. 

Here are some examples of neologisms that are finding their way into the English language.

Google: To use an online search engine as the basis for looking up information on the World Wide Web.

404: Someone who’s clueless. From the World Wide Web error message 404 Not Found, meaning that the requested document could not be located.

Spam: Flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.

App: Software application for a smartphone or tablet computer.

Noob: Someone who is new to an online community or game.

Troll: An individual who posts inflammatory, rude, and obnoxious comments to an online community.

Metrosexual: A man who dedicates a great deal of time and money to his appearance.

Muffin top: This refers to the (often unsightly) roll of fat that appears on top of trousers that feature a low waist.

Stitch ‘n’ bitch: A gathering of individuals who chat or gossip while knitting or crocheting.

BFF: Stands for best friends forever. Used to state how close you are to another individual.

Vagjayjay: Slang term for the vagina that was believed to have been coined by Oprah.

Chilax: To calm down or relax, it is a slang term used when someone is starting to get uptight about something that is happening.

Staycation: A vacation at home or in the immediate local area.

Generonyms: Words that are brand names, but have become the generic word for that product.

Band-aidKleenexFrisbeeXeroxTupperwareEscalatorGranolaCokeThe Washington Post Neologism Competition

And now for the amusing part: Every year The Washington Post runs an annual competition in which the readers of the newspaper are asked to submit alternative meanings to existing words. Someone has probably sent you these in an email at some time! Here are the winners for 2023:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly
answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulance (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over
by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that when you die, your Soul flies up
onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.Abdicate: to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

And here are some other humorous neologisms, made by slightly modifying words. Try to do one yourself. I have found them extremely difficult to come up with — and I have yet to come up with one.

Adulatery: cheating on one’s wife with a much younger woman who holds you in awe.

Burglesque: a poorly planned break-in. 

 Contratemps: the resentment permanent workers feel toward the fill-in workers.

Crapacity: The size of one’s attic.

Deifenestration: to throw all talk of God out the window.

Elepants: too-tight jeans on broad-beamed people.

Emasculathe: a tool for castration.

Eruditz: A philosophy professor who can’t figure out how to work the copying machine.

Eunouch: the pain of castration.

Foreploy: any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of obtaining sex.

Gargoyle: olive-flavored mouthwash.

Genitaliar: an image-enhancing object that can be carried in a man’s front pocket.

Giraffiti: vandalism spray-painted very, very high.Glibido: all talk and no action. (or how about gabido for “all talk no actio”? Hey, I made one up!)

Goodzilla: a giant lizard that puts out forest fires by stamping on them.

Guillozine: a magazine for executioners.

Guiltar: A musical instrument whose strings are pulled by your mother.

Hindkerchief: really expensive toilet paper.

Hipatitis: terminal coolness.

Hozone: the area around 14th Street.

Impotience: eager anticipation by men awaiting their Viagra prescription.

Inoculatte: to take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

Intaxication: euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

Nazigator: an overbearing member of your carpool.

Osteopornosis: a degenerate disease.

Pectacles: gladiator movies.

Percycution: Giving your child a name he will hate for the rest of his life.

Pokemon: a Rastafarian proctologist.

Rectitude: the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

Refiance: To replace your subprime boyfriend when your interest starts to vary.

 Reintarnation: coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Rococoa: Haute chocolate

Sarchasm: the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn’t get it.

Skilljoy: The would-be friend who’s a bit better than you at everything.

Suckotash: a dish consisting of corn, lima beans and tofu.

Vaseball: a game of catch played by children in the living room.

Thank you to these websites for the information!

Philosfx

Vappingo

————————————————————- I still would love to write a post about YOUR favorite books, either recent or not. Please join those who have sent me their lists: send to bigwords101@yahoo.com with “books” in the subject line. Thank you!

 

 

 

What I Have Been Reading: Some Books You Might Enjoy

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay

According to the Goodreads website, I have read 36 books so far this year; I challenged myself to read 52. I always outread my challenge. I need to keep track of what I read on the Goodreads site because I cannot ever remember what I have read, and I wouldn’t want to reread something by mistake! It has happened, and sometimes I don’t even realize I have read the book before until I’m way into it.

I just finished American Carnage by Fred Gutenberg whose daughter was one of the students murdered in the Parkland shooting. He has been a strong advocate for stricter common sense gun laws ever since. He actually co-wrote the book with another author whose name escapes me, and I haven’t heard of. I gave the book four out of five stars. It was interesting with lots of facts and lots of common sense. The problem with the book was that I sometimes felt as if I was reading the same information over and over again. I don’t know how the authors worked together, but it seemed as if one of them wrote a section and then the other wrote the same information.  However, especially if you aren’t a close follower of the news and politics, I would recommend it. 

I don’t usually read many thrillers. I must have seen Falling on a recommended list. Five stars. Great book. It is written by T. J. Newman, who is a woman. I wonder if she uses her initials so people will think she is a man (like S.E. Hinton did back in the 1960s when she wrote The Outsiders). Guilty as charged. I somehow assumed the author was male. It is an airplane thriller, and the author is a former flight attendant. Her other book is Drowning, another equally wonderful airplane thriller. Another five stars.

I read I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai for an online book club I sometimes attend. I will admit it is very well researched and written, but it was a lot. A lot of characters, a lot of things happened, just a lot. I didn’t love it, and I didn’t really dislike it. I just thought it was a little hard to push through.  But everyone in the book club liked it. I generally go for a little easier read than I can race through.

Telephone by Everett Percival is an unusual book. I read it for “sort of a book club,” where there is no discussion, but there is a conversation with the author . I liked the book, but I didn’t like the ending. When I saw the interview, I discovered there are three different versions of the book, all alike but with different endings. And you don’t know which book you are getting. The author did not want people to realize there were three different versions. Hopefully, there was a version with a better ending than the one I read.

Mary Kubica wrote two excellent thrillers that I recently read:  Local Woman Missing and Just the Nicest Couple. Both recommended.

I don’t think I had ever read Isabel Allende until recently when she was one of the authors in conversation (it’s through California Book Club, sponsored by the Alta Journal). I loved the conversation with her, but not the book, which was House of the Spirits. But then I read her Soul of a Woman and loved that one. 

The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase is a really enjoyable book — and easy to get through. I read it for the online book club. It was my first meeting (and of course I didn’t remember much about the book since I had finished it a couple of weeks before), so I didn’t participate, just listened in. The common thought was that it was kind of simple, but good. I liked it. 

I gave five stars to For Those Who Are Lost, an excellent historical fiction by Julia Bryan Thomas. Another really good historical fiction I would recommend is Lessons by Ian McEwan.

In the past few years Liane Moriarty has become really popular, mostly for her initial bestseller Big Little Lies. I loved that one, and loved her few following books even more, including The Husband’s Secret and What Alice Forgot. But I didn’t love her most recent books like Truly, Madly, Guilty, which I gave three stars to.

Here are a few other books I read recently and liked. These are aimed mostly at women readers:

The Happy Place by Emily HenryThe Homewreckers by Mary Kay AndrewsBetter Than Fiction by Alexa MartinMiss Demeanor by Elinor Lipman. I gave only three stars to this one (I did like her previous books more), but I mention her because she went to the same college as I did; she was one year ahead of me. If you have read a great book (or a terrible one) recently, send me some info about it to my email at bigwords101@yahoo.com (or through the website contact form). Please do not write about it in the blog comments. If I get enough responses, I will write a blog post about your choices.

 

Making the Most of Your Empty Nest: How to Fill Your Time with Purpose

Image by Hans Benn from PixabayI am happy to present this guest post by Amber Ramsey, followed by comments from a real empty-nester: The Grammar Diva!Amber is a career woman. She’s fierce, confident, and has the “can do” attitude we all strive for. Like most of us, she started out in the corporate world, but she found that her fire, spirit, and creativity were better suited to the entrepreneurial lifestyle. Amber has been on both sides of the desk, as an employee and the boss, so she has plenty of career advice to share.

———————————————

You’ve officially entered the empty-nester phase of your life. This new chapter certainly brings a sense of freedom and excitement, but it’s also normal to feel a little lost after years of focusing on your kids.

Fret not — there’s a myriad of ways to enrich your life while relaxing like never before. 

Organize your important documents.

One thing to tackle at the outset of your empty-nester journey is to sort all your essential documents. This includes medical records, estate planning files, and any other important paperwork you might have. Doing so will give you peace of mind while ensuring that everything is in order for the future.

There are many resources available to help you, from online guides to professional organizers. You can also digitize your documents and put all similar files into a single document. By using a PDF file converter, you can turn your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files into PDFs with a simple drag-and-drop!

Travel somewhere you’ve always wanted to go.

Traveling is always an excellent way to broaden your horizons and experience new things. With your kids out of the house, you now have the freedom to go where you’ve always wanted to go — without worrying about anyone else’s schedule! Whether it’s a cross-country road trip or a European vacation, taking the time to explore new places will certainly add some excitement and fulfillment to your life!

Spend more time with friends.

Your social life may have taken a backseat during your parenting years, but now is the time to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Whether through a weekly book club or a local class, there are plenty of ways to build your social circle. Spending time with like-minded people can give you the sense of community and camaraderie that you may have been missing.

Make your marriage a priority.

You probably have more time to focus on your relationship with your spouse now that the kids are gone. Take advantage of it! Take this opportunity to go on dates, plan weekend getaways, and reconnect in meaningful ways.

It’s also important to communicate with each other about your hopes and goals for this new phase of your life. Making your marriage a priority can create a strong foundation for the years ahead.

Build a garden.

For many people, gardening is perfect for unwinding and getting in touch with nature. Whether you have a small balcony or a large yard, there are countless options for creating a beautiful garden space.

You can plant herbs and vegetables to use for cooking, produce a colorful flower bed, or build a relaxing seating area. Spending time outdoors and working in your garden can do wonders for your stress levels and overall well-being!

Launch a business.

If you’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, now may be the perfect time to launch a company. You could start an Etsy shop selling homemade wares, a consulting business that capitalizes on your years of expertise, or any number of other ideas.

Starting a business can be financially rewarding while also giving you a sense of purpose and fulfillment. And you can take advantage of online courses, networking events, and many other resources designed specifically for entrepreneurs.

Consider forming an LLC for your new business, which yields personal asset protection and limited liability for any debts or obligations arising from your business. An LLC can also provide tax flexibility and credibility (since you’re establishing a separate legal entity). Remember to research and comply with the specific requirements and regulations in your state when forming your LLC, and find a formation service to help.

Conclusion

The empty-nester phase can be a thrilling new chapter full of opportunities. You can make the most of your newfound freedom by keeping your documents organized, traveling more often, prioritizing your marriage, starting a business, and implementing the other tips above.

Remember — this is a time for self-exploration and growth, so don’t be afraid to try new things and pursue your passions. Embrace the season with open arms!

 

Comments by The Grammar Diva:

Organize my documents: Well, the thing about that is you need to keep it up. I cannot remember when I organized my files, but I know it is time to do it again. They are a mess. I also have several other organizational tasks on my list: Organize my will and trust binder. Put things into my safe box. Organize binders for the two organization of which I am secretary of the board. They have been on my list for a while now. Also, organize my office.

Travel: I have definitely not done enough of that, particularly outside of this country. At this point, I need about a three-month around the world tour for all the places I would like to go!

Time with Friends: Being an introvert I don’t have a thousand friends, and I don’t do a lot of socializing in groups except organizations I belong to — and there are several of those. Although I think I have as many friends here in Florida as I did in California (but not as many acquaintances). ever since Covid, I really  got used to staying at home! I got used to socializing on Zoom! 

Marriage: Well, I don’t have one of those.

Garden: Not with my brown thumb.

Launch a Business: Check. Did that one. Successfully accomplished!

Shades of Gray

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

If you have an English grammar question, you might look it up in a grammar book or style guide. You might look it up online. And your sources may not all always agree. 

English is the only major language without an authority association that makes and keeps the rules. For Russian you have the V.V.Vinogradov Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. For Spanish you have the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language. For French you have the French Academy. For German you have the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache.

The lack of a real authority on the language makes for some interesting debates among English-speaking grammarians.

A brilliant friend and reader of this blog, Bruce Blakeley, has asked me some interesting questions about grammar and has suggested some good blog post topics.  His most recent question, was  this: If the phrase “other than you and x” refers to a subject, shouldn’t it be “I”, not “me?” For example,“Other than you and I, no one went to the baseball game.”“Other than you and I, only Jim is running for head dog catcher. Bruce continued with more examples: 1. You and I went to the baseball game yesterday.  Subjective case. 

2. Other than you and I, who went to the baseball game yesterday, no one else went. Subjective case.  3. Other than you and I, no one went to the baseball game yesterday. Still Subjective case????Seems that this is a subject of the verb situation regardless of the “other than” phrase.  To me, “other than you and I” has nothing to do with the subject. It doesn’t stand in for the subject. “You and I” is not equal to or taking the place of “no one,” in my opinion. My first thought was that “other than” is a preposition and “you and me” were the objects of that preposition. For example, “No one went to the baseball game except you and me,” seems to be the pretty much the same sentence. So I Googled it, of course, and several sources said that “other than” was indeed a preposition.

Bruce also researched it. He found that some sources said “other than” is a preposition and some did not have it listed as one. It means “except,” so I would assume it is a preposition as well.

However, by itself, “other” is not a preposition. And by itself neither is “than.”

I decided to consult another grammarian. I chose Ellen is at the grammar table (her Twitter handle) because she is active on Twitter and runs daily polls on grammar issues She  got her Twitter name because she actually chooses places and sits at a table in public answering grammar questions!

Well, I never got as much action on Twitter as with this post and with Ellen posting it. Here are some of the responses we got:

“Me” sounds normal and mundane. “You and I” here feels like an idiom with an extra flavor of solidarity.I’ve always went by the rule that it needs to make sense in the singular, without the “you and” … in this case, I say me. (Editorial note: I’ve always went???)This is tricky because “than” is traditionally a conjunction, not a preposition, which would indicate the subjective “I.” But Merriam-Webster lists “other than” with this meaning as a preposition unto itself, so I would go with the objective “me.”only “me,” can’t see any argument for “I” Other than = except , so ( me ) is correct.I think “me”. “Other than” is a preposition in this sentence.Other than, aside from, beyond, besides, apart from … all act as prepositions for me.Other than you and _____ (I, me), no one cares about pronoun case. (There is always a comedian!)Try it with a different pronoun – “Other than them” is better than “Other than they” for example. “Other than” takes the oblique case for sure.I tried rephrasing the sentence as ‘no one cares… except for you and…’, and then decided it should be ‘me’.With situations like this I usually replace the I/me pronoun with “he” and “him” to gauge which sounds more appropriate (in this case “him”), so I voted “me.”The tip here is to mentally drop the other person and see which pronoun you’d use.The absence of a verb before the comma makes “you and I” more correct. Er, does it?I picked “me” because I wouldn’t say “Other than I, no one cares about pronoun case.”not s sentence construction I would naturally use, to be honestSpeaking, I’d say “I”; it just sounds better to my ear. In writing, I’d just change it to “us.” (There is a new rule!)

Here are the results of the Twitter poll:

I – 28.7%

Me – 61.3 %

Either one is OK – 9.2%

I wouldn’t use either one – .8%

Just to be clear, this has nothing to do with “than” taking the subjective case in comparisons:

She likes pizza more than I (like pizza).  That is correct.She like pizza more than (she likes) me. Probably not correct.

In those cases, you need to supply the implied words.

Oh, American Academy of Language Rules (if you existed), is it “I” or “me”???

 

Next Question, Please . . .

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

People often ask me grammar questions. They either contact me through my website, or if they know me they post on Facebook or send me a message. And yes, I always answer. Here are some of the questions people ask me.

“How do I make a name that ends in s possessive? In school, I learned to add just an apostrophe to make possessives of words ending in s.”  I spell it the way I pronounce it. For example, I would write James’s that way because I pronounce it that way. I don’t say, “That is James’ toy.”  On the other hand, I might say, “That is Miles’ toy, so I would write it that way. But then, I probably would say Miles’s! I recommend adding the apostrophe and the s.“Does the question mark go inside or outside of quotes?” It depends. If the question mark goes with just the part of the sentence in quotes, it goes inside. If it goes with the whole sentence, it goes outside. If both the quote and the sentence are questions, it goes in the default position of inside.  Here are some examples: He asked, “Are we there yet?”  Did he say, “We are almost there”? Did he ask, “Are we there yet?”“Why would you use an em (long) dash at the end of a sentence?” A long dash is used at the end of a sentence in dialogue when the next person speaking interrupts. It is not used for trailing off at the end of a piece of dialogue. The ellipsis is used for that (…)“My daughter, Audrey, is going to Harvard. That sentence just looks too busy with those commas. Do I need them?” It depends. If you put the commas in, it implies that you have only one daughter; thus you could leave her name out. If you leave out the commas, the sentence implies that you have more than one daughter and you need to identify which daughter you are talking about. Either way,  you would never just put in one of the commas. It is all or nothing.Is it “Who have you worked for” or “Whom have you worked for”? It is whom. Grammatically, it is the object of the preposition for, so it is in the objective case. If you don’t want to get into the grammar, answer the question: I worked for him. Him and whom are both objective case. (Who goes with he, not him.)“Are collective nouns singular or plural?” A collective noun is one that represents a group, for example, band, crowd, audience, class. No one will care if you generally use a singular verb with them, but technically, they can be either singular or plural. If you are talking about the group as a whole, it is singular and takes a singular verb; if you are talking about the individuals in the group, it is plural and takes a plural verb:  My family are from all over Europe. My family is going on a picnic next weekend. “You must be as weary as I or me?” Put in the missing word, and you have your answer: You must be as weary as I am.“Do you graduate high school or do you graduate from high school?” You graduate from high school.“Explain the difference between everyday and every day.” Everyday is an adjective that describes some noun: We are everyday people. I talk to him every day. “Is it valid to put a comma in the sentence, “He is baking, a cake and some cookies”? Well, we don’t generally put commas after the verb in a sentence. I guess it could be used to indicate we are saying what he is baking as an aside. But there is really no reason to make it an aside. I suppose if you wanted to make it an aside, you could use a dash instead  – or even parentheses. Best to just leave out the comma and write it the way it is.“Is it other than you and I or other than you and me?”  I would use me. Other than is a preposition, so me is the object of a preposition.“They can now be used as a singular pronoun. Does it then take a singular verb?” No. It always takes a plural verb: they are. When you think about it, the singular you also takes a plural verb (you are). “Why do people say At the end of the day? It has six syllables, whereas ultimately means the same thing and has only four syllables.” Who knows? But it has become quite a common expression. Here is the apparent history: This expression comes from an autobiographical sketch written in 1889 by the scientist Thomas H. Huxley: “The last thing that it would be proper for me to do would be to speak of the work of my life, or to say at the end of the day whether I think I have earned my wages or not.”“What’s with starting sentences with so?” Well, we can now begin sentences with conjunctions, used wisely. If it actually is the result of what the previous sentence said, so can serve as a transition to the next sentence. I wouldn’t use it in formal English. And please don’t use this lazy, meaningless sentence: So, ya.

 

A Toast to Father’s Day

Image by skalekar1992 from PixabayA Little History

The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. It was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd, and that first celebration was held at the YMCA in Spokane, Washington.  Sonora’s father was William Jackson, a Civil War veteran and single parent of six children. After hearing a sermon about Mother’s Day, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them.

Father’s Day was not initially a great success. Dodd moved to Chicago to attend school in the 1920s and no longer promoted the holiday. when she returned to Spokane in the 1930s, she started promoting the celebration again. This time she had help from trade groups that would benefit from such a holiday: manufacturers of such things as ties and pipes. In 1938 the Father’s Day Council was formed  by the New York Associated Menswear Retailers, and they began to promote the occasion. They met resistance from those who felt they were just trying to replicate the commercial success of Mother’s Day. However, it was not long before Father’s Day was accepted and became a commercial success.

Father’s Day was made a national holiday in 1972 by President Richard Nixon.

Some Quotes

“A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow.” – Unknown

“My father always provided me a safe place to land and a hard place from which to launch.” – Chelsea Clinton

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” – Jim Valvano

“I’ve said it before, but it’s absolutely true: My mother gave me my drive, but my father gave me my dreams. Thanks to him, I could see a future.” – Liza Minnelli

“My father didn’t tell me how to live. He lived, and let me watch him do it.” – Clarence Budington Kelland

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” – Sigmund Freud

“A father carries pictures where his money used to be.” – Steve Martin

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” – Frederick Douglass

Some Jokes

 I had a great childhood. My father would put me in a tire and roll me down a hill. Those were the good years. My brother, on the other hand, never appreciated such a tiring activity.

Wife: “Honey, look outside, all the bus stop signs on our street have been stolen!”
Husband: “Where do these people get off?!”

Dad: “How much would a new roof cost?”
Sales Rep: “Approximately $5000-7000.”
Dad: “Darn, I was hoping it would be on the house!”

Child: “Dad, can we get a pet dog?”
Dad: “Why don’t you get a pet tree instead?”
Child: “Why would we get a pet tree?”
Dad: “It’s just like a pet dog, but the bark’s quieter.”

There was a sale on TVs over the weekend. There was a 65-inch TV on sale for only $5.00! The salesman said it worked fine but that the volume was just stuck on 10. I bought it immediately. I just couldn’t turn it down.

Some Songs

“Papa Was a Rolling Stone”- Temptations

“Papa’s got a Brand New Bag” – James Brown

“Papa Don’t Preach” – Madonna

“Papa, Can You Hear Me” – Barbra Streisand

“Down at Papa Joe’s” – Dixiebells

“My Dad” – Paul Peterson

‘Father and Daughter” – Paul Simon

“Child Is Father of the Man” – Beach Boys

Some TV Dads

Al Bundy – Married with Children

Andy Taylor – The Andy Griffith Show

Archie Bunker – All in the Family

Dan Conner – Roseanne

Fred Sanford – Sanford and Son

Herman Munster – The Munsters

Homer Simpson – The Simpsons

Howard Cunningham – Happy Days

Mike Brady – The Brady Bunch

Steven Keaton – Family Ties

Tim Taylor – Home Improvement

Ward Cleaver – Leave It to Beaver

Ozzie Nelson – The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Desi Arnaz – I Love Lucy

Jim Anderson – Father Knows Best

Hal – Malcolm in the Middle

Peter Griffin – Family Guy

Danny Williams – Make Room for Daddy

Ben Cartwright – Bonanza

Johnny Rose – Schitt’s Creek

Steve Douglas – My Three Sons

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Important Announcement:Jags Anderson, author and writer of last week’s guest post, is offering all my blog post readers a free Kindle download of his latest novel, Runner.This offer is available from Sunday 18th June through Tuesday 20th June.If you read on Kindle or use the Kindle app on your smartphone or tablet go to https://tinyurl.com/5dpfpw82 (if you buy through amazon.co.uk) or https://tinyurl.com/yzbm37hj (if you buy on amazon.com) where you can ‘buy’ it for free.I hope you enjoy it.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

Those Lying Numbers

Image by Colin Behrens from Pixabay

Another wonderful guest post from Jags Anderson!

Jags Arthurson is the pen name of a Brighton, UK writer. Jags has been a research chemist and company director.  He has lived and worked in over 40 countries. His novel, the crime thriller  Pagan Justice , is available on Amazon with all proceeds going to charity. His new novel, Runner: A Crime Novel, is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. He will be offering the book free to my readers. Stay tuned for more info.

***************************************

It was Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th Century British Prime Minister, who is credited with coining the phrase, “There are three types of lies … Lies, damned lies and statistics.”  Actually, the mathematical discipline of Statistics is very rigorous and precise, but people will often use (twist?) the results of statistical analysis and other numbers to demonstrate a case they wish to make but that the figures themselves do not support.

This came to mind the other day as I was waiting for the Number 7 bus that would transport me with ease and in comfort to the delights of Brighton Marina when I noticed the sign on the side of the vehicle that proudly boasted that it ran, “Up to every 7 minutes,” and this got me thinking.  A quick check on the timetable confirmed my suspicion that, in fact, seven minutes was the shortest time one would have to wait for this diesel-electric, low-energy, environmentally friendly behemoth.

Now, if I promised to do a job, say clean your car, you would rightly ask for an estimate of the cost and I might proclaim, “Up to seven quid, boss.”  On that basis, you would give me the work.   So how would you feel if, job done, I then held out my hand and demanded a tenner?

“Ten pound!” you would be justified in exclaiming in alarm.   “But you said, ‘Up to  seven pounds’ so how do you get to ten?”  My only defence would be to point you at The Brighton and Hove Bus Company and respond, “Well, that’s what they do.”  But I don’t think it would hold water.

So B&H Bus Co. is actually misleading its customers and should repaint the signs on the buses to say, “Down to every 7 minutes” or “At best every 7 minutes,” but I suspect they won’t because it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

All this got me thinking of other numbers that businesses and politicians use in order lie to us.   I saw an advertisement that said a certain disinfectant would “kill up to 100% more bacteria” than a named competitor’s product. So what percentage more bacteria would it actually need to kill in order to justify this claim? In truth, any number above the competitor’s. If it killed 0.0000000001% more, then it would have met its ‘up to’ promise.   In fact, the only way it would break the promise would be if it killed the same (or less) than its competitor or, perversely, if it killed more than twice as many … because it said “up to 100%” not “more than 100%.”  Although that, in itself, would be impossible because the ‘named competitor’ claimed to kill ‘99% of all known germs’ so for the ‘up to 100% more’ claim to be exceeded it would have to be capable of killing 198% of germs … pretty impressive!

And it is not alone in this trick as, for example, Duracell promises its batteries last up to 100% longer, and various internet service providers allege their broadband speeds are ‘up to 100% faster.’

Also, as an aside, notice how ‘100% more’ sounds so much bigger than ‘twice.’

Are there any clues that can help us tell when somebody is using numbers to deceive? Let’s start by looking at the accuracy. Does the claim appear to have a suspiciously high degree of precision?

Look at the old classic that “37.4% of all statistics are made up on the spot.”  Note that number. Not ‘a lot’ or ‘most’ but an absolutely precise number accurate to the first decimal point so it feels as if it must be true. But, of course, it is not.

Another example can be gleaned from when the anti-communist McCarthy told the United States that there were 57 card carrying members of the Communist Party in the State Department. Were there? It’s highly unlikely, but who could prove it one way or the other? Card carrying members of the Communist Party would have tended not to advertise the fact (did they even actually ‘carry cards’?), and it is now widely accepted that his ‘fact’ was a blatant lie.   But because of the precision … not ‘several’ or even ‘about fifty’ but precisely ‘57’ … people felt he must be telling the truth. After all, if anybody could be that accurate they must have knowledge of the facts unknown to the rest of us.

That leads us to the second clue: the credibility of the number.  How could anybody even calculate what percentage of statistics is made up? But sales people, in particular, use this sort of trick all the time.

For instance, a certain beauty product promises to make your eyelashes, “twice as luscious.”  But can anybody tell me the International Standard measurement of lusciousness?   Because I’ve looked and I can’t find one.  If one cannot measure ‘lusciousness’ how can anyone suggest any degree of increase?  So the claim must be at least suspect, if not totally false.

Even statistics that appear to be superficially accurate can be used to mislead.  For instance, the UK Advertising Standards Authority ordered Colgate to stop claiming that, “More than 80% of dentists recommend Colgate” even though this was, in fact, true.  The deception here is that the ‘80%’ claim implies that only 20% of dentists would recommend other brands and what the company had failed to reveal was that in their survey they had given dentists a list and allowed them to choose more than one.  So, whereas it was true to say that “More than 80% of dentists recommend Colgate,” it was possible that the same number – or even more – would recommend other brands as well!

And a final clue of deception might be the credibility of the claimant.  For instance, if it’s made by a politician … well, enough said.

*****************

WE NEED YOU!!!Seeking guest posts! If you have an idea for a guest post, or have already written something, please submit it to me at bigwords101@yahoo.com or through the Contact tab on the website. What should you write about? Anything related to grammar, language, words, books (book reviews accepted), personal stories of interest, etc.