Arlene Miller's Blog, page 2

Two-Faced Words: Contronyms

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Contronyms (also spelled contranyms) are words that are their own opposites: For example, clip can mean to attach or to cut off. Contronyms are also known as janus words, antagonyms, and autoantonyms.

Here are some examples:

Bolt -to secure in place OR to flee quickly

Bound – going somewhere OR tied up and restricted from going anywhere

Cleave – to split apart OR to cling together

Consult – to offer advice OR to ask for it

Disciplined – well-behaved OR punished

Dust – to remove dust OR to sprinkle dust

Execute – to carry out (a task) OR to kill

Fast – quick OR firmly fixed and immobile

Finished – completed OR destroyed (as in “You’re finished!”)

Go – to proceed OR  to collapse (e.g., “The toaster is about to go.”)

Hold up – to support OR to delay

Lease – to rent out OR to rent from someone

Left – departed from OR remaining behind

Left off – started again where you stopped OR excluded

Oversight – careful management OR missed detail

Out -visible (e.g., stars are out) OR invisible (lights are out)

Pop – to suddenly appear OR disappear ( the balloon popped)

Resign – to quit a job OR to sign again (little different pronunciation)

Sanction – to permit OR to penalize

Screen -to display OR to hide (as in screening a movie vs. screening from the sun)

Seed – to plant seeds OR to remove seeds

Sick -Ill OR awesome (slang)

Stone -to pelt with stones OR to remove stones from (as in fruit)

Strike -to hit OR to miss (as in baseball)

Throw out – to discard OR to propose (e.g., an idea)

Trim – to decorate OR to remove excess

Weathered – withstood OR worn down by exposure

Wind up – to end OR to get started (as in winding up a toy)

 

 

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15 Words You Might Not Know

Image by Ribhav Agrawal from Pixabay

You might not use these strange, often antiquated, words very often. Do you know what they mean? Choose the correct meaning from the three options. Then scroll down for the answers!

Bumfuzzle – 

Nonsense   2. To confuse  3. An excessively talkative person

Callipygia –

A type of bagpipe    2. Having well-shaped buttocks   3.  A deceitful person

Defenestration – 

Spitting while speaking    2. Act of stretching or yawning  3. Act of throwing someone out of a window

Doodle Sack – 

Old word for  bagpipe   2. An armpit   3. A situation in chess where every move is a bad one

Erf – 

To gulp down something quickly  2. A lawyer who handles petty cases  3. A plot of land in a town

Gardyloo – 

A  public restroom  2. A warning shouted before throwing waste from a window  3. Antique toilet

Jiggery-pokery – 

Nonsense   2. Deceitful behavior  3. A small quantity of something left over

Limerence – 

A short poem that rhymes  2. Infatuation with another person  3. Stomach rumbling

 Mumpsimus – 

Whispering or murmuring    2. Shrewd or unprincipled person  3. Stubborn person 

Nudiustertian – 

 On time  2. Relating to undergarments  3. Relating to the day before yesterday

Oxter – 

The lower back   2. The kneecap   3. The armpit

Pettifogger – 

Someone who speaks about things they don’t understand  2. A shred, unprincipled person  3. A lawyer who handles petty cases

Snollygoster – A dirty, unkempt child  2. A crooked lawyer  3. An unprincipled person

Wamble – 

To stumble and fall   2. A stubborn person   3. Stomach rumbling

Zenzizenzizenzic – 

An alphabet with many letters   2. A word with two zz’s in a row  2. The eighth power of a number

 

Scroll down for the answers

 

keep going

keep going

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Bumfuzzle – To confuse 

Callipygia -Having well-shaped buttocks

Defenestration – The act of throwing someone out of a window

Doodle Sack – Old word for a bagpipe

Erf – A plot of land in a town 

Gardyloo – A warning shouted before throwing waste from a window

Jiggery-pokery – Deceitful behavior

Limerence – Infatuation with another person

 Mumpsimus – A stubborn person 

Nudiustertian – Relating to the day before yesterday

Oxter – The armpit

Pettifogger – A lawyer who handles petty cases,

Snollygoster – An unprincipled person 

Wamble – Stomach rumbling

Zenzizenzizenzic – The eighth power of a number

 

 

 

Binomials in Math and English?

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A binomial is a mathematical expression consisting of two terms: x + y is a binomial. 3 x 7 is a binomial.

There are also binomials in language, and they are basically the same. A binomial comprises two words that go together in an idiomatic expression, such as up and down.

Binomials in language have these characteristics:

They are usually connected by a conjunction, generally and, but there are exceptions: black and white, but coffee or tea, sad but true, step by step  They are generally the same part of speech, usually both nouns or both adjectives, but not always: bread and butter (nouns); black and white (adjectives); in and out (adverbs).They are idiomatic: The two words go together as a single unit of meaning, even though each of the words can be used on its own. The order of the two words is significant. The expression sounds weird if the two words are reversed: butter and bread; out and in; clear and loud.

Here are some binomial expressions. Can you think of more?

All or nothing – either full success or total failure

Back and forth – moving in one direction and then the opposite repeatedly

Bacon and eggs – breakfast

Bits and pieces – small things or parts

Black and white – clearly defined, with no ambiguity

Bread and butter – main source of income or basic needs

Bright and early – very early in the morning

By and large – generally speaking

Come and go – appear and disappear repeatedly

Cut and paste – computer instruction

Dos and don’ts – rules or guidelines

Down and out – very poor or defeated

Fast and furious – very much so

First and foremost – most important

Flesh and blood – close family or basic humanity

Give or take – approximately; more or less

Give and take – mutual compromise

Ham and eggs

High and dry – left without help or support

High and mighty – arrogant or overconfident

In and out

Law and order – a well-organized society following rules

Life and death – very serious or critical situation

Live and learn – learning through personal experience

Loud and clear – very clear and easy to understand

More or less – approximately

Now and then – occasionally

Odds and ends – miscellaneous things

Out and about – active or going from place to place

Over and out – done speaking

Peace and quiet – calm and without stress or distractions

Pick and choose – select freely from among many options

Pros and cons – advantages and disadvantages

Ready and willing – ready to go

Right and wrong – clear moral choices

Rise and fall – growth followed by decline

Rough and ready – not perfect, but good enough

Safe and sound – unharmed and secure

Salt and pepper – spices, hair color

Sick and tired – extremely annoyed or fed up

Sink or swim – succeed or fail without help

Skin and bones – extremely thin

Short and sweet – brief but pleasant

Step by step – gradually, one stage at a time

Sweet and sour – flavor

Touch and go – uncertain or risky situation

Trial and error – learning by trying and failing

Trials and tribulations – problems, challenges

Wait and see – be patient and observe what happens

Wear and tear – damage from regular use

 

 

 

 

 

Book Recommendations — or Not

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay

So, here is what I have read since I last did a book post, according to Goodreads, where I keep track of my reading (since otherwise, I might not know what I have read, and I might read it again by mistake!)

Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams – I read this one really quickly, skimming through much of it, because I had to read it for a book club about banned books. I had not left enough time to read it. The club is based in California and I am in Florida, so the club meets online at 10 p.m. my time. A little late for me. It was on my calendar, and I knew about the meeting all day. Then, at 11:30 p.m. as I was sitting in bed, I realized I had completely forgotten the meeting. So I never did find out why this book is banned and where. In any case, I thought it was a very good read. You may not like it if you are on the political right. Much of it is about voter suppression and our fight for democracy and fair elections, and I found it pretty scary. I recommend it. Four out of five stars

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman – This one was recommended by someone who sent me a message about it. I don’t remember who it was, but I trusted their judgment. I didn’t love it, but I did get through it. It is about two college roommates who decide to backpack over the world after they graduate in 1986. They begin in the People’s Republic of China. From culture shock to government surveillance, they find they are in way over their heads. Partly comedic and partly thriller, it received three of five stars from me. 

A Girl from Lynn by Evelyn Elwell – I went to high school with Evelyn. She has written a great book that is of course interesting to those who are from Lynn, Massachusetts, about 12 miles north of Boston. Lynn was the home of the shoe industry, which my maternal grandfather was a part of. The book is about a 16- year-old girl who lives in Lynn in the 1850s. She wants to attend college and become a teacher, but life has other plans. She is sidetracked by a family accident, the fight for labor unions, and the Civil War. This book is a great read. I gave it five stars.

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore – Another outstanding read! This book was recommended by a friend who was reading it for her book club. It takes place in the 1930s with young girls who were “lucky” enough to get jobs painting watch dials with radium, the new craze that was supposed to have great medical properties and be completely safe. The girls actually glowed with radium power all over them, and they used their mouths to make the brush points nice and thin. These girls started to develop a variety of odd symptoms, yet the companies denied any issues with the radium. Eventually, the girls went to court and were finally listened to. Although many of the girls lost their lives, they did eventually win the fight.  Five out of five stars.

More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova – If you have not read Lisa Genova, you should. She writes novels that deal with mental health issues, such as dementia, and in this book, bipolar disorder. It is about a young woman who is finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder and wants to be a stand-up comic, against the traditional advice of her parents. The book is about her ups and downs with and without medication and how she deals with her diagnosis in her own way. Four out of five stars.

Manifest: Seven Steps to Living Your Best Life by Roxy Nafousi – Well you know how much I am fascinated with manifestation. This book is rated one of the best. Nafousi is called the Queen of Manifesting, but so are a lot of other people! I thought the book was fairly good, especially for someone unfamiliar with manifesting. It has tons of reviews on Amazon and is rated 4.7 there. I gave it three stars of five.

How to Read a Book by Monica Wood – This seemed like my kind of book from the title. It is a novel and is highly reviewed on Amazon with lots of reviews. It is about a young women recently released from prison after killing a woman while she was driving drunk, an older librarian who runs the prison book club, and the husband of the woman who was killed by the drunk driver. They come together one day at a bookstore, and their lives begin to intersect. I thought it was just OK, and gave it three stars of five.

Liberation Day by George Saunders – This is a book of short stories. I very rarely read short stories because I don’t really like them. However, I wanted to read something else by this author, who wrote Lincoln in the Bardo, which is a very weird book. I gave the book three out of five stars, but Amazon reviews were much better. He is compared with Kurt Vonnegut, but I loved reading Vonnegut. Frankly, I cannot remember any of these stories at all. But you might like it if you like short stories. He is an author of high regard. Just not mine. 

There is a book up on the other end; I just know it!

 

There’s a Bathroom on the Right!

Image by Valeria Lo Iacono from Pixabay

In the Creedence Clearwater hit, “Bad Moon Rising,” the line is,”There’s a bad moon on the rise.” But many listeners think it is, “There’s a bathroom on the right.” And if you give a listen you will understand why.  This mishearing is called a mondegreen.

The word mondegreen, means a mishearing of a popular phrase or song lyric. (Usually, but it can be anything; however, sometimes song lyrics are difficult to understand, so maybe that is why so many are from songs.)

It was coined by the writer Sylvia Wright. As a child, she heard the Scottish ballad The Bonny Earl of Murray and thought that one verse went like this:

Ye Highlands and Ye Lowlands
Oh where hae you been?
They hae slay the Earl of Murray,
And Lady Mondegreen.

Poor Lady Mondegreen, thought Sylvia Wright.  Years later, she discovered that what they had actually done was slay the Earl of Murray and lay him on the green. Wright then memorialized her Lady Mondegreen with the new word.

I think “for all intensive purposes” is likely a mondegreen. The correct phrase is “for all intents and purposes.” I think people mishear it and then say it wrong. It doesn’t make a lot of sense anyway, so it is easy to make a mistake with it. 

Here are some of the best (and well known, in many cases, mondegreens):

“Every time you go away/you take a piece of meat with you” (should be ” … take a piece of me with you,”) from the Paul Young song “Every Time You Go Away”)

“I led the pigeons to the flag” (for “I pledge allegiance to the flag”)

“Excuse me while I kiss this guy” (should be “Excuse me while I kiss the sky”) from “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix

“The ants are my friends” (for “The answer, my friend”) in “Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan

“I’ll never leave your pizza burning” (for “I’ll never be your beast of burden”) by the Rolling Stones

“The girl with colitis goes by” (for “the girl with kaleidoscope eyes”) in “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” by the Beatles

“The girl from Emphysema goes walking” (for “The girl from Ipanema goes walking”) in “The Girl from Ipanema,” by Astrud Gilberto 

“Hold me closer Tony Danza”  (should be “Hold me closer tiny dancer”) from “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John

“We built this city on sausage rolls” (should be”We built this city on rock and roll”) by the Starship

“Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul” (should be”Give me the beat boys and free my soul”) from  “Drift Away by Uncle Kracker

 “I like big butts in a can of limes”  (should be “I like big butts and I cannot lie”) from “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot

“Here we are now in containers”  (should be “Here we are now, entertain us”) from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana

“Kicking your cat all over the place ” (should be “Kicking your can all over the place”) from “We Will Rock You” by Queen

“Like a virgin, touched for the 31st time”  (should be  “Like a virgin, touched for the very first time”) from “Like a Virgin” by Madonna

“I guess he’s an expert, and I’m more an attorney” (should be “I guess he’s an Xbox, and I’m more Atari”) from “Forget You” by CeeLo Green

“In a glob of Velveeta, honey” (should be “In-a-gadda-da-vida, honey”) from “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (In the Garden of Eden)” by Iron Butterfly

 “If you change your mind, Jackie Chan, I’m the first in line, Jackie Chan”  (should be “If you change your mind, take a chance, I’m the first in line, take a chance”) from “Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA

These mondegreens caused changes that occurred to words over time:

would have done / would of done
spit and image / spitting image
Welsh rabbit / Welsh rarebit

Capitonyms

Image by Y. Wolf from Pixabay

A capitonym is a word that is sometimes capitalized and other times not, without having the same meaning. In other words, sometimes a proper noun or adjective and other times a common noun or adjective. I don’t know if any are verbs,  but I will check it out. So Rome and roam are not, but Turkey and turkey are.

Obviously many of these capitonyms are people’s first names. They can also be last names or names of places, etc. In this post, we are talking only about capitonyms that are people’s first names. Mine obviously isn’t one (Arlene), but my last name is. I guess the Miller surname came from us being millers. I grew up on Baker Street, but I don’t know if there were any bakers on the street (LOL).

I got these first names from a list of fairly common names. I also checked out a list of the 1000 most common baby names of 2025. Most of them were not names back when I was growing up. Of course, you can name your baby anything you want. There are no sanctioned first names. I wonder if Linda, Susan, and Barbara were ever considered unusual….

If you have any names to add to my list, please let me know. This list is not exhaustive.

Ace, aceAmber, amberAsh, ashAugust, august (majestic)Autumn, autumnAxel, axel (the skating jump kind)Banks. banksBasil, basilBeau, beauBill, billBrandy brandyBrook, brookCapri, capriCharity, charityChase, chaseChip, chipChuck, chuckClay, clayCrystal, crystalDaisy, daisyDale, daleDawn, dawnDean, deanDon, don (to put on)Drew, drewEve, eveFaith, faithFrank, frankGene, geneGenesis, genesisGrace, graceGrant, grantGuy, guyHaven, havenHazel, hazelHerb, herb (Hm….this one isn’t always pronounced the same)Holly, hollyHunter, hunterIris, irisIvy ivyJack, jackJade, jadeJohn, johnJoe, joe (coffee)Juniper, juniperKit, kitKitty, KittyLance, lanceLily, lilyMark markMay, mayMason masonMelody, melodyMisty, MistyNick, nickNoel, noelOlive, oliveOnyx, onyxPaisley, paisleyPat, patPiper, piperRain, rainReed, reedReign, reignRiver, riverRobin, robinRock, rockRose, roseRue, rueRusty rustySandy, sandySage, sageScarlet, scarletShea, sheaSienna sienneSummer, summerSunny, sunnyTeddy, teddyWade wadeWill, willWillow willowWren, wren

Oh, there must be more!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Summer Vacation

Image by luow from Pixabay

Nope. I didn’t go to Europe. I didn’t go to any island. Nor Australia or Iceland. Not a cruise. Not a road trip.

My “vacations” are generally flights to where I used to live to see people I haven’t seen in a while: That would be California or Boston. I grew up on the north shore of Boston and lived in various cities and towns around the Boston area for about 40 years: Winthrop, Lynn, Somerville, Allston, Brighton, Framingham, Natick, Worcester, N. Grafton, and Westborough. Then I moved with my (ex) husband and two small children to Petaluma, California, where I lived for about 25 years. Then I moved to Florida nearly 5 years ago. I never used to visit Boston unless my daughter was performing (Disney on Ice) there. I would visit California because my son is still there, and I had a lot of friends and acquaintances there. 

When I went back to Boston for two high school reunions (since I moved to Florida), I realized how many friends and acquaintances I have there. It seems that I now have more people to see there than in California: my best California friend doesn’t really keep in touch. Another moved to Washington State. My teacher colleagues I used to visit have all retired and scattered about. 

So, using a concert as impetus, I decided to go to Boston last week for several days. It was so hot there when I went that I didn’t even have to adjust my internal thermostat from the Florida weather. In fact, it was hotter there than in Florida. On the day that I left, it was 100 degrees in Boston and only 93 in Tampa, Florida.

I had an interesting mix of people to see in Massachusetts. The only person I contacted who couldn’t meet with me was going to be in Grenada. She and I were in mothers group together when our daughters were infants, and we — and they — became friends. Although I rarely see or hear from her, I know we are still friends. 

When I travel like this, I try to schedule my time with people beforehand. First of all, I am there to see people, not sightsee, and I don’t want to just sit in my hotel room. (I don’t really like staying with people.) Second of all, most of my friends don’t know each other, so I mostly visit with them separately.

No complaints about the flights even though traveling by plane, hotel, and rental car is a hassle, especially if one is traveling alone.  Not to mention expensive!

The first evening, a friend I met at work in the 1980s and I went to dinner, She and I reconnected quite a while ago, and whenever I go to Boston I see her. She is also one of the few people who actually prefers the phone to texts, so we talk on the phone fairly often. She and I are  sympatico. Very alike emotionally.

The next day I drove up to New Hampshire to see my college roommate. I had not seen her since my wedding in 1985, although we had reconnected on Facebook several years ago. Obviously, it was great to see her. We have led very different lives and continue to do so — and both of us have pretty must lost touch with the other four women we hung around with in college.

That night I had dinner with a friend I went to elementary school and junior high with. We had lost touch for many, many years, and had also reconnected quite a while ago. I remember that three of these friends had come to see my daughter in Disney on Ice when I went to see her in Boston. I am not sure if that is when we recommended. 

The next day was the Happy Together concert with a bunch of oldies groups. Six of us met for dinner and the show: The two I already mentioned, another friend from junior high and high school and his girlfriend, and a Facebook friend from high school.

I had lunch the following day with a woman I met on Facebook, but had never met in person. She and I are big fans of the same oldies group. I knew we would get along, and she was a lovely lady.

My final evening there was dinner with four people from high school. One was a friend who lived down here in Florida who moved back to Massachusetts in December, so I had not seen her since. She brought a friend who was an acquaintance of mine from  high school. Joining us was the friend who had gone to the concert with us and his girlfriend (incidentally, he was my 9th grade prom date). And then I invited another person from high school who is a Facebook friend, but not a close one, and none of us had seen him since high school graduation day…..and that was a long time ago!

One of the best parts of all this socializing is that I brought some people together. Two of my friends who didn’t know each other at all plan to socialize together; they live fairly close to one another. And the two guys at dinner realized they had both taught high school physics and chemistry — and were long distance bike riders. They are going to bike together. 

Someone always had to do a lot of driving, but we did it. My friends live all over the state and then some. I don’t know how many of you are familiar with New England, but my friends lived in Salem, Stoughton, Milford, and Lowell, Massachusetts; Newton, New Hampshire; and Johnston, Rhode Island. 

And I didn’t eat any lobsta! I don’t even think I had any fish!

Home again….and next, something grammary or wordy!

 

Are You A Slasher/Or Not?

Image by Jori Samonen from Pixabay

I am out of town this weekend, so here is a post from the Archives!

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The slash (/) did not make an appearance in the grammar book I used when I taught 7th grade English. The slash doesn’t make an appearance in any of the grammar books I have written. The slash does not make an appearance in the books I edit. However, some people apparently do use the slash, whether correctly or not, and whether appropriately or way too much. And the slash has  uses in many different fields, as well as many different names besides slash.

Sometimes the slash in writing means or. The slash should not be used where the word or could not be used in its place. For example

           The pass/fail option was tried at the school last year.

I would prefer to simply use the word or rather than the slash.  The above example is clear, but not all uses of the slash to mean or are quite as straightforward. And after all, or is only two letters!

Some writers use he/she, his/her, and him/her. I do not like that construction and would advise writers to use he or she instead. Better yet, rewrite the sentence to avoid needing the singular pronoun to indicate both genders. Although it is also acceptable to use they as a singular, I don’t like that either.

2. Sometimes the slash is used to replace the word and when joining two nouns. By replacing and with a slash, you suggest that both nouns are equally important. For example
          
          The mother/executive has very little free time. (This sentence means someone who is both a mother  and an executive, and both nouns are equally important.)

Using and instead of the slash here could be misleading and cause the reader to think we are talking about two different people, a mother and an executive (well, except for the use of the singular verb!). However, you can write the sentence without the slash by writing something like, “A mother who is also an executive has very little time.”

Obviously, I wouldn’t use a slash to mean and.

3. Slashes are commonly used in the  phrase and/or, indicating that the two options are not mutually exclusive. For example
          When you come to the potluck, bring a bottle of wine and/or an appetizer.     

I wouldn’t do this either. Why not just write it out? “When you come to the potluck, you can bring a bottle of wine or an appetizer. If you want, you can bring both!”

Notice there is no space between the slash and the letters on either side of it.

Here are some other uses of slashes:

1.Slashes are used in web addresses (URLs): http://www.bigwords101.com/blog

2. Slashes are used to indicate a line break if you are quoting a poem or song lyrics. When using slashes in this way, you do include spaces before and after the slashes. This use of the slash is acceptable and proper in any type of writing.

          Ring around the rosy / Pocketful of posies / Ashes ashes / We all fall down

3. Another use of the slash is to replace a hyphen or  dash to make a connection between words or phrases. For example

          The fantasy/fairy tale genre of books

4. Sometimes a slash is used in a two-letter expression such as w/0, meaning without. Another example is n/a meaning not applicable. Even the one-letter expression with is sometimes written as w/. This use of the slash would not be acceptable in formal writing, but could be used in a memo or in a chart or illustration.

5. This use of the slash may be antiquated, since proofs are not what they used to be before everything was computerized — however,  a proofreader marks changes in the margin and  separates the comments with a slash. 

6. Editors use slashes when marking a manuscript by putting a slash through an uppercase letter that should be lowercase.

7. In math, slashes are used to indicate division; they are also used in fractions, such as 3/4.

8. In bowling a slash is used to indicate a spare.

9. Slashes are used in dates, but not in formal writing. For example, 8-30-15 to indicate August 30th, 2015.

In addition to a multitude of uses, slashes have many other names:

The slash used by the proofreader is called a separatrix. The slash used when quoting poetry is thinner and is called a virgule. Fraction bar Solidus Stroke (when reading the mark aloud)

To sum up, the slash has very few uses in writing. Something can always be done to avoid using slashes. Some writers never use them. Some writers apparently use them liberally instead of dashes and who-knows-what else! But grammar books rarely talk about them because they really have little use in writing.

 

Capitalizing Titles: Which Words?

Headings, chapter titles, book titles, movie titles……these titles all require proper capitalization. Which words are capitalized in a title, anyway? Or, which words are not?

Here are some rules to help you:

1. The first and last words of a title are always capitalized, no matter what they are.

2. The articles a, and, and the are not capitalized unless they are the first or last words of a title.

3. The conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so are not capitalized unless they are the first or last words of a title. However, sometimes for, yet, and so can be other parts of speech. For can also be a preposition, but you don’t have to worry about that because little prepositions are not capitalized either! However, yet and so can also be adverbs, and adverbs are capitalized in a title. Here are some examples of yet and so:

I am so tired. (So is an adverb.)

I am tired, so I will take a nap. (So is a conjunction here; it is connecting two clauses.)

Are we there yet? (Yet is an adverb here.)

I am tired, yet I can’t sleep. (Yet is a conjunction here, a connecting word.)

You probably won’t have to worry about yet and so too much in titles. My guess is usually they will be adverbs in a title, unless your title is really long. So capitalize them.

4. Small prepositions of four or fewer letters (with four letters you have a choice of whether or not to capitalize) are not capitalized.

Common short prepositions: to, for, by, in, out, up, down, at, with, past, over.

Common longer prepositions (capitalize these): above, below, beyond, between, among, along, beneath, under.

NOTE: Although in is a preposition, if and it and is are NOT! These words need to be capitalized! If is a conjunction, it is a pronoun, and is is a verb.

Here are some titles that are capitalized correctly:

Tender Is the Night

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

Joy to the World

Somewhere over the Rainbow (or Over)

Woe Is I

The Best Little Grammar Book Ever!

Correct Me If I’m Wrong

Algebra Is Tough, yet Fun!

I that last title, yet is used as a conjunction, or connecting word, so it isn’t capitalized. It looks kind of funny to me. If all words except one in a longish title are capitalized, and it looks odd to you, you can capitalize all the words. In a title, ’tis better to capitalize a word when in doubt, than not capitalize one that should be capitalized.

Special Note: Is, Are, Was, Were, Be: These words are all verbs and thus very important and always capitalized in  a title. If you don’t capitalize these, the grammar police will be out looking for you!

Another Special Note:  These are standards, but other standards do exist. There are newspapers that capitalize only the first word of a title, known as sentence style. But book titles and other actual titles generally follow the standards I have outlined here.

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Manifestation – Part 5: The Coaches

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

So, do you want to manifest having lots of money? You might try becoming a manifesting coach. The going rate for one-on-one coaching seems to be about $330 an hour. 

Neville Goddard, the granddaddy of the Law of Assumption, has many followers who coach. These people also make YouTube videos to get their names out. Many of them also use Instagram and I think TikTok, but I don’t use those, so I see them only on YouTube. Most of them also have quite nicely done websites. 

In addition to one-on-one coaching, most of the coaches have online workshops and courses (usually not cheap either), and some do group coaching. A number of them have a paywall and you can join for extra content, a lot like Substack. However, most of them give a lot of free and useful content in the form of videos. Some do videos once a week, others nearly every day, others at random. Many of them have been doing this for a decade or more. 

So, is there a college degree in manifestation? A certificate? There is no one certificate you can get. I believe you can get a certificate from MindValley, which is a large company offering self-development and transformation. The people I listen to and watch all sound very intelligent and have a variety of credentials. To me, the most important criteria are that they themselves have successfully manifested, they have some type of education and speak intelligently, and that they resonate with me. Some coaches resonate with you, and others don’t. Some have degrees in therapy; others are energy healers; some have other college degrees; others have certification in things like neuro linguistic programming. 

Are these people for real or are they fakes? I guess we will never really know. They are obviously in business to make a lot of money, but I believe they believe in what they are doing, at least the ones I watch. Here are some of the coaches I would recommend (or have watched fairly consistently). And yes, you can get hooked on just watching videos for inspiration and do nothing about it. It could be best to just watch one or two. 

The first person I found was Shelly Bullard, a very attractive woman, who has a master’s degree in marriage and family counseling, I believe. She likes to pose for photos in nice clothes if you look at her website. She deals mainly in manifesting the SP (specific person). She has been going for a while, posts quite often- either longer videos or shorts –  and introduced me to Neville Goddard. But she is kind of a lightweight and repetitive. She apparently manifested her husband and baby when she was over 40 and worried about her biological clock.

Then there is Kim, who calls her business Core Union. I don’t know her background, but I think she had other businesses, in real estate or interior design. She deals also almost entirely in specific person manifestation and talks about soul mates and twin souls. She posts almost daily, shortish videos of under about 12 minutes. She is very repetitive and does not really resonate with me. 

I love Manifest with Genevieve. She posts about once a week and her main point is to teach us to manifest in a healthy way without becoming stressed, depressed, and frustrated. She speaks very intelligently, and I enjoy her videos. She does manifestation and intuitive healing. 

Amy Westmoreland has been at this a long time. She hadn’t been making videos when I first started looking for manifesting information, but she does make a lot of shorts now, and has some videos of her discussing manifesting on podcasts or other types of shows. She talks a lot about manifesting winning contests and meeting famous people. Her business is called Illuminating Joy, and she calls herself a Certified Master Coach. This could mean she has a Life Coach certificate. I wish she would do more videos because I really like her. She seems very trustworthy.

Tom Kieran of Be Something Wonderful drives me out of my mind. He jumps around with a whiteboard full of writing. I never really get what he is talking about. He has a lot of subscribers and is well liked, but….I don’t know. He seems to post nearly every day.

Missy Renee of Awakened Imagination is one of my three favorites. She calls herself a mindset and manifestation coach. She is the absolute expert on Neville Goddard and  makes videos explaining his lectures. She posts a few times a month, but she does have a weekly question and answer live video on YouTube that goes for about 90 minutes or so. I have been faithfully watching it every week, usually live. She is very intelligent  and very sincere. She manifested her specific person back after a couple of breakups as well as beautiful house in California with enough acreage and space for her other interest: kitten fostering. She often shows her adorable kittens in her Q&A. There is no paywall on the Q&A, as there is on Q&As of other coaches. I actually got an hour of coaching from Missy. I was not impressed, partly because of my own disbelief at the time. 

Athena Raven is another of my absolute favorites. An exotic beauty who lives in London, Athena has been studying and teaching manifestation for a couple of decades. She is very sweet, very clear, and very knowledgeable. She is well versed in several therapeutic modalities, including hypnosis. She used to post more frequently, but she now posts a long video once a week. She also has a paid subscription, which I don’t have, but I have thought about it. I believe it is a Discord group.

Athena Raven and Joseph Alai apparently manifested each other (it took a while) and are now together. I watched his videos before he was with Athena and didn’t care for them. I am not so sure about him now. He is a math and science guy, and has been working for a couple of decades on making manifestation a proveable science. He has gathered all kinds of data. He does his own videos and coaches on his own, but I believe they do the paid group stuff together and he and Athena appear together sometimes. I believe he has developed an AI Neville Goddard who can answer questions. That is behind the paywall.

Alison Coghlan is another of my favorites. She just began making videos a few months ago. She comes from somewhere in England. Her website is Know The Truth And Live Your Best Life, and it says she studied science and was a developer. I just looked at her site, and that has been around a while. She is full of common sense, and  she is very clear in her explanations. She posts every few days. Her coaching seems quite a bit less expensive than many of the others. Maybe I will try that!

Brittney,  the I AM coach. She doesn’t really resonate with me. She is too “out there” for me. Nonetheless, I do watch her.  She has a video about once every week or two. I think you either love Brittney or you don’t. I don’t. 

The Rosey Life. She calls herself Dr. Rose, and she does have a master’s degree in clinical counseling and was a therapist for over a decade. However, her doctorate is in metaphysics from The Universal Light, which I am unfamiliar with. She is also an ordained metaphysical minister. She isn’t really putting out manifestation videos any longer. She got tired of it and began doing videos of her day-to-day life. Then she started posting shorts. Now she has a very expensive video behind a paywall. She is a little elite, and you may or may not like her personality. I enjoy some of what shes says. She doesn’t really talk about manifestation so much as believing in yourself.

Neville Goddard – The best way to find out more about Neville is to Google him and/or read his books – or listen to his videos on You Tube. He has many lectures on You Tube as well as his videos. The problem with Neville on You Tube is that so many of the content is AI using his voice. It is hard to tell what is really him.

Same with Joe Dispenza. Dr. Joe is a former chiropractor. He is very, very well known in self-transformation and manifestation as well as self-healing. There are many videos of his clients’ healing successes. Otherwise, it is best to find a video where he is actually being interviewed and you can see him. Much of the other videos use his AI voice. He has week-long retreats that sound interesting if you can afford them. He has a big website you can check out. I spoke to someone who does something similar to Joe, and he said Joe is legit as far as he knows.

There are many, many more manifestation coaches. I have watched several of them — once or twice! I would recommend staying away from the ones whose videos are called, “Manifest a Text from Your SP in 7 Seconds!” It is easy for some of them to just copy the other ones even if they themselves are not very knowledgeable. And some of the not-so-believable ones have a lot of subscribers. Go figure.  And some of the best videos to watch are the success stories, which many of the coaches will read or talk about in a video. Success does apparently exist.

So, you are ready to go ahead and manifest — or stay tuned and next week we will return to grammar or words or something!