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Ten Words You Might Confuse: Confusing Words Part 2

Last week we talked about some confusing words, and we’re on a roll….here are ten more commonly confused words.

1. Anyway/Anyways: NO, anyways is not the plural of anyway! (Jut kidding.) There is no anyways. That goes for anywhere, everywhere, and somewhere. There are no anywheres, everywheres, or somewheres.

2. Bad/Badly: This is a tough one. Bad is an adjective. For example: Bad taste, bad dog. Bad describes a noun. Badly is an adverb and, as such, describes a verb. For example: I did badly, I play tennis badly. Okay, that is the easy part. But there is, of course, an exception to this rule. When you use certain verbs, called linking verbs or being verbs, you use the adjective rather than the adverb. These verbs include the verb to be  (I am, you are, etc.) and the verbs that can sometimes express emotions or senses (feel, taste, smell, look, sound). Some verbs can be either action verbs (taking an adverb) or linking verbs (taking an adjective), depending on how they are used.. Here are some examples:

The dog is bad.  (but The dog is behaving badly.)

I feel bad. (If you feel badly, that means there is something wrong with your fingertips.)

The pizza tastes bad. (Compare to the action meaning of taste: I taste the sugar in this.)

This meat smells bad. (Compare to the action meaning of smells: I smell the chocolate.)

This dinner looks bad. (Compare to the action meaning of looks: I look at the dinner on the table.)

The CD sounds bad. (Compare to the action meaning of sound: I sound the horn.)

Note: It is also proper to say I feel good. However, you can also say I feel well (an adverb) because well is acceptable meaning a state of health.

3. Bring/Take: These two words go in opposite directions. You take something away, but you bring it back.

4. By accident/On accident: It has always been by accident, but lately I hear young people saying on accident. After all, we say on purpose, right? But, as far as I know it is still correct to say by accident.

5. Capital/Capitol: Usually the word you want is capital with an -al. It is capital letters, and Sacramento is the capital of California. Capitol with an -ol is used to refer to the actual Capitol building.

6.Cite/Site/Sight: Cite is a verb meaning to refer to something: She cited the my new book in her speech. Site is a noun and refers to a place: There was an accident at the construction site. Sight is usually a noun, but can also be a verb: That is a great sight to see. I can sight the building from here.

7. Climactic/Climatic: The first one, climactic, comes from climax. The second one, climatic, has to do with the weather and comes from climate.

8.Cloths/Clothes: When I wash the car, I use cloths. When I go shopping, I buy clothes. These two words are pronounced differently. The first has a short sounding o, and ends with an s sound. The second word has a long o sound and ends with a z sound.

9. Conscience/Conscious: The first hurdle is being able to spell these words in the first place! Conscience is a noun, and is the thing that gets guilty and tells you that you may have done something wrong. Conscious is an adjective and means that you are aware.

10. Complement/Compliment: If you say something nice to me, you are paying me a compliment with an i. If you are telling me that my dress brings out the green in my eyes, you are telling me that the dress complements my eyes–with an e. Complement means to go well together.

Stay tuned for Part 3….more confusing words.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate. Happy weekend to all!

 

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Help! Which Word Do I Use? Confusing Words Part 1

In this post, we begin another series—commonly confused words—and there are quite a few of them! We’re still working on our Weird and Wonderful Words series too and have gotten up to O, so be on the lookout for the completion of that series.

But today we turn our attention to those words—or word pairs—that often stump and confuse. We will start at the beginning of the alphabet. 

1. Advice/Advise: These two words are different parts of speech and are pronounced differently. In advice, the c has an s sound, and the word is a noun. In advise, the s has a z sound, and the word is a verb. Examples:

I have some good advice for you.
Could you advise me on this legal matter?
 

2. Affect/Effect: This troublesome pair is the granddaddy of troublesome! Once again, these words are different parts of speech. Affect is a verb, an action. Effect is a noun, a thing. You can put an article in front of effect (the effect, an effect).  Examples:

The hot weather has a positive effect on my mood.
The hot weather affects me and improves my mood.
 

3. Allusion/Illusion: These words are both nouns, but have entirely different meanings. An allusion is a reference to something; its verb is to allude. An illusion is something you see that isn’t there, and there is no verb. Examples:

He made an allusion to Shakespeare in his speech about playwriting.
The water you sometimes think you see ahead on the highway is just an illusion.
 

4. Almost/Most: The general rule: If you can use almost in a sentence, use it. Don’t use most. When it is correct to use most, almost will not make sense in its place. Example:

Almost everyone is here by now. (Don’t say most everyone.)
Most of the pizza is gone. ( Almost doesn’t make sense there, so use most .)
 

5. Already/All ready: Already is an adverb that tells when. All ready is an adjective. Example:

 
Is it already time to go?
I am all ready to go.
 

6. Alright/All right: This one is easy. Always use all right as two words. Alright isn’t a word (or is a really slang word, so avoid it). Example:

Everything will be all right.
All right . I will go with you.
 

7. Altogether/All together: Altogether means totally or completely.This pair is best shown by example:

It is altogether too cold for me!
Let’s sing all together! (Or Let’s all sing together , where you split the words.)
 

8. Among/Between: These two words are both prepositions. Between is used when you are talking about two people or things; among is used when you are referring to more than two people or things. Example:

Divide the cake between you and your sister.
Divide the cake among the four of you.
 

9. Anymore/Any more: Anymore is an adverb that tells when and means any longer. Any more means additional. Anymore is generally referred to in a negative sense and sounds wrong when there is no negative in the sentence. Example:

I can’t find that type of candy anymore .  (negative can’t )
I don’t want any more pasta, thank you.
I wish I could find that type of candy anymore. (Not correct. No negative in the sentence. Sounds very weird to me, but I hear people say it.)
 

10. Anyone/Any one: Anyone refers to a person. Any one doesn’t necessarily refer to a person, and is generally followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with of.  Example:

Anyone can eat the leftover pizza.
Any one of you could probably fix the broken chair.
 

Stay tuned for more confusing words in future blog installments!

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  Coming Summer 2014!

A Toast to Words – Part 3

Photo from Pinterest

And here is the final (well, maybe) installment of A Toast to Words….perhaps there are some tidbits here that you didn’t know.

The word triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13.  It is related to paraskevidekatriaphobia, which is the fear of Friday the 13th.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. What is so special about that sentence? It contains all 26 letters of the alphabet and is often used to test keyboards.

What is the shortest sentence in the English language? Very likely, Go. (It is a verb. The subject is the implied [you] in the command.)

Brunch, guesstimate, and motel are words that have something in common. Do you know what it is? They are called blends. They are made by joining just parts of existing words (unlike a compound word) to form a new word. Brunch is breakfast and lunch. Motel is motorcar and hotel. Guesstimate is, of course, guess and estimate.

Where did the name for Oz in The Wizard of Oz come from? Its creator, Frank Baum, looked up at his file cabinet and saw A-N and  O-Z.  I guess An was already taken!

Do you know Donald Duck’s middle name? Fauntleroy.

H, I, O, and X are the four letters that look the same if they are flipped upside down or viewed from the back.

Q is the only letter that does not appear in any of the 50 state’s names.

Canada is an Indian word that means Big Village.

Underground and underfund  are the only words in the English language that begin and end with und.

Therein contains nine words without rearranging any of the letters: the, there, in, herein, here, ere, rein, he, her.

The letter combination ough can be pronounced in nine different ways. Here are the sounds in various words:  rough, dough, thought, plough, through,  Scarborough, slough, cough, hiccoughed.

The plastic sleeve sausage is sold in is called a chub.

Indivisibility has only one vowel repeated 6 times!

Do you know what the highest scoring word in Scrabble is?  quartzy!

 

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Weird and Wonderful Words (Part 4: l,m,n)

A neologist is one who makes up new words. Well, I am not a neologist, and these words are not made up, but they are less known than most words! This is the third installment of the Weird and Wonderful Words series. Check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. So here we go: L, M and N:

L

labtebricole – living in holes

lacustrine – of or having to do with a lake

laeotropic – turning to the left

lapidate – to stone to death

latrinalia – graffiti found in restrooms

lexer – a law student

limophoitos – insanity due to lack of food

liripipes –  a long scarf or cord attached to and hanging from a hood

lutrine – of, like, or pertaining to otters

M

maelid – apple nymph (no, I don’t know that that is!)

maffick –  to rejoice with an extravagant and boisterous public celebration

mammothrept – a spoiled child

marrano –  Jew who converted to Christianity to avoid persecution

meldropa –  drop of mucus at the end of the nose

misopaedia –  the hatred of children (aw, no!)

monomania – an obsession with one idea or interest

mosh –  to engage in uninhibited, frenzied activities with others near the stage at a rock concert (mosh pit – the place near the stage at a rock concert where moshing occurs)

mundungus – stinky tobacco

muriphobia – fear of mice

N

napiform – resembling a turnip

neologist – one who makes up new words

neophobia – a fear of novelty

nidify – to build a nest

niff – an unpleasant smell

noology – science of the intellect

nothosonomia – the act of calling someone a bastard

nucivorous – nut-eating

nudiustertian – pertaining to the day before yesterday

nupson – a simpleton or fool

 

 

 

 

Colon Alert: Something’s Coming…

If a colon (the punctuation symbol, not the internal organ) could talk, it would say,”Pay attention to what is coming.”  A colon is used to alert the reader that some important information follows. Here are the common uses for the colon:

Used in digital time after the hour to tell you about the minutes (10:45)
Used sometimes to introduce a quote that is a sentence or longer
Often used between the title and subtitle of a book in text (not on the actual cover)
Used between two sentences when the second sentence expands upon or explains the first one
Used after the greeting of a business letter (Dear Mr. James:)
And, of course, used to introduce a list, either vertical or horizontal

This post deals with the last one, using colons to introduce a list. First of all, forget about semicolons (;) right now; the semicolon is not used in any of the same ways as the colon. Colons (or occasionally periods, but never semicolons) are used to introduce lists.

I was once taught not to use a colon (but to use a period instead) unless the words “following” or “as follows” were used in the sentence introducing the list. Not really true. You can use a colon anyway. I was also taught at this time not to use following as a noun, because it is an adjective. Okay, generally true except Justin Bieber still has a following, as do the Beatles. But I digress. It is true that following should probably have a noun after it. For example

Please make sure you have the following: (okay)

Please make sure you have the following items: (better)

Horizontal Lists

Use a colon in a horizontal list when the information before the colon is a complete sentence. Otherwise, there is no punctuation. Look at these two examples:

Please bring the following items: pen, pencil, notebook, and laptop. (Since there is no complete sentence after the colon, no capital letter is needed.)

Please bring: pen, pencil, notebook, and laptop.

The second sentence is not correct. There should be no colon after bring. There is no stop there if you are reading the sentence, so do not put any punctuation in it. Correct: Please bring a pen, a pencil, a notebook, and a laptop.

Vertical Lists

You have a little more leeway in a vertical list. It is still best to use a complete sentence to introduce the list if you want to use a colon. If the introduction is not a complete sentence, you don’t need any punctuation. However, since the list is more separate in a vertical list than in a horizontal, you can get by with a colon. See the examples here.

Please bring the following items:

pen
pencil
notebook
laptop

Or you can say

Please bring (or Please “bring:” if you must)

pen
pencil
notebook
laptop

You don’t use any periods after the items in a vertical list unless they are complete sentences. And if one item in your list is a complete sentence, all items should be. They should also all be written with the same structure (called parallel structure). 

Sometimes people write a vertical list as if it were a sentence. For example

Please bring

a pencil,
a pen,
a notebook, and
a laptop.

I don’t personally like this method, but it is okay to use.

Here is an example of a list that isn’t parallel because one item is not a complete sentence:

In this seminar you will discuss these important things:

Marketing is a full-time job.
You need to use social media.
Proofreading your writing.
Blogging is very helpful.
It is important to develop your brand.

The proofreading item doesn’t belong. It is the only item that is not a complete sentence.

Here is another list that isn’t parallel because one item is structured differently:

In this seminar you will learn

how to market your project
how to develop your brand
how to create a website
blogging every day (doesn’t fit here!)
how to best proofread your writing

(You could have capitalized the items in the previous list if you wanted to.)

Here are a few other tips:

No, you don’t need to use bullets in your lists unless you want to. However they are effective.

You can use numbers if the order of your items is important, or the number of items is important or previously mentioned.

You can capitalize items in a vertical list even if they are not complete sentences.

 

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A Toast to Words – Part 2

 A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated National Grammar Day with a toast to words. Well, National Grammar Day has come and gone, but we still have some interesting word facts to share with you. (And it is Pi Day, after all!) Ready?

Did you know that language does change — and enough so that an educated person will not be able to read or understand words in his or her own language written 500 years previously?

Can you guess the number of actively spoken languages in the world today? 6,000

In England in the 1800s, pants was considered a dirty word!

Gadsby, a book written by Ernest Vincent Wright, has over 50,000 words in it (about 250 pages), none of which contain the letter e!

What is the most popular first name in the world? Muhammad

Six words in the English language contain a double u: vacuum, muumuu, continuum, duumvirate, duumvir, and residuum. 

Duumvirate is a government position held jointly by two people.
Duumvir refers to either of two magistrates of ancient Rome who held office jointly.
Residuum is synonymous with remainder.

The most common official language of countries is English. What is the second most common? French.

China has more English speakers than the United States.

Afraid of vegetables? You have lachanophobia.…now eat your broccoli!

No words rhyme with either orange or purple, which you probably already know if you have ever tried to write a poem!

Only one word in the English language ends with the letters mt: dreamt, a variant spelling of dreamed.

What is the most common letter in the English language? e

What is the second most common vowel? a

What is the most common consonant in English? r followed by t

What is the most common first letter of a word? s

What are the only two words in English that end in -gry? hungry and angry

Some words have no singular form: glasses, binoculars, scissors, tongs, jeans, pants, pajamas (Articles of clothing become singular when used as adjectives: pajama party, jean jacket)

The word alphabet comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: alpha and beta

Ever wonder what the dot over the i and the j is called? The superscript dot.

Maine is the only state whose name consists of only one syllable.

Only four words in the English language end with -dous: horrendous, tremendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

The longest word in the English language is a scientific word referring to a part of DNA (another long word) and contains 1909 letters!

AND the toughest tongue twister in the English language?

The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.  Say that three times fast!

 

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The Alien in Your Future

I now believe that aliens exist. And I believe that these shriveled-looking, green/gray, big-eyed, long-fingered creatures are a more advanced life form than we are. So, how do I know this? Read on….

I have been in the education field for 10 years. Many of my colleagues have been there much longer than I have and have seen many more changes than I. Generally, they say, the pendulum seems to swing back and forth, with this year’s “new idea” being something that they saw 15 or 20 years ago.

Progress is a given.  Well, I guess it is usually progress. Let’s say that change is a given. We see our world speeding toward ever more technology. We have smartphones, smart TVs, computers that recognize our fingerprints and our voices, and technology that does everything for us—and therefore  must be smarter than we are.

There have been many changes in education lately. Many. Now, I went to school quite a while ago. And while I live and teach in California, I was educated in Massachusetts. I feel that I got a good education. I think we might call the educations we got back then “classical educations,” which was a good thing—back then. We knew things: facts, formulas. We could recite the Gettysburg Address and maybe a poem or two. We read classics. We were graded on our handwriting. And our spelling. And our grammar. And  we knew about the explorers and the parts of the United States Government.  

Enough reminiscing….let’s talk about what is happening now. Please note that I am not commenting on whether or not I like what is happening. I think some of the changes are good. Perhaps what I dislike most is what is being dropped, not what is being added.  And, contrary to the intention, which is to make curriculum more rigorous, I think it is actually being dumbed down. And I guess, why not? Computers will be doing almost everything for us. So, our job is only to create the technology that can do these things for us. Who needs the Gettysburg Address?

So, let’s see…what is changing in the schools?

1. Cursive is out. Although seven or eight states have voted to keep it in the curriculum, cursive writing is not mentioned in the new standards.  It is not a “21st century skill.” And where it is left in the curriculum, it is taught in elementary school for a year or two, and then left. Cursive really needs to be practiced. SO? Well, research indicates that the process of cursive writing is good for brain development—better than either printing or typing. Cursive is also faster than printing, should your computer (God forbid) run out of steam or crash. Cursive is also a beautiful art. Back in the day, we learned printing, typing, and cursive. Now, students apparently cannot handle all three. Dumbing down?

2. Memorization is out. Math teachers agree that it is crucial for students to memorize the multiplication tables, although there has been talk of getting rid of that skill too. We have calculators! Forget memorizing any poems or historical documents—or the spelling of words.  Facts? Who needs them? The standards concentrate on critical thinking. I personally think you need some background information to think critically, not to mention the writing and speaking skills  (that seem to be currently lacking) to express those thoughts. SO: I hope that my surgeon has memorized which bone is which, and which medications are for which diseases, and what other medications they interact with. I hope my dentist knows which tooth is which. I don’t want to watch a Shakespearean play in which the characters have trouble memorizing their lines. I don’t want to see a lawyer who hasn’t memorized some aspects of the law. And it is nice to be able to recite a famous poem or quote—just to feel educated. I asked my students to memorize something. Many of them were overwhelmed. They didn’t even bother to try. Dumbing down?

3. Grammar is out. Diagramming sentences? Too difficult and who needs it, anyway? Parts of speech? Phooey! The standards say that students should know how to write using complex sentences and that they should know how to use clauses and correct punctuation. However, it doesn’t really say how and when they should learn any of these things.  At least in the grade I teach. SO: People who actually grew up diagramming sentences know their grammar. Today’s students don’t.  Both colleges and companies complain that writing well is a huge issue. I taught a group of accountants who said that about 90 percent of their jobs consist of writing! Diagramming sentences? Spelling correctly? Too difficult. Dumbing down.

4. STEM. This acronym stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. No, there is no A for art, and the E doesn’t stand for English. This is the push in education today because this is where the jobs are: creating technology that can do the other stuff for us. SO: All the great ideas in the world are meaningless if you can’t express them understandably in writing and speaking. Besides, someone has to know spelling and grammar to program all these technological devices that are going to do it all for us. Writing? Too difficult. Dumbing down.

5. The SAT is being changed. In 2006 the Scholastic Aptitude Test, generally a requirement for applying to colleges and thought to be a predictor of college success, added a writing test to the math and English language bubble sections. Now, it is 2014 and the writing section is being “optional.”  The scoring of the test is back to 1600 (800 for math and 800 for verbal) and the writing, if done, will be graded separately. Why is the writing not required? Who knows? I guess we don’t need writing. Bubbling is so much easier.  This is a bit unusual because in the public schools K-12, bubbling is being removed in favor of short answers and essays on the standardized tests. Of course, a computer is going to score these essays. How? Who knows? In some of this writing, spelling and grammar won’t count, anyway. In addition, guessing  on the SAT used to be penalized. No more. Guess all those bubbles and you might just get a good score—perhaps the answer is always C, after all! Oh, and the vocabulary is being simplified….no more of those big words you never use. Actually, I see those words used all the times in books. Oh, what’s a book? Dumbed down.

Oddly enough, I also read yesterday that the ACT, another college entrance exam, is becoming more popular than the SAT, which strikes me as odd, since two weeks ago I  read that the ACT was being discontinued. 

Now what does this all have to do with aliens? I thought you would never ask!

Look at the picture of the alien:

Gigantic eyes: We will be needing those eyes to stare at the computer screen all day doing our 21st century jobs, which will consist of developing newer and better technology to do everything else for us, giving us time to continue creating new technology. These big eyes will not get eyestrain from staring at a screen all day.

Long fingers: We don’t need them to write, so we don’t need five of them, with fingers that can grasp a pencil. These long fingers fit well around a mouse and can really work a keyboard!

Big head: I am not sure it is a big head so much as  a small and shrunken body. Muscle wasting from no activity. Sitting in a chair all day in front of a screen won’t do much for your physique. You won’t really need anything more than eyes and fingers, anyway.

Greenish/gray color: Sun? What sun? You’d look greenish gray if you never got outside in the sun either! Your shrunken legs and body wouldn’t have the strength to get you outside, anyway. And there’s always Facebook if you need to see your friends.

So…that is the alien in your future!

The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite. – Thomas Sowel

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National Grammar Day Is March 4! A Toast to Words!

 According to Webster, grammar is

1. that part of the study of language that deals with the forms and structure of words (morphology), with their customary arrangement in phrases and sentences (syntax),  and now often with language sounds (phonology) and word meanings (semantics)

2. the system of a given language at a given time

3. a body of rules imposed on a given language for speaking and writing it

Who started grammar, anyway?

The analytical study of language began in both Greece and India in the second half of the first millennium BC.  While in Greece it began as the study of written language, in India it included the transmission of recited Sanskrit as well as written language.

The present-day study of grammar comes from Greek tradition, where is was linked with both logic and rhetoric. Plato and Aristotle can be blamed for helping form the foundation for the discussion of the parts of speech, as they were very interested in language.

However, grammar as a formal system was first developed by Greek scholars in Alexandria (Egypt).

Thank you to http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/gra... for the information in this section!

So where did English come from? Any why bother with grammar?

English is a hodgepodge of other languages. Beginning as a Germanic language used by Anglo-Saxon immigrants, English also contains influences from Latin, French and Celtic.

The purpose of grammar rules is to make language understandable.  English is thought to be one of the most difficult languages to master, containing over a million words and, as we know, lots of irregularities. Without grammatical rules to define sentence structure, word usage, punctuation (we can call punctuation a part of grammar), and the like, there might be literary chaos!

Thank you http://www.ehow.com/about_6592206_eng... for some of the information in this section.

And now for the fun part: Some fun fact about words. Did you know

A sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet is called a pangram.
The word uncopyrightable is the longest word in the English language (in common use) that contains no letter more than once.
The word checkmate in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” meaning “the king is helpless.”
Typewriter is the longest word that can be made using the letter on only one row of the keyboard.
The names of all the continents end with the same letter they start with (and they appear to be all vowels as well, mostly a‘s).
Stewardesses is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
The word set has more definitions than any other word in the English language.
Facetious, abstemious, and arsenious contain all the vowels in the correct order.
Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when being typed.
The is the most frequently used word in the English language (not too surprising).
Deeded is the only word that is made using only two letters three times each.
Queueing is the only word containing five consecutive vowels.
Lollipop is the longest word that can be typed using only one hand (the right).
You speak about 4800 words a day.
Pinocchio is Italian for pine head.
The Cambodian alphabet is the world’s largest, with 74 letters.
The longest one-syllable word in the English language is screeched.
The word lethologica is the “state of not being able to remember the word you want.”
The longest place name still in use is a New Zealand hill named: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwe-nuakit natuhu
And if #19 scared you, the word meaning the fear of long words is: hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Stay tuned to this blog for more word fun facts in the months to come!

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I Think; Therefore I Am: “However” and “Therefore”

Did Descartes really use the semicolon here??

The words however and therefore are adverbs. However (as you can see right here), they are also connecting words, joining what comes right before them to what is right after them.

However often functions as a conjunctive adverb, kind of a hybrid part of speech! And according to Webster, therefore is an adverb often used with “conjunctive force.”

There is no problem when these two words are at the beginning of a sentence. They are generally followed by a comma, and they refer to the sentence right before them:

I failed the test. Therefore, I will have to take it again.

I passed the test. However, the last time I took it I failed.

Can you use a semicolon before them rather than a period? Yes, since the two sentences are likely to be closely related, using a semicolon and a lowercase letter is also fine:

I failed the test; therefore, I will have to take it again.

I passed the test; however, the last time I took it I failed.

Okay. What about using therefore or however in the middle of a sentence and using commas around it? Is that right?

Sometimes. It depends. In the above examples with the semicolons,  we have used therefore and however in the middle of a sentence; however, we have used a semicolon before them. A comma would not be correct. 

Now look at these sentences:

1. Wherever you go, however, your problems will follow you.

2. I am moving to the East Coast, however, and if my problems follow me, so be it!

3. I need a babysitter and, therefore, will not be attending the wedding. 

Those are correct. These are wrong:

4. I am going to Paris, however, my sister isn’t.

5. I need a babysitter, therefore, I am not going.

What’s the difference? In the five examples above, take out the however or therefore. If everything is punctuated correctly without those words, you are okay. However, if you are left with a run-on sentence, you need a period or a semicolon. Let’s check the examples above by taking out however or therefore.

1. Wherever you go, your problems will follow you. This sentence is fine, so you can safely put however within commas.  It is simply a sentence interrupter.

2. I am moving to the East Coast, and if my problems follow me, so be it. This sentence is also fine, so commas around however are fine.

3. I need a babysitter and will not be attending the wedding. Also fine.

4. I am going to Paris, my sister isn’t. Not okay. You cannot use commas around however here.  You need two separate sentences or a semicolon (or conjunction). 

5. I need a babysitter, I am not going. Not okay. You cannot use commas around therefore here. You need two separate sentences, a semicolon, or the addition of a conjunction.

By the way, many people make a similar mistake with the word then. Then is an adverb. It tells when. It is NOT a conjunction and cannot connect. 

I am going to the movies, then to dinner. Wrong.

I am going to the movies and then to dinner. Right.

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What’s Love Got To Do With It? A Valentine Wordfest

LOVE – It is both a noun and a verb.

The dictionary defines love (noun) as a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. That is just the first definition. There are many. And we know we can also “love” our cars, our dogs, gardening, reading, our new job, and our houses. 

The word love dates back pre-900 from Middle English. It came from the Old English lufu. Cognates include the Old High German luba and Old English lufian, as well as Old Frisian luvia.

Synonyms for love include fondness, passion, tenderness, adoration, affection.

There are some interesting words that specify certain types of love and cannot be translated into English:

Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego) – This word describes the look shared by two people who are each waiting for the other to make the first move. Oh, you know that look!

Koi No Yokan (Japanese) – This word describes the feeling upon meeting someone that love is in the cards, in time.  Not quite love at first sight, but almost!

Retrouvailles (French) –  This is the happiness you feel when reuniting with a love after a long separation.

Onsra (Boro language of India) – This word means to love for the last time.

Ya’aburnee (Arabic) – I do not even want to imagine life without you!

Although there is only one word for love in English (save the not-quite-right synonyms),  Sanskrit tops them all with 96 words. Ancient Persian has 80, and Greek 3. 

The suffix -phile means a lover of or enthusiast of. Bibliophile is a fairly common word meaning someone who loves books. And the word audiophile has been around for quite a while to describe someone who is an enthusiast of speakers and other audio equipment (love in a hobby kind of way!)

There are many other interesting words with the -phile suffix. Some are not immediately clear from the root word: for example, bookphile might be clearer to many people than bibliophile. By the way, -phile comes from the Latin philus  and the Greek philos  (dear, beloved).

autophile – Jay Leno, for example! A car enthusiast.

acidophile – An organism that thrives in acidic conditions.

bulbophile – A person obsessed with bulb plants!

caninophile – Yup, dogs! That defines many of us.

cryophile – An organism that thrives at low temperatures. 

computerphile – Yes, I think that for most of us, it is a love/hate kind of thing.

discophile – One who loves records (remember those?). Apparently not one who loves the disco!

foodophile – OK, I admit it!

galanthophile – An enthusiastic collector of snowflakes.

hippophile – Someone who loves horses (not hippos?).

Lusophile – One who loves the Portuguese language and culture.

ostreaphile – A love of oysters.

paperphile – Yup. That is what it means!

pogonophile – One who loves or studies beards. (It takes all kinds; and I love beards!)

retrophile - One who loves things from the past.

taphophile – One who is interested in cemeteries, funerals, and gravestones.

turophile – A lover and connoisseur of cheese.

umbraphile – One who loves seeing eclipses.

xenophile - Lover of foreign cultures and people.

And that is your lesson on love. Happy Valentines Day from The Grammar Diva!

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