THE prime reason we write is to communicate with others. This applies whether it be with one other person or with the masses devouring the latest scandal or disaster. Nowhere is this more true than in the print media. Newspapers need to be quickly and clearly understood by the widest possible audience. No going back to check the meaning, no hesitating over awkward phrasing. Clarity is everything. The onus on the writer is to ensure readers can understand what is written with ease and without question. Immediate comprehension is the goal. Unfortunately, such seemingly simple aims are not always achieved. Continue reading
Picture courtesy Elijah Hail, Unsplash WHAT is it about proofreading and editing that academics find so hard to understand? Yet again a university student has requested my help in preparing their thesis for submission. And yet again, and much as I would welcome the work, I have had to say… 
It was only a few days ago that I suggested many of the words and phrases that have already become lingua franca during the recent global crisis were sure to be well in the running for selection as Word(s) of the Year. Place your bets … Since then we have… 
WHAT is it about apostrophes that is so difficult to understand? Yes, I am well aware it’s a question that has been asked hundreds of times before. But we remain none the wiser – certainly not those who scatter them hither and thither like seeds on the wind. Nor those…