WITH two continents, South America and Europe, at the moment totally absorbed with football and the fallout of their main competitions, it’s easy to see how heavily football, and other sports, influence our language. English is peppered with phrases and expressions that reference the sport, or sport in general. I could kick off with aContinue reading “A world of football”
Author Archives: whatstheword
Words that I always check
There are some words that I will always check. Their spelling or meaning don’t come naturally to me, however many times I come across them. I may not always check them in a dictionary or with someone else. At the very least I’ll do a mental check, usually against one of the rules – “fri-Continue reading “Words that I always check”
Who or whom
It was my friend Rhodri, when I asked for ideas on topics for this blog, who suggested that I could try to explain when to use “who” and when to use “whom”. It’s a problem I had struggled with also so I could see why it might be worth an explanation. I’ve always used aContinue reading “Who or whom”
My pet hates
There are some things that I can’t get used to, however many times I hear or read them – and however often people say they’ve become part of the English language. Sure, English, like any language, develops and changes as it hits the shores of different lands and mixes with other dialects and languages. ItContinue reading “My pet hates”
Sprung or sprang; swum or swam?
First published on April 28. Edited on April 29 THE death of Prince Philip gave the media another chance to tell the story of how he was considered some sort of a deity for a community of people on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. So it came about that I was listening to anContinue reading “Sprung or sprang; swum or swam?”
An “s” doesn’t always a plural make
“Premises” is one of those nouns in English which exist only in the plural form.
Getting it write? Why the right word matters
They used the hose to dig his garden; then they took the hoes to the far end of the garden to water the plants in the boarders. OK, that’s an extreme example above… and a made-up one. But if you do any sort of proofreading you’re bound to come across examples of how the wrongContinue reading “Getting it write? Why the right word matters”
Few or less? Much or many?
They’re questions that cause much debate. Should you use “few” or “less” when trying to compare two amounts? When do you use “many” and when do you use “lots of” or “much”? Even the best of us can get it wrong … headlines from a digital jobs website, above, and a UK newspaper The mainContinue reading “Few or less? Much or many?”
‘A’ or ‘an’
An honest or a honest politician?
An honour or a honour?
There’s a rule in English which says that the indefinite article before a noun beginning with one of the vowels – a, e, i, o, u – should always be “an”. If the noun starts with a consonant, the article should be “a”.
Playing with words
People like playing with words … especially if they’re searching for a catchy name for a business that they hope will make their millions. In most of these examples the “play” is produced by replacing a key word with one that sounds the same but is spelt differently – “barber” for “Baba” for example. TheContinue reading “Playing with words”
Whatstheword 