Posts Tagged ‘Enjoy English’

Enjoy English

Tuesday, October 8th, 2013
English shining linens in eggshell sheen.


English is a riot!

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

English is a complex human creation, and it is as quirky as those of us who speak it. We expect certain structural attributes: symmetry, regularity, consistency, and logical construction of words and phrases. In general, our language delivers well on these features, but occasionally, or even frequently, quirks surface. A whirlwind tour through some counterintuitive usages illustrates this point.


Enjoy English: Poetic Engineering

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Poetic license is liberating for an author. But how about coupling poetic freedom with some limiting constraints? Then you get poetic engineering. Such mental gymnastics have little practical use other than puzzles and writing practice.


Enjoy English!

Monday, August 13th, 2012



Hockey fans prefer English

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

The combination of consonants and vowels into a spoken sound is called a syllable. These are the building blocks of words. Wikipedia defines syllable as follows: (more…)

Selling Eureka!

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

My last few blog posts have dealt rather abstractly with selling and persuading. I will close this thread with a practice-what-you-preach example and apply the 8W model to communicate the value of my new book, Eureka! Discover and enjoy the hidden power of the English language. (more…)

Observe English Usage

Friday, August 5th, 2011

Communications are the foundation for humans to live together in harmony. Most of us would benefit from improving our communications skills. This should come as no surprise: Millions of teachers, parents, and supervisors emphasize this every day. Yet it seems like our communications skills are not improving. School-age children and young adults, aspiring workers, and even mature professionals seem disinterested in their communications skills. Plenty of good stuff is available to teach people who are motivated to learn. Therein lies the problem: lack of motivation. My contention is that people who really enjoy the English language are much more motivated to improve.


Enjoy English Puzzle #2: Anagrams

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

An anagram is a rearrangement of the letters in a word or phrase to form a different word or phrase. Corey, my dog’s name, is an anagram of Royce. Dirty room is an anagram of dormitory. Postmaster is an anagram of stamp store. And did you realize that stifle is an anagram of itself!


Dueling Heteronyms

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same but have subtle differences in pronunciation when used in different contexts or as different parts of speech. For example, it takes only a minute to explain the minute pronunciation differences in heteronyms. You will naturally pronounce the first instance min-it and the second instance my-noot. Imagine someone learning English as a second language trying to parse all these subtle inflections.


The motivation behind Eureka!

Monday, July 25th, 2011

English is a wonderfully diverse language. If you ask fifty different people to describe an object, an event, or an idea, you will get fifty different perspectives, each articulated with distinct words and style. There are no absolutes—no best writer, best speaker, best style—and no best words. However, there are patterns and principles of English usage that are generally persuasive and misusage patterns that are generally ineffective.