Intro This article was started as a reply to a Facebook post, one asking for better grammar. It quickly escalated, and comments were turned off soon after. Still, it gave me material and thoughts for this post, though it wasn’t shared there. Not that simple For those annoyed with the...
Have to laugh at a grammar test that gives the following: You aced it!! You are a master of the English Language. Your English skills are phenomenal. You passed a test that only 2 in 50 Native English speakers do. You must be passionate about languages and the written word....
My grammar and general literacy skills aren’t as great as that of some of my friends, nor am I always as thorough in the proof-reading, but they do tend towards warm fuzzy feelings when I actually find a new or unfamiliar word in a book and have to look up....
See how you fair. I got The Enlightened Grammarian : You know your stuff when it comes to proper English grammar and writing, but you’re not overly traditional. Language does evolve, after all! Chances are high that you’re fascinated, rather than put off by, the verbing of nouns or the...
I managed 26/30 (Vicious Vocabulary Viper) and had to guess more than I’d like to admit. It’s not everyday you see some of the words listed and nearly a third of them I have either never heard of or was looking at wondering if it was archaic and out of...
The Chaos by Gerald Nolst Trenité, 1920. (Trenite also used the nom de plume Charivarius). The original had 146 lines and appeared in the appendix of his book ‘Drop Your Foreign Accent: engelsche uitspraakoefeningen’. What is said to be the most complete copy, as published by The English Spelling Society,...
According to the surprisingly detailed poll of questions I should be a fantasy writer. What is interesting is my first three books (unpublished and languishing in a box somewhere) were fantasy novels for the pencil and paper role-play market and fantasy is my preferred option for light reading. The novel...
DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION An analysis of Jasper Carrott’s stage routine over time, as compared to his written material, using his ‘Mother-in-law’ sketch. As well as being shown on TV, recorded live at Palladium (with London Weekend TV, if I recall), and since, it features on his album ‘Beat the Carrott’,...
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this project is to study and compare written and live sketches by comedian Jasper Carrott to find the relationship between the two and how, grammatically, the delivery develops over time. Specifically to find what effect, if any, constant repetition of an act has on the structure...
