Good and Well

Good and well are often used incorrectly. The key is to remember that good is an adjective and well is an adverb.

Examples:

Old Blue is a good dog. (Good is an adjective describing dog.)
You've trained Old Blue well. (Well is an adverb describing trained.)
This is a good salad. (Good is an adjective describing salad.)
I can't taste the salad well because I have a cold. (Well is an adverb describing taste.)
You did a good job. (Good describes job.)
You did the job well. (Well answers how you did the job).

When referring to health, use well rather than good.

Example: I do not feel well. (You do not feel well today.)

Which is correct?

I'm over my cold and I feel well.
I'm over my cold and I feel good.

Both are correct. It is okay to use well as an adjective when you're talking about health.

Note: You can use good with feel when you are not referring to health.

Example: I feel good about my decision to learn Spanish.



With Linking Verbs and Action Verbs

Use adjectives (good) with linking verbs and adverbs (well) with action verbs.

Examples:

You smell good; that's a nice perfume. (Smell is a linking verb.)
Now that you took your cold medicine, you should be able to smell well. (Smell is an action verb.)
You look good. (Look is a linking verb.)
Look at this picture well. (Look is an action verb.)


Good job!
Job well done!





Sources: Blue Book of Grammar, Painless Grammar

Vocabulary

Increase your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's Weird Word is: noologist, and its pronunciation is: noo la jest.

Noologist is a noun meaning: the study of the human mind.


Who better to write a book about the mind than a noologist.

Vocabulary

Good Morning Friends! Oh how exciting it is to be back in the Blogosphere!

I want to thank everyone for your well wishes and also for the birthday wishes. It was a happy day! Of course I had to share that outrageously expensive diamond and amethyst tiara with you!



So after recovery and birthday fun and a lot of other stuff thrown in during my absence, this is a super HAPPY day, to be returning to all of my blogging buddies! I sure have missed you!


Okay, now on to business! I thought I'd start with a light post and give you a Weird Word today. CCP will be posting every Wednesday, alternating the infamous tutorials with the Weird Word and the Spelling and Thoroughness Challenges.

Increase your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's Weird Word is: mentimutation, and its pronunciation is: mentih-mu-ta-shun.

Mentimutation is a noun meaning: change of mind.

His mentimutation was a result of hours of pondering the facts.





Source: Luciferous Logolepsy

Vocabulary

Increase your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's word is: TRUCULENT, and its pronunciation is: truk-yuh-lunt

Truculent is an adjective meaning: feeling or displaying ferocity; deadly or destructive; scathingly harsh; aggressively self-assertive.

The small country is ruled by a truculent dictator who punishes anyone who publicly disagrees with his policies.

Swum

We all know that "swam" is the past tense of "swim." What about "swum?" It sounds peculiar and you rarely hear or see it used; however, "swum" is a word. It's the past participle of "swim." You use it when writing in certain tenses.

A trick to help you remember when to use "swum" is that past participles always come after a helping verb such as "have" or "had."

I have swum. (present perfect tense)
I had swum. (past perfect tense)
I will have swum. (future perfect tense)

Personally, I would re-word the sentence rather than use "swum." What about you? Does swum work for you?


Source: Grammar Girl Podcast


There are other such words that (in my opinion) just don't sound right. When they come up, I'll do a similar post on them.

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Because today's post is a mini lesson, I decided to include the following words of wisdom. I thought Steve's Three Rules of Life merited sharing with everyone.


Steve Jobs' Three Rules of Life ...

1. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

2. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.

3. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition - they somehow already know what you truly want to become.

Vocabulary

Increase your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's Weird Word is: FISSIPAROUS, and its pronounciation is: fi-sih-pa-rus.

Fissiparous is an adjective meaning: tending to break up into parts, divisive.

The reorganization of management can have a fissiparous effect on the rest of the company.







Source: Workman's Publishing

Thoroughness Challenge

Thorough Thursday is a post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors. The paragraphs with the errors corrected and highlighted in red can be found at the end of the post.

Note: The purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness. You're only looking for errors in spelling and/or grammar. Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation or sentence structure. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed.


Your Challenge today takes a look at how to pronounce "2010," and contains 6 errors. Good Luck!


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How do you say the current year? Now that we've reached double digits at the end of "2000," I'm sure you have heard people refer to the year differently. The to main contenders are "twenty-ten" and "two thousand ten." So which is correct?

Before the turn of the century, most people pronounced the years by combining the first too numbers and the last too numbers. So we had "nineteen fifty," nineteen eighty-five," and so on. After the turn of the century, we started commonly pronouncing the years the long way; "two thousand one," "two thousand two," and so on.

Now it seems that some people feel more comfortable continuing the trend--going from "two thousand nine" to "two thousand ten" --while the majority of people are eager to return to the old convention, happily moving on from "two thousand nine" to the snappyer sounding "twenty-ten."

The Associated Press has concluded that "twenty-ten" is the preferred choice. However, with all the decisions made when writing (or speaking), the pronounciation question is a style choice; making either pronounciation correct.


Now, let's see how thorough you are!


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How do you say the current year? Now that we've reached double digits at the end of "2000," I'm sure you have heard people refer to the year differently. The two main contenders are "twenty-ten" and "two thousand ten." So which is correct?

Before the turn of the century, most people pronounced the years by combining the first two numbers and the last two numbers. So we had "nineteen fifty," nineteen eighty-five," and so on. After the turn of the century, we started commonly pronouncing the years the long way; "two thousand one," "two thousand two," and so on.

Now it seems that some people feel more comfortable continuing the trend--going from "two thousand nine" to "two thousand ten" --while the majority of people are eager to return to the old convention, happily moving on from "two thousand nine" to the snappier sounding "twenty-ten."

The Associated Press has concluded that "twenty-ten" is the preferred choice. However, with all the decisions made when writing (or speaking), the pronunciation question is a style choice; making either pronunciation correct.

Sources: AP Stylebook, Grammar Girl

Vocabulary

Weird Word gives you an opportunity to grow your vocabulary with not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used words.

Today's Weird Word is: NEBULAPHOBIA, and its pronounciation is: neb-u-la-fo-be-ah.


Nebulaphobia is noun, meaning: fear of fog.

His business trip to London caused him to be anxious, because he suffered from nebulaphobia.


Ask people if they suffer from nebulaphobia. You're bound to get a few confused looks!





Note: The source for most of the words featured can be found at Luciferous Logolepsy. They are so obscure, I was actually unable to find some of them at a couple of common online dictionary references, such as The Free Dictionary.com.

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post consisting of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. Please do not list the errors you find within the post. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

Note: Names and places will NOT be misspelled, nor will there by any changes to punctuation. In addition, if there is a word that may have more than one accepted form or there is more than one accepted spelling, those also will not be changed. That would not be fair...the purpose of the Challenge is thoroughness, not technicalities.


This week your Challenge paragraphs continue with the history of blogs and blogging as they evolve and begin to immerge as the blogs we're familiar with today. This week you're looking for 11 errors. Good Luck!




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Original weblogs had to be manually updated threw multiple sections of a common website. The creation of the majority of tools that allow authoring and maintainance of articals posted in a reverse chronilogical order, initiated a much easier publishing process, for a less technical, expansive population. The result was the forming of a direct class for what is known as online publishing, which has given us the blogs we see today. Obtaining blog software like WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal are availible through a number of web hosting services. This provides blinding speed and instant reaction to any concern or topic on the "global podium."

Since 2002 blogs have gained notoriaty and credability for there part in braking, shaping and spinning news stories. It has become a way of throwing important infomation into the public limelight. It now, for all intents and purposes, drives mainstream media by forcing them to follow there lead. Blogging has become a priceless tool for quality communication and a way for intelligent people to provide intelligent and valuable insight, opinions and information.

In 1999 new software services like Blogger and LiveJournal were launched, making blogs much simpler to create.

Today, more than one blog is created every second and there are currently over 100,000 million blogs worldwide.

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Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how thorough you are!

Wednesday's Weird Word

Wednesday's Word is a weekly feature which gives you the opportunity to grow your vocabulary with a not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used word.


Today's word is: SCUNNER, and its pronounciation is: skun-er.

Scunner is noun, meaning a strong dislike; an aversion.

Personally, I have a definite scunner of spiders.

As a matter of fact, I was going to include a picture of a spider in this post, and I couldn't do it! I didn't want to "see" that all day! *shudder*

So, is there anything or anyone that you take a scunner to?

See you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word!

One Word vs. Two Words

Several words in our language can be spelled as one word or as two, depending on its meaning. Below is a list of a few such words, with sample sentences on how they are used.

Almost - all most
The plane was almost (nearly) three hours late.
We are all most pleased (all very much pleased) with the new schedule.

Already - all ready
The order had already (previously) been shipped.
The order is all ready (all prepared) to be shipped.

Altogether - all together
He is altogether (entirely) too lazy to be a success.
The papers are all together (all in a group) on your desk.

Always - all ways
She has always (at all times) done good work.
We have tried in all ways (by all methods) to keep our employees satisfied.

Anytime - any time
Come see us anytime you are in town, (one word meaning "whenever").
Did you have dealings with him at any time in the past? (Two words after a preposition such as at.)

Anyway - any way
Anyway (in any case), we can't spare him now.
If we can help in any way (by any method), please let us know.

Awhile - a while
One word as an adverb; two words as a noun.

You may have to wait awhile. (Adverb.)
You may have to wait for a while. (Noun; object of for.)

Everyday - every day
You'll soon master the everyday (ordinary or daily) routine of the job.
He has called every day (each day) this week.

Into - in to
He walked into the outer office. (Into implies entry.)
He came in to see me. (In is part of the verb phrase came in; to is part of the infinitive to see.)

Indifferent - in different
She was indifferent (not caring one way or the other) to the offer.
He like our idea, but he wanted it expressed in different (in other) words.

Maybe - may be
Maybe is an adverb; may be is a verb.

If we don't receive a letter from them today, maybe (an adverb meaning perhaps) we should call.
He may be (a verb) out of town next week.

Onto - on to
He lost control of the car and drove onto the sidewalk. (Onto implies movement toward and then over.)
Let's go on to the next problem. (On is an adverb in the verb phrase go on; to is a preposition.)

Someday - some day
Please set up a meeting with them someday next week.
Please set up a meeting with them for some day next week. (Two words when used as the object of a preposition such as for.)

Sometime - some time
The order will be shipped sometime (at some unspecified time) next week.
It took me some time (a period of time) to complete the job.

Whoever - who ever
Whoever (anyone who) is elected secretary should write that letter at once.
Who ever made such a statement? (Ever is an adverb.)


At times you'll find two words spelled as one, and the resulting one word is not a word at all, (a good example is alot). Our language has many such situations, rules, and exceptions to rules. This is why many people feel intimidated and frustrated by grammar.



Source: The Gregg Reference Manual

Wednesday's Weird Word

This a weekly feature where you have the opportunity to grow your vocabulary with a not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used word.


Today's Wednesday's Word is: GALIMATIAS, and its pronounciation is: gal-uh-mey-shee-uhs.

GALIMATIAS is a noun, meaning nonsense, or gibberish; confused, meaningless jargon; confused or unintelligible talk.

After several drinks, it was difficult to have an intelligent conversation with him, as most of what he was saying was galimatias.


Use galimatias in a conversation today! This one you could really have some fun with!


See you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word!




In appreciation to all who have served or are serving our country - THANK YOU and Happy Veterans' Day!

Remember to thank our Veterans today!

Spelling Challenge

It's Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge! And, at the very end of this post are the words that were misspelled in yesterday's Thorough Thursday challenge.

Do you have your sticky note and pen ready? Great! Let's get started! Write down the correct spelling for this week's words. As usual the answers are listed below.

NO PEEKING!


1. athiest
2. bellweather
3. concensus
4. dumbell
5. exhilerate
6. hierachy
7. innoculate
8. liason
9. occurrance
10. pronounciation

BONUS WORD
perogative

Now lets see if you can add to that collection of virtual stars you have!
As you know, If you spell all 10 words correctly
you get a sparkling GOLD star! (Isn't it pretty?)



If you spell the bonus word correctly
you get the prized, very special, much coveted and very beautiful
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star!


For spelling all the words, including the bonus word correctly
you get a GOLD AND a PURPLE star!
(And you ROCK!)



ANSWERS:

1. atheist
2. bellwether
3. consensus
4. dumbbell
5. exhilarate
6. hierarchy
7. inoculate
8. liaison
9. occurrence
10. pronunciation

BONUS WORD:
prerogative



So? How'd you do this week? How many of those stunning stars do you get to add to your collection? To those of you who earned stars...

Here is yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

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Early History

The practice of making extra copies of manuscripts goes back to ancient times; in Rome there were booksellers—Horace mentions the Sosii, who were apparently brothers—and the copying of books by trained slaves reached considerable proportions. With the introduction of printing into Europe in the middle of the 15th century, book publishing sprang into lively existence. The author, the printer, and the publisher of a work were sometimes all the same person, as in the case of members of the Estienne family in France in the 16th cent. The differentiation of printer, publisher, and bookseller appeared early, however, as patrons of literature had books printed for distribution and booksellers had their printing done by others to meet the growing demand.

The Emergence of Publishing Houses

The first important publishing house (1583–1791) was that of the Elzevir family in Holland. The Elzevirs were businessmen rather than scholars, and the business of bookselling grew as literacy increased. Concurrently, printing, publishing, and bookselling spread learning across the West. Religious controversy bred polemics, and arguments printed in broadsides, pamphlets, and books were handed out zealously and bought eagerly by partisans. An interest in knowing the future also increased the amount of literature issued by bookseller-publishers, and almanacs and the like were issued for the wider public.


*******************************************************************************Between the Spelling Challenge and the Thorougness Challenge, you all deserve a little recognition! So let's spread some of that famous Crystal Clear Proofing HAPPY and award everyone for their efforts with the fun, new SMILEY STAR!






And wishing you all a very

Wednesday's Weird Word

Wednesday's Word will be a weekly feature wherein I'll introduce a not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used word.


Today's Wednesday's Word is: NAUPATHIA.


NAUPATHIA is a noun, whose meaning is: seasickness.

She made sure she took medication with her on her cruise to help with her naupathia.



Try using naupathia in conversations! Have fun with it! See you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word!




Note: The source for many of the words I'll be featuring can be found at Luciferous Logolepsy. They are so obscure, I was actually unable to find some of them at a couple of common online dictionary references, such as The Free Dictionary.com. This one, however, is listed.

Apostrophe Use With Possessive Nouns

How to use apostrophes with possessive nouns can, at times, be a little tricky. Here are a few tips on how and when to use the apostrophe when forming the possessive of certain nouns:


SINGULAR NOUNS

To form the possessive of a singular noun not ending in an s sound, add an apostrophe plus s to the noun.

Crystal's blog
California's coastline

To form the possessive of a singular noun that ends in an s sound, be guided by the way you pronounce the word.

a. If a new syllable is formed in the pronunciation of the possessive, add an apostrophe plus s.

The boss's approval
St. Louis's airport

b. If the addition of an extra syllable would make a word ending in an s sound awkward or hard to pronounce, add the apostrophe only.

Los Angeles' freeways
For goodness' sake
New Orleans' restaurants
For convenience' sake


PLURAL NOUNS

For a regular plural noun (one that ends in s), add only an apostrophe to form the plural possessive.

Investors' objectives
The witnesses' contradictions
The United States' policy
Attorneys' fees
The agencies' rules


REMEMBER...
Plural nouns that end in s take only an apostrophe, while singular nouns that end in s take an apostrophe plus s, (unless the apostrophe plus s sounds awkward).

The bosses' office - plural
The boss's office - singular
Los Angeles' freeways - singular, but Los Angeles's freeways sounds awkward.


For an irregular plural noun (one that does not end in s), add an apostrophe plus s to form the plural possessive.

Women's coats
Children's toys


A good way to avoid mistakes in forming the possessive of plural nouns, is to form the plural of the noun first, then apply whichever grammar rule above fits:


Singular Noun------------Plural Noun------------------------Plural Possessive
boy----------------------------boys (regular)----------------------boys'
boss--------------------------bosses (regular)------------------bosses'
child--------------------------children (irregular)----------------children's
mother-in-law--------------mothers-in-law (irregular)-------mothers-in-law's



An additional note...
Now to completely confuse you, some constructions can be tricky. For example, the use of back-to-back possessives. Say, for example, you want to refer to the children belonging to two brothers of your father, (i.e., your cousins). The double possessive would be: My father's brothers' children. You could even have a triple possessive with: My father's brothers' children's books. Ouch. Obviously best to stick with your cousins!

Also, a more common problem is the use of a possessive form when ownership is involved. Take the example above of: mothers-in-law's. Obviously we're referring to a possession of two or more mothers-in-law. Rather than, The mothers-in-law's purses, you could opt for: The purses of the mothers-in-law.


ADDENDUM...
I'm including this excerpt, as you will note is also in the reply to Diane's comment. Whether to add just the apostrophe or the apostrophe plus s to possessive nouns, including names, is very controversial; there seems to be no absolute and clear-cut rule:

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, for nouns ending in s: "the possessive of most singular nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s, and the possessive of plural nouns by adding an apostrophe only...this practice is used in conjuction with the way possessive forms are generally pronounced." It goes on to add that, "...feelings on these matters sometimes run high..." thus ending in numerous exceptions and modifications to the general "rule."




Sources: Gregg Reference Manual, CMS, Grammarmudge

Wednesday's Weird Word

Wednesday's Word will be a weekly feature wherein I'll introduce a not-very-common and/or not-frequently-used word.


Today's Wednesday's Word is: SPRINGAL.


Springal is a noun meaning: a strong, young boy; an active, springy young man.

The farmer decided to hire a springal from the nearby village to help harvest his crops.



Try using SPRINGAL in conversations and see the response you get! Have fun with it! See you back next Wednesday for another new, weird word!




Note: The source for many of the words I'll be featuring can be found at Luciferous Logolepsy. They are so obscure, I was actually unable to find some of them at a couple of common online dictionary references, such as The Free Dictionary.com.

Spelling Challenge

Happy Friday Everyone! I'd like to invite you all sto stop by CC-Chronicles blog to read a little about yours truly. I'm very honored to have been interviewed for her first new Friday feature, "Welcome to the Weekend With..."
An opportunity for you to get to know a little more about the Crystal behind Crystal Clear Proofing!


Now, back to our end-of-the-week challenge! It's time to test those spelling skills again! Here are this week's words, followed by the answers.

Also, at the very end of this post are the words that were misspelled in yesterday's Thorough Thursday challenge.

Now remember...


NO PEEKING!

1. acquaitence, aquaintance, acquaintance

2. cematery, cemetery, cemetary

3. dillemma, dilemma, dillemma

4. equivalent, equivelent, equivelant

5. hienous, hieneous, heinous

6. minuscule, miniscule, minescule

7. ocurrance, occurrence, occurance

8. permmisible, permisible, permissible

9. pavilion, pavileon, pavillion

10. rememberance, remembrance, rememberence


BONUS WORD

symeterical, symmetrical, symetrical

As usual, for spelling all the words correctly
you get a GOLD star!



And, if you spelled the bonus word correctly
you get the prized, very special, and much coveted
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star!


For spelling all the words, including the bonus word correctly
you get a GOLD and a PURPLE star!
(Hooray!)

ANSWERS:

1. acquaintance
2. cemetery
3. dilemma
4. equivalent
5. heinous
6. minuscule
7. occurrence
8. permissible
9. pavilion
10. remembrance


BONUS WORD:

symmetrical





CONGRATULATIONS
to those of you who earned stars!

Now, here's yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

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The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Over the years traditions changed, and in America, people began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday.


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So, how'd you do? Be sure to check back next week for our Halloween traditions, and why we have them. As usual, I hope that you all have a very...

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Thoroughness Challenge

Thoroughly Thursday is a weekly post where I type a couple of paragraphs that contain spelling and/or grammatical errors, and your job is to find them. The same post is repeated at the end of Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge, with the errors corrected and highlighted in red.

This is on the honor system! No spending all day, printing it out, looking up words...you have to complete the challenge here.
Also, please keep the errors you find to yourself, rather than list them here within the post...we don't want to "help" anyone else inadvertently!

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be using exerpts from History.com on the origins of Halloween for the Thoroughly Thursday challenge. Today we'll look at its original origins and Halloween coming to America, and next week we'll look at traditions and why we have them. Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). This week's feature contains 13 errors. Good Luck!


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The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and nothern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts beleived that on the night before the new year, the boundry between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the prescence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic preists, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependant on the volitile natural world, these prophesies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Over the years traditions changed, and in America, people began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitous and religous overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatavily inexpensive way for an entire communty to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion anually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday.


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Be sure to check back tommorrow to see how you did!

Awhile and A While

A while is a noun phrase in which "a" is an article, and "while" functions as a noun meaning "a short period of time."

Awhile is an adverb meaning "for a while."
The word awhile has "for" built into its meaning.

Basically, the meaning is the same, it's the structure that differs.

A mnemonic to assist in determining which to use, is whether "for a while" could be used in the sentence, without changing its meaning, where you were intending to use awhile.

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Examples:


- "I'll speak with you awhile" is correct because you could also say, "I'll speak with you for a while."

- "I'll speak with you for awhile" is not correct because you're actually using the word "for" twice.
(awhile = for a while: "I'll speak with you for for a while.")

- "I'll prepare my blog in awhile" is not correct as you would not say "I'll prepare my blog in for a while."

- "Writing the blog may take awhile" is not correct because, "Writing the blog may take for a while" is not idiomatic English.
(awhile = for a while: "Writing the blog may take for for a while.")

- "I have relatives staying with me awhile" is correct, as you could also say "I have relatives staying with me for a while."

- "I have relatives staying with me for awhile" is not correct, as in actuality that would be saying, "I have relatives staying with me for for a while."

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The two-word noun phrase a while is more often the correct choice that is the one-word adverb awhile.

Most grammatical errors involve using awhile where a while would be the appropriate choice.

Again, remember the mnemonic of placing the word "for" before either choice. It's a nearly foolproof way of determining which is appropriate to use.




Sources: Gregg Reference Manual, Grammarmudge, AP Stylebook, CMS

Spelling Challenge

What happens to these weeks that I see out of the corner of my eye, literally flying by? Where do they go? Well, I managed to grab the last day as it was preparing to whiz by me, smoothed it out and placed a piece of it on this page. Because hard as it is to believe, it's once again time to test your skills with "Fun Friday's Spelling Challenge!"

And...here are today's words, with the answers below.

Also, same as that last week that flew on by, at the very end of this post are the words that were misspelled in yesterday's Thorough Thursday challenge.


Now remember...


NO PEEKING!

1. abundence, abundense, abundance

2. amateur, amatuer, ameteur

3. boundries, boundaries, bounderies

4. changeable, changable, changeble

5. commission, comission, commision

6. disasterous, disasterus, disastrous

7. embarass, embarrass, embarress

8. hemmorrage, hemorrage, hemorrhage

9. governor, govenor, govenor

10. millenium, milennium, millennium


BONUS WORD

mischevous, mischievous, mischieveous

As usual, for spelling all the words correctly
you get a GOLD star!



And, if you spelled the bonus word correctly
you get the prized, very special, and much coveted
Crystal Clear Proofing PURPLE star!


For spelling all the words, including the bonus word correctly
you get a GOLD and a PURPLE star!
(Hooray!)

ANSWERS:

1. abundance
2. amateur
3. boundaries
4. changeable
5. commission
6. disastrous
7. embarrass
8. hemorrhage
9. governor
10. millennium


BONUS WORD:

mischievous




CONGRATULATIONS
to those of you who earned stars!

Now, here's yesterday's Thorough Thursday post in its entirety, with the errors highlighted in red. (Oh my goodness, the dreaded red marks!) However in this post, and in the future, rather than just highlighting the incorrect word, I'll be highlighting it and replacing it with the correct word and/or spelling (as should have been done last week)!
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It's hard to believe that summer is behind us. The absence of warm weather affects many people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and other joint ailments, yet can be a relief to those who suffer from allergies. There are fewer pollutants in the air, but the fluctuating barometric pressure results in aches and pains definitely being more prevalent. Suffering from osteoarthritis myself, I notice a tremendous change in the severity of joint stiffness.

It seems as though it's comparatively much easier to ease into summer than it is getting used to the colder weather. Our bodies acclimate to the change in climate much better; however, if you happen to suffer from them, nasal allergies do not. The pollination of so much flora, even the growing of the grass in the spring can wreck havoc on our bodies, causing post-nasal drip and itchy, watery eyes. Many find relief from allergies with over-the-counter medications, while some require prescription medication.

And then there's the whole process of changing the contents of your closet. The colder temperatures mean bringing out the heavier, warmer clothing. It's one of the things I miss about having lived in California where "closet rotation" isn't really necessary.

_______________________________________________________


So, how'd you do? All the errors were spelling, with the exception of effects being used rather that affects, and wrack rather then wreck. This proves a good reminder to everyone that while spell check is a wonderful tool, it isn't going to help you when you use an incorrect word!


As usual, I hope that you all have a very...

HAPPY WEEKEND!