Words sometimes confused: peak, peek and pique by Angela Caldin
Peak Peak can be a verb or a noun. The verb refers to reaching a maximum, or coming to a highest point, literally or figuratively: The noun refers to the highest point of something, like the peak of a mountain: Peek Peek can also be a verb or a noun and is related to sight; it often refers to looking, especially furtively or quickly or through a small space: It’s the word in peekaboo, a traditional game for amusing babies. Peek is also the word in the phrase sneak peek. It might… Read More
To whom it may concern by Angela Caldin
It doesn’t concern many people actually because the pronoun whom has been steadily falling out of use over the last hundred years or so. It’s rarely used in speech nowadays and there is speculation that it will soon become extinct. But you’ll still find it in formal writing and many writers pride themselves on using it correctly. As whom declines, who is used more and more and these two words may seem interchangeable. But there is a difference. Who functions as a subject in a sentence whereas whom functions as an object…. Read More
Standing and sitting by Angela Caldin
‘We stand for standing and sitting and we will not stand for stood and sat.’ So says the Guardian style guide and I am writing this post in solidarity and support. I think I may be in an ever-decreasing minority of those who wince when someone says: I was stood outside the night club waiting for it to open. This would be all very well if someone had picked the person up and placed them upright outside the night club, but it is not all very well if what they mean is… Read More
Dangling modifiers by Angela Caldin
Most people know a modifier when they see one. A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that clarifies or describes another word, phrase, or clause. But do they know a dangling modifier when they see one? I like the term dangling modifier because it is so evocative and so unlike any other grammatical term. I imagine someone hanging off a cliff or escaping by clinging on to a window sill. With a dangling modifier, the thing it is meant to modify isn’t even in the sentence, so it seems to modify… Read More
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