Notes from Aboveground
Writing for the sake of writing. You didn’t ask, but read if so inclined.
The Notes
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Cannot and can not are technically the same. The closed form is most common and usually considered correct. However, there are instances when can not (yes, two words) is preferred. This is what I’ll get into today. Along with today’s topic, I’ll also introduce some information related to comma usage. I encourage everyone to read…
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The Other Side of Elsewhere: Lost in Thought is a personal writing project in progress; there is no workflow, design, or 508 compliance relevance to it. The HTML is compliant, as my designs generally are. I’m posting it here because sometimes people need a break just to have a laugh. The prose is British English…
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A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about rhetoric, not knowing if it would be useful, not knowing if I should change my usual subject areas of grammatical usage and style, not knowing if readers would like the advice. Nonetheless, I’m here with another related writing tip. This one is on rhetorical devices for…
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In previous articles about etymology and usage, I mentioned the malleability of English since it incorporates so many words from diverse languages. Sometimes these loanwords include diacritics, which are symbols that alter pronunciation, distinguish words, indicate stress, or mark a historical spelling. Think of characters like â, à, ä, ç, é, ê, ñ, and ó.…
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Controversy, argument, debate—some people love serial commas, and others hate them, and generally neither side is quiet about their opinions. I’ve actually seen arguments get pretty heated—granted, no fisticuffs but close enough. Today, I’ll go over a few common points related to using or not using commas with a series of items. Perhaps this information…
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I developed Palette Studio while researching color contrast and Section 508 compliance for an article. The concept here is to use a brand’s primary color and find 508 compliant color relationships in a harmonized palette.
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Abbreviations, shortened words or phrases used in written work, come in many varieties. Today, I cover four—acronyms, initialisms, clippings, and contractions. (Terminology varies from one source to another, and if you think my four broad classifications are excessive, check out the more than thirty classifications here.) In this post, I review different abbreviated forms and…
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Writing is a craft. Writing effectively takes years of training. It is not a simple matter of typing out a word or two or three or more. Today, I’m writing about lists. Yes, how boring is that! But bear with me a moment. I have three rhetorical devices that you can use in your writing…
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Recently, I wrote about awkward plurals used in English, focusing mostly on the linguistic history related to why we say the things we do. Today’s post is a touch different. While there is some information about etymology, there are several other practical tips that can be used daily with plurals derived from Latin.