Prefixes are little groups of letters that are usually attached to the beginnings of words to modify their meanings. And interestingly, the most common ones all usually carry negative meanings, like “anti-,” “de-,” “dis-,” or “un-.” These prefixes can be added to words to create pairs of opposites: Something can generate or degenerate, be irrational or rational, or be able or unable. But every once in a while, you’ll come across a word with a negative prefix that doesn’t have a mate, also sometimes known as an unpaired word: The positive version of the word either isn’t a real word or isn’t one that’s commonly used. Let’s take a look at some of these common lonely, grumpy words. Read more ›
Prefixed Pessimists: Words That Are Only Negative
Posted in Fun Stuff
Metaphors Be With You: Creating Apt Comparisons
The concept of the metaphor underpins all of literature and many other aspects of society in general. Pick up any novel and you’ll find dozens of them. Listen to a speech and you’ll hear quite a few. But it goes further than that. For instance, the concept of the parable is essential to most religious texts. (Buddha wasn’t literally talking about fish. Jesus wasn’t literally talking about seeds. Muhammad wasn’t literally talking about boats. Wise men tend to use elegant metaphors a great deal.)
The concept of a thing being similar to another thing is inherently important to the human experience of communication. And yet, a lot of writers have difficulty in dealing with these comparisons. Let us learn about how to create better metaphors and how to avoid using bad ones. Read more ›
Posted in Writing Tips
Where to Draw the Lines: Dashes, Hyphens, and Underscores
Photo by Chris McClanahan
Judging by a look at most people’s writing, you’d think that the hyphen was the only game in town when it comes to horizontal lines as punctuation. But actually, there are at least four accepted members of this family, some of which come in more handy than others. They are:
- The hyphen: –
- The en dash: –
- The em dash: —
- The underscore: _
So what is a dash, what’s the difference between hyphens, dashes, and underscores, and when should we use them? Read more ›
Posted in Writing Tips
The Most Common Typos: Your Ultimate Guide
They are some of the most common mistakes in writing: typos. It doesn’t matter how many years you’ve been at the keyboard; it’s inevitable that your ring finger will slip to the next key over, you’ll pop in an extra space, or you’ll spell out an incorrect word that’s phonetically similar to the correct version. Most spell-checkers and grammar-checkers simply won’t find all typos. It takes an experienced editor with a well-trained eye to find every mistake, but this list of common writing mistakes and frequently misspelled words can help you find regular errors that most people make. Quickly scanning for these common errors can help eliminate the majority of typos made, and word-for-word editing will help you find the rest.
We’ve compiled this most common typos list to help our experienced writers find and eliminate errors in their copy. Give it a read and improve your writing! Read more ›
Posted in Writing Tips
Pausing to Be Thankful
Photo by Hey Paul Studios (Flickr)
The OWJ offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 26, and Friday, Nov. 27, in observance of Thanksgiving. The deadline for submitting writer invoices during the holiday week will be 3 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, Nov. 24; invoices will be processed on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
We’re grateful for our writers this Thanksgiving: Thank you for all of your hard work, and have a happy holiday!
Posted in Holiday Updates
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