Photo by Kirsten Skiles (Flickr)

Fairly often, the letters we type to spell out a word or phrase don’t exactly match how we hear or pronounce it, and so it’s probably not surprising that eggcorns are quite common. What is an eggcorn, you might ask? It’s when you make yourself look silly by spelling a word or phrase how you heard it, using a wrong word or part of a word, rather than how it’s actually supposed to be written. The word “eggcorn” is an example of this: It derives from a misspelling of “acorn.” We’ve looked at some embarrassing examples of misspellings before, but there are always plenty more to be found, especially since English is a language that’s rife with idioms, some of which don’t always make sense to modern ears. Here are a few mistakes to watch out for in your writing: Read more ›

Don’t make your writing as fluffy as this bunny, or your point might get hidden under all of that fluff.

At Online Writing Jobs, we’re not necessarily fans of sweeping ultimatums. Sometimes, rules help a writer, and sometimes they should be abandoned based on the context.

On the other hand, there are certain words out there that are just not good in most contexts: blogs, sales copy, SEO content, or even fiction. These inexpressive, worthless words can and should be eliminated from your writing. Doing so would tighten your prose and make it pack a heftier punch.

While some of these words might be essential in certain contexts, most of them are used as fluff and clutter your speech. Take them out. Read more ›

The semicolon has to be one of the most misunderstood punctuation marks out there. Contrary to what that Lonely Island song says, it’s not a colon. And it’s not quite a comma, either, though it can occasionally stand in for one if you’ve already got too many commas at the party, so to speak. But what is the right use for the semicolon, then? If you’ve never quite figured that out, don’t fear: We’re here to help. Read more ›