Many expressions in English have clear historical origins. Many also have less than positive meanings. Sometimes, however, what appears to be an offensive phrase ends up being innocent. At the same time, not all expressions have origins that can be identified. One example of the latter is in a hot minute. Today, we’ll take a …
Marcel Iseli
English has many different expressions. These range in style from the straightforward to the poetical. Today, we’re going to examine one specific expression that’s an example of the latter. Specifically, it’s a paradox, a rhetorical technique where an apparently contradictory phrase or clause (see our article about clauses vs phrases) is used to suggest an …
There’s a quote attributed to many different people that goes “I’m sorry I’m writing you such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write a short one.” As this quote suggests, writing a short letter is often more difficult than writing something long and rambling. A cover letter has to be short and to …
The human mind is good at looking for problems to solve. Luckily enough, this form of curiosity has led to the series of advancements that we enjoy today. One of these problems includes the inquiry on whether a dollar sign should come before or after a number when written down. Is this very concern even …
As much as experts try to make all languages more accessible to everyone, the English language remains a work in progress –just like the others. In English, “possessives” are one of the trickiest concepts to master because a catch-all explanation cannot suffice in dealing with all of its nooks and crannies. More particularly, people seem …
Have you ever wondered why some grammatically-correct expressions still seem to be troublesome and unfitting sometimes? By and large, people appear to be confused as to whether the phrase “speaking with you” or “speaking to you” is the right way of prompting a conversation. So, this post discusses the subtleties between these two tricky English …
“Fractions” are naturally difficult for children to understand, which is why it is only given more careful attention in the second half of primary school. While this is the case in the educational setting, adults meanwhile find it hard to master the concept of fractions particularly in the context of formal writing. So, this post …
Just like all other languages out there, a wide range of confusing expressions exists in the English language due to minute grammatical differences. The expressions “stay tuned,” “stay in tune,” and “staying tuned” are some of them; so, this article aims to explain these troublesome phrases inside out. Now that we know what’s going on, …
Not everyone can craft business letters, let alone write something intentionally for the sake of drawing attention to an issue. Writing an open letter not only needs language skills; it also entails guts, critical thinking, overall consideration of the matter, and levelheadedness. Our post today discusses writing an open letter in three easy steps for …