We’ve already seen how confusing commas can be. We’ve talked about curious adverbs such as “regardless,” and we’ve scrutinized polysemic words, aka words that have more than one meaning, including the word “rather.” However, not all polysemic words should be treated in the same manner. What applies to a word like “rather” might not apply …
English
Punctuation is all about meaning, this also holds true when talking about today’s topic: ‘Comma before rather.’ Though it may appear that strict rules must be followed, their purpose is to clarify the meaning for the reader and simplify their lives. For instance, a classic example that you can find online goes like this. Let’s …
“Frfr”. Ever stumbled across this rather funny-looking abbreviation? Well, most likely you did because if not, you wouldn’t be reading this article, would you? With that said, let’s learn what there is to learn about “frfr.” What is the meaning of “frfr” “The meaning of ‘frfr’ is ‘for real, for real.’ It implies honesty, …
If you’ve ever been in a restaurant in an English-speaking country, odds are you’ve seen a sign that says, “caution: wet floor.” Or, if you’ve ever gotten on the New York subway, you’ve probably heard the conductor say something to the effect of “Attention everyone” or “May I have your attention please?” And, anytime you’ve …
Commas are confusing creatures. You don’t know when to use them and when to ditch them. Nevertheless, you must learn when to add a comma to your sentence if you want to make your writing more legible. You see, a big part of using commas revolves around the meaning of a sentence and the information …
There are many expressions in the English language that we take for granted and don’t give a second thought to. For example, when was the last time you gave “someone a taste of their own medicine”? Or, has it ever happened to you that something bad turned out to be a “blessing in disguise”? You …
Whenever you are talking to someone, you always want to tie everything you say together. It makes it easier for the listener to follow you. This is why you may find yourself using words like “however,” “so,” and “because.” Each one of these words hints at the relationship between what you are about …
Even though it is usually better to be concise, there are a lot of situations in English where you’ll find an expression can convey what you want to say better than a single word can. For instance, you can call a man “laconic,” or you can refer to him as “a man of few …
The English language is filled with similar words that can have different meanings. That is why this West Germanic language can be so confusing for beginners. For instance, fortuitous and fortunate have two different meanings, and torturous has a very different definition than tortuous. One reason there are so many words that are so similar …