Looking for a job? Fix your grammar!

Byron Reese is CEO of Knowingly, which recently launched Correctica, a tool that scans websites looking for errors that spell checkers miss. "When I look for these errors on LinkedIn profiles they're all over the place--tens of thousands," he said.
Correctica recently scanned a handful of prominent websites. Here is Reese's list of the some of the most commonly misused phrases on the Web.

1. Prostrate cancer. That would be a cancer you get from lying down. They mean prostate.
2. First-come, first-serve. That means they have to serve everyone else. There should be a d on the end of serve.
3. Sneak peak. It’s pretty hard to hide a mountain. Try peek.
4. Deep-seeded. Should be seated. Even the White House website had this one wrong.
12. Piece of mind. I don’t think they mean brain surgery. For serenity try peace.
18. Do diligence. I like the idea of people being diligent, but if you’re talking about the business and legal term it’s due.

If you want to be educated or just need to giggle at things people get wrong, go to:
http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/20-embarrassing-phrases-even-smart-people-misuse.html?cid=sf01002


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

The English language is crazy!

English is a difficult language to learn. Compared to some other languages where simple rules are always true, English is a mish-mash of rules and exceptions to those rules.
Like this one: I before e, except after c, unless you're running a feisty heist against a weird beige neighbor who owns a rottweiler.

Then there are apostrophes. Ignoring the exceptions for a moment there are basically two rules for when you DO use an apostrophe.
1. To indicate a letter is missing: they’re instead of they are
And
2. To indicate possession: Helen’s frog

PLURALs don’t require an apostrophe. One apple, two apples.

See? It’s not really that hard at all.

For a full explanation read this: http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2015/follow-these-guidelines-to-avoid-an-apostrofail/


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

How well do you know your plurals?

Okay, here’s a quiz on tricky plurals for you to do. I got one hundred percent. It’s just as well because if I hadn’t I might have been sacked by my authors!
See how you go.
http://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-identify-the-plural-of-these-14-tough-words/

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Women (and a few men), who write women (and their heroes), for women (and some men)

The biennial Australian Romance Readers Convention has just finished in Canberra, and this article is a thoughtful summing up of what happened there. It’s well worth reading for all romance readers and writers, not just Australians.

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/things-no-one-tells-you-about-romance-readers-20150311-1415b4.html


Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.

Slang words for body parts

People have been using belly button to mean “navel” since the late 1800s. Your nose has been your schnozz since the 1940s, and your hooter since the 50s. Booty has been dated back as far as 1928. Guys have been comparing their guns since 1973, and their pecs since 1949.

For a fun article with thirty slang terms for various body parts such as a bowsprit or a salt-cellar check out http://mentalfloss.com/article/58752/30-old-and-useful-slang-names-parts-body

Helen Woodall
helen.woodall@gmail.com

Helen is available to line edit and/ or content edit fiction and non-fiction. Rates on application.