Words, writers and writing


SAD times for the pedants among us. To start with, the man who waged a lifelong war against misuse of the apostrophe has met his own full stop. Then, as if to add insult to injury, that weird Californian couple who once were royal have continued  their verbose mangling of the English language. The first of these events occurred on 30 March 2021 with the death at the age of 97  of John Richards, founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society. The society, a wonderful example of British eccentricity, was launched by Richards in 2001 to preserve the correct use of… Continue reading

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PERHAPS this blog post should come with an advisory caution; like those that precede some of the raunchier dramas screened on post-watershed TV. A warning about bad language or offensive dialogue. Displaying an awareness of some readers’ fragile sensibilities.  Guarding against young minds being led down sinful paths; the elderly shocked into losing a grip on their walking frames. That said, we will plough bravely on; aware of the pitfalls ahead. Fearful of a slap over the wrist at the very least but a strong possibility of wrath and banishment at the hands of the great god Facebook . Censorship… Continue reading