Lili Saintcrow4d ago
To “hone” something is to sharpen its edge. To “home in” is to find and follow the signal that helps a plane return to base.
Show threadLili Saintcrow4d ago

Also, to “bail out” is to remove water from inside a boat so it may continue to float. To “bale out” is to jump from a plane. A “bailout” is when a company is kept afloat by an infusion of cash.

English is fun.

Show threadLili Saintcrow4d ago
To “reign” is to rule over something; “free rein” is when a horse’s reins (leather bridle straps) are held loosely to allow the horse its choice of speed and direction.
Show threadLili Saintcrow4d ago
No, really, I swear, English is fun!
Show threadLili Saintcrow4d ago
Using these terms precisely and correctly adds meaning (or in certain cases in-jokes and shades of irony) to one’s writing. It’s part of the fun of making art, and you must *know* the rules before you can break them *effectively*.
Show threadLili Saintcrow4d ago
(Not so incidentally, newspaper editors ought to know these differences, if only to appear of basic competence.)
Show threadLili Saintcrow4d ago

I’ll break grammar rules all day, punctuation ones idiosyncratically, and spelling occasionally when it pleases me. But by and large I want to break them *consciously*, to impart meaning.

Thus endeth the (small, irritated) lecture.

Show threadD. G. Marshall

@lilithsaintcrow

I have read a published novel where one page contained the following:

"Edit: Diffuse is to cause to spread out freely. You want defuse, which is to make less dangerous, tense, or hostile."

Apr 2 at 10:20pmWeb