by Jamie Chavez | Jul 3, 2018 | Words & Language
A friend of mine asked this question a few weeks ago when one of her beta readers was looking over a manuscript she and I had worked on a lot and felt we had nailed. The respected friend suggested, “It might be better to change raised to reared. My understanding is...
by Jamie Chavez | May 23, 2017 | Words & Language
There are words and then there are … favorite words. Like, you know, cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels, these are a few of my favorite— You have favorite words, don’t you? I do. Again, I don’t mean favorite phrases, like Awesome, dude. (Although I do love...
by Jamie Chavez | May 15, 2017 | Your Editor Says …
Yes, I am trying to hold back a flood. And I’m a little annoyed with the AP Stylebook. As the Washington Post says: The barbarians have done it, finally infiltrated a remaining bastion of order in a linguistic wasteland. They had already taken the Oxford English...
by Jamie Chavez | May 1, 2017 | Words & Language
It’s not very often I’m stumped by which word to use—and frankly I kinda enjoy it when I am—but I came across a sentence in a manuscript the other day and had a little lexicological tizzy. Here’s what I read. It was a story about an old man telling the events of his...
by Jamie Chavez | Apr 8, 2017 | Words & Language
We’ve been talking about dictionaries—I always enjoy talking about the dictionary—and now a friend’s sent me this article from the New York Times: “A Journey Into the Merriam-Webster Word Factory.” Oh, there’s just so much here to read! But here’s one little bit:...