Tricky Words: Allusion vs Illusion
A quick post today on the difference between allusion and illusion. In truth, few people are confused by the terms, it’s just that many people don’t understand the word allusion at all and assume it has something to do with illusion because it sounds so similar. Let’s start with illusion. An illusion is a false idea or appearance. Specifically, most people use it to mean something that you think you see or know but really don’t. “He car contributed to the illusion he was wealthy,” says the he appears wealthy, but is not. (If he really was wealthy, it would [...]
Affect vs Effect – AP Style
Recently a reader asked me what the AP Stylebook says about the difference between affect and effect. My first inclination was to tell them that this is one of those cases where the issue is not one of AP Style, but rather grammar and definitions, which the Associate Press Stylebook leaves up to other authorities. However, one of the things that separates professional freelance writers from amateur writers is that professional writers check their facts first. So, I looked up “affect” in my AP Stylebook and lo, and behold, there was an entry. In all fairness, the AP Stylebook entry [...]
Etc. and Et Al. in AP Style Writing
Neither et al. nor etc. have entries in the AP Stylebook. That does not mean that they are not allowed under AP Style per se, because the main rule of AP Style is to use Webster’s Dictionary unless there is an overriding rule provided in the Associated Press Stylebook. That would make both et al. and etc. permissible as words and/or abbreviations included within Webster’s, but it still doesn’t bode well for our heroes. It isn’t that writing that contains et al. or etc. is bad writing, it’s just that it is completely possible to construct meaningful sentences without using [...]
Writer with Perfect English Grammar
If you read many of the ads out there looking for freelance writers, you may notice a proliferation of those asking for respondents to have "perfect English grammar." As a professional writer myself, I find this to be the world’s most meaningless qualification. All published writing should strive for perfect grammar, of course. Professional writers should be more likely to achieve it. However, in an imperfect world, imperfect grammar will happen. The problem with asking for perfect grammar is that it ignores certain realities. Some grammar rules are hard and fast. Other grammar rules are modified based on their medium. [...]
