SmithWriting Blog

One of my favorite typographical symbols, the asterisk is used in printing or writing to indicate a footnote, an omission, or emphasis; it also has other less common uses.

The term asterisk comes from the Latin asteriscum, meaning “little star”—based on the character’s celestial shape.

Primary uses of the asterisk:

To indicate a footnote
(place the asterisk after something you what to clarify)
see this post’s title and footnote

To indicate an omission
Holy s**t!

To represent emphasis in plain text
(in lieu of bold or italics)
He is *really* smart.

To make a list
(use them as bullet points)
To-do list
* Write profile
* Update blog
* Lunch with client

To convey an action by the writer
(use them in informal communications, such as e-mails and blogs)
Don’t even get me started on creepy clowns … *shudder*

To represent a kiss
(as a computer emoticon)
:*

The asterisk is also used in computing, mathematics, and gaming.

*This post may not contain all there is to know about the asterisk.

Filed by rebecca at 7:30 pm under Grammar guide
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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, upwards of 18 percent of Americans suffer from phobias. A phobia (from the Greek “phobos,” meaning “to fear”) is an intense and irrational fear of a situation or thing. There are hundreds of identified phobias out there, but these few are sure to send shivers down your spine:

Astraphobia: fear of thunder and lightning
(from the Greek “astrap,” meaning “lightning”)
My dog, Riley, has debilitating astraphobia. Poor girl, she pants, shakes, and hides in the closet when a storm rolls in.

Xenophobia: fear of foreigners or strangers
(from the Greek “xenos,” meaning “foreigner”)

Paraskavedekatriaphobia: fear of Friday the 13th
I covered this one in a previous post on Friday the 13th.

Ichthyophobia: fear of fish
(from the Greek “ichthys,” meaning “fish”)
I have a mild case of this phobia, thanks to my older sister, who dumped me in a school of fish in a pond while camping when we were young.

Somniphobia: fear of sleep
(from the Latin “somnus,” meaning “sleep”)

Nomophobia: fear of being out of mobile phone contact
(an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone”)
A British study found that nearly 53 percent of mobile phone users become anxious when they are out of contact. Seriously?!?

Phasmophobia: fear of ghosts
(from the Greek “phasma,” meaning “apparition”)

Ornithophobia: fear of birds
(from the Greek “ornis,” meaning “bird”)
Just ask Tippi Hedren about this one …

Ephebiphobia: fear of youth
(from the Greek “ephebos,” meaning “adolescent”)

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia: fear of the number 666 (Satan’s number)
(from the Greek “hex,” meaning “six”)
Personally, I have a fear of pronouncing this word!

So, what are you afraid of?

Filed by rebecca at 5:12 pm under For the love of words
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Last week I posted about letter and e-mail closings. So this week, on Steph’s recommendation, I’m starting at the beginning and posting about—you guessed it—letter and e-mail openings.

Granted, there are not as many opening salutations as there are closings. But there are a few to choose from, and some are more appropriate than others, depending on the context of your correspondence.

From the formal to the friendly, there’s a greeting for all your communications:

Business letters and e-mails
Dear Mr. Smith:
Dear Ms. Johnson:
Dear Mrs. Jones:
Only use Mrs. if you’re sure the recipient is married and prefers to be addressed this way; otherwise, use Ms.

Dear Jane:
First names are acceptable, but only if you’ve previously met the recipient—and even then, you may want to err on the side of formality.
Dear Chris Brown:
If you do not know the recipient’s gender, use their full name (but always attempt to find out their gender first).

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
Dear Colleagues:
To Whom It May Concern:
Use this as a last resort and only if you’re unable to find out anything about the recipient(s).
Dear Sir or Madam:
Use sparingly; this one has become a bit dated.

Friendly letters and e-mails
Good day,
Greetings,
Hello,
Hey!
Hiya,
Hi,
Hi there,
Howdy,
Hidey ho!
What up,
Yo,
Dude!

In general, less formal salutations take a comma, while formal ones take a colon.

Filed by rebecca at 4:49 pm under For the love of words
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Whether you’re concluding a business letter or signing off an e-mail, you most likely end the correspondence you send with a closing of some kind.

Depending on the context of the note you’re sending—and your relationship to the recipient—you’ll either sign off formally or informally. And sometimes it’s not very clear how you should end a letter or e-mail. Many people struggle with closings, and some opt to take the easy way out and just sign their name, no closing at all.

Well, for those of us who like to go out with a little flair, I’ve compiled a list of closings, from the conventional to the cheeky:

Best regards
Best
All best
Best wishes
Regards
Warm regards

Sincerely
Respectfully
Fondly
Truly
Yours truly
Take care
Thank you
Many thanks
Cheers

Always
Yours
Love
With love
Peace
xoxoxo

Ciao
Peace out
Rock on
Later gator
Smell ya later
Namaste
Over and out
TTFN

Feel free to add your favorite closings in the comments section.

Until next time,
Rebecca

Filed by rebecca at 4:53 pm under For the love of words
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Prefixes are letters or groups of letters put at the beginning of a word to make a new word. Some of the most common include a-, anti-, co-, dis-, ex-, extra-, pre-, pro-, re-, semi-, and un-.

Prefixes have the power to transform us from happy to unhappy, from believing to disbelieving, from terrestrial to extraterrestrial in just a few strokes of the keyboard. So let’s make sure we’re using them correctly.

In general, do not hyphenate when using a prefix with a word starting with a consonant.
restart
precook
semicircle

However, hyphenate after a prefix to avoid duplicated vowels.
anti-inflammatory
re-elect
pre-eminent
(In this case, the hyphens aren’t always necessary; it’s really a style thing.)

Hyphenate when the word that follows a prefix is capitalized.
pre-Vatican II
anti-American

Hyphenate after a prefix to clarify meaning.
I recovered my keys in the backyard.
I re-covered my pool in the backyard.

When in doubt, always consult a dictionary or your style guide.

Filed by rebecca at 9:29 am under Grammar guide
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Idiom (noun): An expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

Idioms. We all use them. We all know what they mean. But do we know where these far-out phrases came from? I decided to find out. Here are a few of my favorite idioms and their origins:

The bee’s knees: excellent
American, circa 1920.
There’s no definitive origin for this one. Some ascribe it to the fact that bees carry their valuable pollen in sacks on their legs. Others believe it came from world-renowned Charleston dancer Bee Jackson.

Three sheets to the wind: drunk
British, circa 1820.
Nautical. On ships, “sheets” are the ropes that hold the sails in place. If three sheets are loose, then the sails will blow haphazardly, and the ship will stagger like a drunk.

Down to the wire: until the last possible moment
American, late 1800s.
From the sport of horse racing, in which close races were determined by a wire strung across the track above the finish line.

Long in the tooth: old
British, circa 1850.
Another phrase with equine origins. Apparently, horses’ teeth grow with age.

Raining cats and dogs: raining very heavily
British, circa 1700.
This one is gross: When it rained heavily in jolly old England, dead animals would wash down the streets with other garbage.

The whole nine yards: all of something
American, circa 1964.
There are a lot of conflicting origins for this phrase, but most folks believe that it came out of the American military. Other proposed sources: It comes from the 9-cubic-yard capacity of concrete trucks and it was a medieval test requiring a person to walk nine paces over hot coals.

Sources: Webster’s New World College Dictionary, www.phrases.org.uk, www.thefreedictionary.com, www.goenglish.com, www.wikipedia.org

Filed by rebecca at 9:05 am under For the love of words
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No, I’m not talking about the brackets we filled in last month during the NCAA basketball tournament. I’m referring to the much more useful (albeit less exciting) punctuation marks [ ].

Also known as “box brackets” or “square brackets,” these marks are primarily used to enclose editorial inserts in direct quotes.

For example:
“I thought that it [the party] was a huge success!”

Brackets containing the word “sic” (Latin for “thus”) indicate that a misspelling or misuse of language in a direct quote is in fact what was written (even though it is incorrect).

For example:
“My travels brought me to Egypt, Libia [sic], and Tunisia.”

When nested parentheses are needed, brackets are used with their rounded relatives.

For example:
(John Adams [1735-1826] and Samuel Adams were second cousins.)

Brackets are also used in math, chemistry, and computer programming.

Know of any other usage for this square pair? Please share.

Filed by rebecca at 6:26 pm under Grammar guide
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Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past few months, you’re aware that there’s a recession going on. But did you know that this economic downturn has generated its own vocabulary?

Here’s a list of words to help you get through this fiscal fiasco:

Recessionista: A style maven on a budget.

Obamanomics: The president’s plan to fix our ailing economy.

Furlough: Unpaid—and often unwelcome—time off from work.

Furcation: A vacation taken while on furlough.

Vulture vacationer: A traveler who takes advantage of the low costs caused by the recession.

Zombie bank: A bank that cannot lend money but stays in business due to government support.

Nationalization: When the government steps in to run failed businesses.

Bailout: The money failed businesses get from taxpayers before they face nationalization.

Staycation: A vacation at home because you can’t afford to travel anywhere.

The latter two terms are so overused that they made the 2009 banished words list.

Have any of your own financial phrases to share? We’d love to hear them!

Filed by rebecca at 12:22 pm under For the love of words
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The slash (/), or virgule, is a slanted character used to separate related items of information. It’s not very sexy or exciting, but, like every punctuation mark, it has its proper place in everyday grammar.

Uses of the slash:

To express “per”
The speed limit is 65 miles/hour.

In dates and fractions
My birthday is 1/3.
The recipe calls for 2 ½ cups of butter.

To indicate options
She took a biology class on a pass/fail basis.
If convicted, he’ll be sentenced to two years in jail and/or a $3,000 fine.
(I caution you to limit the use of “and/or”; it’s quite cumbersome and unnecessary in most cases.)

To denote the end of a line of poetry
“I am writing these poems / From inside a lion, / And it’s rather dark in here.”
- Shel Silverstein

In URLs
http://smithwriting.com/blog/

Note: The slash should never be confused with its mirror image, the backslash (\). Limit use of this backward character to strictly computing contexts.

Filed by rebecca at 8:00 pm under Grammar guide
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In honor of World Poetry Day (March 21), I’d like to share a poem I wrote when I was 9 years old:

Happy

Now I’m happy,
really happy,
I’m really having fun,
hopping, skipping,
jumping, running,
yelling to everyone!

“Happy” actually won an honorable mention award in a national poetry contest (not bad for a fourth-grader). Watch out, Walt Whitman …

Although I’ve gotten away from writing poetry, I still enjoy reading it very much. And I’ll be sure to take some time on March 21 to read some of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson, Shel Silverstein, and Billy Collins.

Here’s wishing you all a “Happy” World Poetry Day!

Filed by rebecca at 11:56 am under For the love of words
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