American English versus British English

There are some variations in American and British English spellings which sometimes confuse readers who are not aware of this fact. The British (and those of the Commonwealth countries) spell words as they have always been spelling them. The Americans, on the other hand, tend to spell words as they sound… often by omitting some [...]

The Correct Word – Learned or Learnt

I have often been asked this question: Which is the correct past tense of learn – learned or learnt? Well, the answer is simple. Both are correct. Yes, both learned and learnt may be used as the past of learn depending on which form of English you’re using. Learned is used in American English, and [...]

The Correct Word – Farther or Further

A common error is in the use of farther and further. We often see one word written for the other. This confusion between the two words is understandable since – one, they are both related to distance; and two, their spellings are similar. Care should be taken when using these words since there is a [...]

Difference between Colloquialism and Slang

People often use the word colloquialism for slang, and slang for colloquialism. The reason for this is that quite often people take them to mean the same thing. Colloquialism and slang do overlap to a certain extent, but they are actually two distinct forms of language. How do colloquialism and slang overlap? In other words, [...]

Rhetorical Devices

This post is a follow-up of my previous post on clichés. The reason? I received several requests from readers asking me to clarify, or explain, the rhetorical devices further. There is confusion in the minds of some as to what is what. It is not possible to write everything on the subject in one post, [...]