Melissa Maygrove

Idiom (n.): An expression whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of its individual words (ex: jump the gun ). I'm going to start including idioms in my GPM posts about commonly confused words. There's nothing wrong with writing these from time to time, but, if you're going to use one, be sure to get it right. :) Flesh out vs Flush out To flesh out means to add substance or detail to an object or idea; to develop. To flush out means to drive or force something out into the open, such as game birds or criminals.

Duck tape vs Duct tape Duck tape is a common misspelling of duct tape . (Of course, the fact there is a brand of duct tape called Duck Tape with a little ducky on the label doesn't help. LOL)   Jutebox vs Jukebox Jutebox is a common misspelling of jukebox --a coin-operated, music-playing device. Cowtow vs Kowtow Cowtow is a misspelling of the Chinese word kowtow , which means to touch one's forehead to the ground when kneeling; to show deference or servitude. (People probably assume it's spelled with a 'c' because the verb cow means to threaten or bully, and cowed means intimidated.) ### That's all for today. Thanks for visiting. :)

I hate change. I really do.  While processing a crit from my new CP, I discovered one of the many grammar lessons drilled into my head for most of my young life is no longer a rule. I'm speaking of the comma-before-too rule. I was always taught that anytime you're using too to mean also , you should put a comma before it (or commas around it if it comes in the middle of the sentence). According to the CMoS website Q&A , that's no longer true. From their site:

Prepare  yourself  to  battle  more  commonly - confused  words... Dual vs Duel Dual is an adjective that means double; twofold. A duel is a prearranged fight between two people armed with deadly weapons.

Announcements first! It's finally time to reveal the cover for  Carol Kilgore's new book! When U.S. Coast Guard Commander Taylor Campbell discovers her uncle’s drowning death was murder, she must determine the killer’s identity in order to prevent another murder. Jake Solomon’s job is to make sure Taylor isn’t the next victim. Mark your calendars. Release day is April 2nd. Carol Kilgore is an award-winning author of several published short stories and many essays and articles. Solomon’s Compass i s her second novel, a blend of mystery, suspense, and romance she calls Crime Fiction with a Kiss – a lways at least one crime; always a love story . Carol and her Coast Guard husband live in San Antonio, Texas, with two herding dogs that like nothing better than pack time on the patio.  You can find Carol here: website . blog . facebook . twitter . goodreads . amazon ### Now for GPM... Today, I'm addressing some comm...

Announcements! Lynda R. Young’s short story titled Birthright has been published by J.Taylor Publishing in the Make Believe anthology launched TODAY!  Make Believe is currently available in e-book format and includes Paranormal Romance and Fantasy stories inspired by the image on the cover. (Hint: holiday gift idea. ;) Mark your calendars. Lisa Regan's debut crime thriller Finding Claire Fletcher will be released on Dec. 6th! Down on his luck, Detective Connor Parks takes solace in the arms of a woman he meets at a local bar, but in the morning, Claire Fletcher is gone, leaving behind clues to a decade-old mystery. Abducted at age fifteen, no one has heard from Claire Fletcher in ten years. Until now. Driven by an unsettling need to see Claire again, Connor sets out to solve the mystery of her disappearance once and for all.   I'll be hosting Lisa on Wednesday the 12th when she joins us for an interview.   ### GPM I know you...

Announcements first! The Truths about Dating and Mating by Jaycee DeLorenzo was released on November 21st! It’s available in your choice of print or ebook from Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, and ARE. In Name Only by Carol Kilgore ( Kindle Edition ) is on sale for the holidays! $2.99 Starting 12:01 a.m. (Amazon Time) Friday, 11-23-12 to 11:59 p.m. Saturday, 12-15-12 You can find Carol Under the Tiki Hut . :) Now for GPM...

First, some announcements! Today is release day for Cally Jackson's debut novel, The Big Smoke . Woohoo! :D   I'll be launching a special post this Friday about the book, including an interview with Cally. Peter Cruikshank over at It Is What It Is tagged me in The Next Big Thing blog hop with questions about my current WIP .   Thanks, Peter! :)  Since I participated in the Be Inspired meme this summer, answering virtually the same questions, I decided to spare you a repeat and simply link the post. If you haven't seen it yet, click here .   ### Now for GPM...

I'll get to the lesson shortly. First, I'm going to bore entertain you with a story. While helping my 77-year-old mother clean out her closet the other day, I got the jobs of climbing the stepladder and moving the heavy stuff. I also got the job — when her vacuum attachment didn't fit — of laying on top of a jumbo Spacebag to press out all the air. She wanted the bag smaller, so she joined me.  There we were, side by side, flat of our bellies on this thing and sprawled across her bed. It was a Kodak moment. (Not.)

I’ve got a short lesson on usage lined up for today, with an added bonus for those of you who make it to the end. :)   But first, a funny side note...  

Writers constantly struggle with commonly confused words, making sure they use the correct ones in their stories. Would you believe some words have more than one acceptable spelling? Today I'm going to list a few of those in hopes of mitigating the grammatical pressures I thrust upon you every Monday. One pair of these words is adviser and advisor . Although spell-check seems to prefer the former, they both mean one who gives advice and they both are correct.

It's time for more commonly confused words... First on the list: appraise and apprise . If you estimate the value of something, you appraise it.  When you inform someone of a situation, you apprise them. Next: wonder vs wander : If you think about something curiously, you wonder about it.  If you roam aimlessly, you wander . Last: palate , palette and pallet . Your palate can mean the roof of your mouth or your sense of taste. A palette is a small board an artist uses to mix paint colors. A pallet is a small or makeshift bed. See you again soon. Thanks for visiting. :)

I hope you don't mind covering commonly confused words again this week. These lessons are easy to throw together when scheduling blog posts ahead of time, and I needed a few to get me through the rest of the summer and make the first couple of back-to-school weeks less stressful. Here we go...  

They're all a source of comfort. And they all contain a homophone.  Yep. We're covering more commonly confused words this week...

Today I'm going to list sets of words that are the source of common errors in writing and explain each version and its proper usage. The first set is anyone vs any one. Anyone is an indefinite pronoun, whereas any one is an adjective phrase that refers to an unspecified thing or individual. One way to remember is you can use anyone when you mean anybody .   Does anyone know who took Mary home? There were over twenty people at the party. It could have been any one of them. Next let's look at altogether and all together. The phrase all together means doing something collectively as a group, while the word altogether means entirely.

Today we're going to tackle a few more commonly confused words, also known as homophones. These are words that sound alike, are often spelled nearly alike, but have different meanings. In conversation, we sometimes get by with using the wrong one, but in text, the error is blatantly obvious. First on the list: discreet vs discrete Discreet means showing prudence in conduct, keeping quiet about things of a delicate nature, etc. D iscrete means apart, separate or distinct, and is sometimes used in math and science (e.g. a discrete variable ). 

After getting nabbed for a usage error recently, I decided to do a few GPM posts on specific homophones that are commonly confused words. When we speak, such misuse may go unnoticed; but when we write, it's there in print for all the world to see.  Let's start with the one I goofed. Which is correct? The man's hands were (calloused / callused) from years of work. He has a (callous / callus) attitude toward the homeless. In the first sentence, callused is correct, because it specifically refers to hardened places on the skin. In the second, it's callous . Even though callous means 'to harden,' it refers to an emotional state, meaning to be insensitive.  Another mistake I made for years before becoming enlightened to the error of my ways was using the verb pour when I meant pore . You pour water from a pitcher into a glass, but if you are studying something intently, you're poring over it. A third — and one I was glad I looked up the other day before hit...

Are we identical? Look closely... In the English language, there are many pairs of words that sound alike and are spelled almost alike, yet have entirely different meanings. Consequently, it's easy to write the wrong one and not realize it. To compound this problem, word processors do not recognize it as a misspelling and may not flag an incorrect usage as a mistake. Let me give you some examples: altar (a sacred table in a church) vs. alter ( which means to change) born (to start life) vs. borne (to carry) and... compliment (an admiring remark) vs. complement (an addition that improves something) What a difference a letter makes! Here are a few more: accept / except...affect / effect...coarse / course...discreet / discrete... pour / pore...past / passed...site / sight...and the list goes on. What do you do? Well, making yourself aware of them by reading through lists of these pairs can help. Keeping a dictionary (like Thesarus.com ) open in your browser so you can easily ch...