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Capitalizing parts of the world

Judy Vorfeld When writ­ing, you may have won­dered about cap­i­tal­iz­ing cer­tain con­ti­nents, coun­tries, cities, oceans, etc. Capitalize enti­ties, says Chicago Manual of Style (8.44), that appear on maps. Also cap­i­tal­ize the adjec­tives and nouns derived from them. Examples: (Asia/Asian; California/Californian; Ireland/Irish)

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When do you wave and when do you waive?

Judy Vorfeld TO WAIVE In the busi­ness and sports worlds, “waive” is used quite often. Here are some mean­ings: To give up a claim to some­thing To hold back from insist­ing on/enforcing a rule, penalty, require­ment To can­cel or post­pone (some­times tem­porar­ily) A few syn­onyms: sac­ri­fice, sur­ren­der, give up, […]

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Compelled or Impelled?

Judy Vorfeld COMPELLED: You’ve no choice. IMPELLED: To do some­thing even if you may not like doing it; it’s the right thing to do. (Example: when I was a kid, I some­times  took small change from one of the draw­ers in my par­ents’ dresser, went to the store on the corner, […]

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A breach, to breach, a breech, breeches

Judy Vorfeld A BREACH: A gap/in vio­la­tion of some­thing. Think secu­rity breach, agreement/promise breach, rup­ture. TO BREACH: to break open/through. Think break­through (busi­ness) or break­out (prison), or what whales do. A BREECH: lower/back part of some­thing (breech birth or pre­sen­ta­tion), the part of a firearm behind the bar­rel. BREECHES: Old-fashioned […]

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Hanging with hang­ers and hangars

Judy Vorfeld HANGER: clothes hanger are found in clos­ets Picture hang­ers are found behind pic­tures and other wall hang­ings. Paperhangers, who are found hang­ing paper. Wallpaper. HANGAR: Found at air­ports. Actually, they are build­ings meant to pro­tect air­craft. You can also find clothes hang­ers in air­port hangars, […]

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