Uncategorized

Worst. Sentence. Ever!

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

If they wouldn’t have been released, I don’t know when I would have ended up seeing Star Wars, and if I wouldn’t have seen Star Wars when I did, I don’t think my life and career would be what it is now.

Yeesh, just look at that. Ok, maybe it’s not necessarily the worst sentence ever, but it’s an unwieldy beast to say the least. A little context: I came across this in an online article about the theatrical release of the “Special Editions” of the Star Wars films in 1997, and this sentence was a quote from someone asked about the impact the films had on her.

And that person chose to use a hypothetical situation, therefore all-but ensuring the presence of an if and a would, and making the sentence a little complex. Fair enough, but still! It’s longer that it need be. And look at all those would‘s. Every time I read it, knowing the meaning, it still has no rhythm to it at all. Really, just look at all those would‘s in there! Apart from how it reads in your head, there’s also the issue of meaning. The sentence gets so weighed down by the different conditions and outcomes contained within it that it’s hard to parse the intended meaning.

How to improve it then? Continue reading →

Note Well!

Niall O'Donnell 16 Comments

Latin, as I’ve probably mentioned quite a few times by now, has been very generous to the English language. We have many words which have evolved quite directly from Latin, as well as many other words which haven’t changed at all. Sometimes though, Latin phrases just sound too archaic, but still, they serve a very useful function. So we compromise, and abbreviate them. More specifically, we usually turn them into initialisms, like e.g. or i.e. that we use regularly. Let’s have a look at what these stand for, and what they mean… Continue reading →

Hey! You!

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

Yeah, you.

It’s a strange word, you, when you think about it for too long.

You.

It’s the only personal pronoun to be both a subject pronoun and an object pronoun. You can say You talked to him and He talked to you, but never Him talked to you and You talked to he.

It’s also used as both a singular and plural pronoun, in standard English at least. Because it’s sometimes confusing when someone says you and we don’t know if they’re talking to us alone or to as part of a group, colloquial plural forms of you do exist around the world.

Continue reading →

A Marathon by any other Name…

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

via Daily Prompt: Marathon

Marathon!

A fine word. Most of us know it as a noun, referring to a run of 26 miles, or 42.195 kilometres. It can also be an adverb of course, indicating that something took an exceptionally long time, as would be the case for most of us running a marathon. Politicians might have a marathon session in parliament to discuss a controversial proposed law. One could also use the noun in this way as well; for example: Continue reading →

Montenegro

Niall O'Donnell 1 Comment

Just a short post today, as it’s Sunday and I fancy a rest, but I think I’ll complement it with a reblog of one of my earlier posts.

I’m always amazed at the number of different countries you all hail from. I love looking at that little map on the stats page, and am proud and humbled to have had visitors from every continent. Yesterday I had my first visitor from Montenegro, or at least someone in Montenegro at the time (thank you, whoever you are!). In many ways, Montenegro is similar to Luxembourg: a small country with a complex history and an interesting name… Continue reading →

This or That Book Tag!

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

I’ve been deeply honoured to have been given this tag by grevisangel73. I highly recommend her blog for some great poetic adventures. And thank you also to ayunda at teanandpaperbacks.com for creating the tag.

The Rules:

  • Mention the creator of the tag (Ayunda @ Tea and Paperbacks).
  • Thank the blogger who tagged you!
  • Choose one of the options, you don’t have to tell the reasons why you chose that but you can also do them if you want to.
  • Tag 10 other people to do this tag to spread the love!

The Questions: Continue reading →

Friday the 13th

Niall O'Donnell 15 Comments

Triskaidekaphobia

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

If you suffer from either of these phobias, you might want to keep a low profile today, and be extra cautious in everything you do. Avoid walking under ladders, and give any black cats a wide berth, because today of course, is Friday the 13th! The two phobias above are, respectively, a fear of the number 13, and a fear of Friday the 13th specifically. Continue reading →