August 11, 2012

Weekly Finds: August 11, 2012

A Man With Magnifying Glass by digitalart
Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Every week, we’ll be sharing a list of posts, stories, news, or opinions that we've run across the Internet during the past week or two. We won't be discussing them in detail here, but we do encourage you to check them out as they could contain valuable ideas and insights for your IELTS exam.

If you're ready, here we go...

Three syntactic canons

Find out how the Last-Antecedent Canon, the Series-Qualifier Canon, and the Nearest-Reasonable-Referent Canon could be of use in your IELTS Reading exam.

5 high school grammar rules to break (sometimes)

The author provides a collection of five of rules that could help us with our IELTS Writing exam.

Long Live Adverbs: An Ode to Rebellious Writers

Talking about the rules, here are just a few examples of how writers have successfully broke them.

Settle down! 6 guidelines for using the exclamation point

Here are sensible guidelines for the use of exclamation points.

Okey-dokey! The story of the birth of OK’s playful grandchild

Here's a history of one of the common phrases that we use.

Homograph/Homophone Venn Diagram

If you have difficulty remembering the difference between homophones, homographs, homonyms, heterographs, and heteronyms, this post could be helpful.

Writing & Grammar: Answers to Last Week's Comma Challenge on Compound Sentences Versus Compound Predicates

Good examples on how to properly use commas could be seen in this post.

"Decimate"

Does it only relate to a "reduction by 10%."

40 Helpful Words Ending in -Ade

Words ending in -ade (or -cade) often denote a vivid action (including, frequently, military activities or endeavors) or a product or outcome of an action.

Grammar Tips: 7 Words You're Probably Misusing

Mignon Fogarty mentions seven commonly misused words. She advises us to "get them right."

Rose is a Rose is a Rose: How to Search the Meanings of Words and Phrase Origins

Here are some web resources on word and phrase origins and a few print resources.

How dare you learn a second language imperfectly!

Is this what we have become as a society? Are there no more pressing concerns in this world than whether non-native speakers make minor spelling mistakes?

V is for Victory, and the Value of Vocabulary – The Alphabet Series Continues with Letter V

Often what defines the mark of a truly gifted writer, mastering vocabulary is key to rising above the noise and building a solid community of people who are anxious for the next post, the next article, the next commentary.

15 ridiculous new terms that might make the dictionary

A nearly 200-year-old dictionary wants you to help build its bank of words.

YOLO to Become a Real Word?

Recent reports have stated that, Collins, a leading British dictionary publisher since 1819 has been itching for new language, and who better to turn to than the public itself to suggest some new words?

Word Snobs, Mass Murderers, and Prestidigitation

The author shares his thoughts on the use of big words.

PODCAST: JACK HITT ON LANGUAGE DETECTIVES

The article discusses about forensic linguistics and what it can tell us about how we communicate.

A Matter of Fashion

The author argues that people must be taught the moment’s fashions with regard to grammar. However, those fashions cannot be equated in any logical sense with intelligence or moral worth.

HISTORICAL FORMS OF THE POSSESSIVE

Informative article about the origins of possessives.

8 Types of Parenthetical Phrases

Learn the different types of parenthetical phrases.

How to learn English on the Internet

The author has a list of companies that could help you learn English.

Parts of speech simplified

Each word in English belongs to one of the eight categories called parts of speech. Let's learn the basics again.

Coordinating Conjunctions and How to Use Them

Infographic discussing something about coordinating conjunctions.

Extraneous vs. Superfluous

What’s the difference between extraneous and superfluous? Are they redundant to each other, and how do these terms relate to redundant and other synonyms?

12 idioms about time

Infographic listing some idioms about time.