Have you every heard anyone say that someone is chomping at the bit? Usually it is to indicate an eagerness of that person to start something, such as a project or task. Did you know that it is technically wrong? The phrase is actually supposed to be champing at the bit. It comes from horse… Continue reading Are you chomping at the bit?
Author: Kim Siever
I am a copywriter and copyeditor. I blog on writing and social media tips mostly, but I sometimes throw in my thoughts about running a small business.
Follow me on Twitter at @hotpepper.
How to write ages in a sentence
I recently received this reader-submitted question: Hello Kim, I stumbled upon your website while looking for something I found hard to even google, so here I am with a question! For the travel website me and my partner own, we are writing a feature article about someone, and I’m puzzled about which one is the… Continue reading How to write ages in a sentence
Reader question: When do you capitalize “husband”?
A reader recently emailed me this question: A woman who is a columnist for our local San Luis Obispo Tribune always capitalizes the word husband when it precedes his name, i.e. Husband Richard. She also capitalizes Son Sean. When I grumbled about it to a friend who edits books she claimed that was proper. Wondering… Continue reading Reader question: When do you capitalize “husband”?
Difference between evoke and invoke
This is part of the difference between series. I recently encountered a document that misused the word invoke, confusing it for evoke. So I thought I’d do a post on the difference between the two. Evoke Evoke is used when the speaker wants to communicate a calling forth or a calling up. For example, if you want… Continue reading Difference between evoke and invoke
Difference between more than and over
This is part of the difference between series. Last month, Unifor, a union in Canada, held an online writing workshop for their research and communications team. Related to this was the following tweet they sent out. Here’s the thing though: using over instead of more than isn’t a writing mistake. I quote tweeted their tweet saying as… Continue reading Difference between more than and over
Should I capitalize husband?
One of my readers is writing a work of fiction and needed to know whether to capitalize “husband”. Here’s my answer.
Sopping wet, not slopping wet
I was recently searching for something, when I came across the phrase “slopping wet”. But this phrase is actually wrong.
Do Canadians use “center” or “centre”?
One of the challenges of Canadian English is that it incorporates British English while simultaneously incorporating American English.
Difference between fulfil and fulfill
I was collaborating on a document recently, when my co-collaborators and I noticed the use of the word “fulfill”.
Organic social reach isn’t dead: what the last 2 months taught me
On my personal Twitter account, my followers grew from 2,870 in March of this year to nearly 5,300 at the end of last month. I thought I’d explain how that happened.