ENGLISH FOR TEST PREP and more...

Fishy Expressions The English language abounds in expressions related to fish and fishing. Here are just a few: 1.  to drink like a fish : to drink to excess. 2.  to feed the fishes : to die by drowning. 3.  to feel like a fish out of water : to feel out of one’s comfort zone. 4.  to fish for compliments : do or say things to elicit praise from others. 5.  to sound fishy : to seem dubious or suspicious. 6.  All is fish that comes to his net : He makes use of everything that comes his way. 7.  Fish or cut bait! : Make a decision one way or another. 8.  Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime : a proverb meaning that it’s more useful to a person to teach him how to do something for himself than to give him a hand-out. 9.  There are plenty of other fish in the sea : a comforting remark made to someone who has broken up with a sweetheart. 10.  a pretty kettle of fish...

To be a square peg in a round hole and more... (30 Idioms About Common Shapes) Figurative references to circles, squares, and triangles turn up in a variety of familiar expressions. Here’s a list of many of those idioms and their meanings. 1. To be a square peg in a round hole is to be someone who doesn’t fit in a particular environment, or in certain circumstances. 2. To go back to square one is to start over again because of a setback or an impasse. 3. The expression “Be there, or be square” alludes to often-lighthearted pressure to attend an event or suffer the consequences of being considered conventional and uninteresting. 4–6. To call something square , square something with someone, or square accounts is to agree with another party that neither party owes anything to the other one. 7. To circle around is to move in a circular motion to engage in reconnaissance or to figuratively evaluate a situation. 8. A circular argument is one in which the proposition is ...

COMMON GREEK ROOT WORDS USED IN ENGLISH TODAY Here are common Greek root words (and their definitions) we use in English: Arch – chief Auto –  referring to the self Biblio – anything pertaining to a book Bios – life or living things in general Cosmos – order or world Cracy –  any type of government entity Demos -  pertaining people Derma -  referring to the skin Ethnos – race or nation Gastro – pertaining to the stomach Geo – pertaining to the earth Hydro – pertaining to water Hypno – pertaining to sleep Isos – equal, alike or identical Kilo - thousand Lithos – referring to stone Logos – word or study Mania – pertaining to madness Mega – large or powerful Monos – pertaining to one Neuron – pertaining to the nerve Nomos – law or science Octo - eight Pan – pertaining to all or every Phobia – fear or dread of something Phone – referring to sound or speaking Psycho – pertaining to the soul or the mind Scopos – to spy, watch or see Sta...

10 Pairs of Words and Their Useful Distinctions Take care when determining which word among two or more synonyms or near synonyms to employ, because the sense of a word can be subtly or significantly different from that of a similar term: 1. Childish/Childlike Childish  refers to immature behavior characteristic of a child, while  childlike  pertains to more positive qualities such as innocence and curiosity. 2. Illegible/Unreadable Something that is difficult to read because the text has been damaged or obscured is illegible or unreadable, but the latter term may alternatively refer to the poor quality of the content. 3. Incomparable/ Uncomparable Incomparable  is used as an intensifier to mean that the person, place, or thing so described is so excellent that no other person, place, or thing can compare;  uncomparable , meanwhile, means that something about the person, place, or thing prevents it from being compared to someone, someplace, or somethi...

Agee, James A Death in the Family Story of loss and heartbreak felt when a young father dies.   Anderson, Sherwood Winesburg, Ohio A collection of short stories lays bare the life of a small town in the Midwest.   Baldwin, James Go Tell It On the Mountain Semi-autobiographical novel about a 14-year-old black youth's religious conversion.   Bellamy, Edward Looking Backward: 2000-1887 Written in 1887 about a young man who travels in time to a utopian year 2000, where economic security and a healthy moral environment have reduced crime.   Bellow, Saul Seize the Day A son grapples with his love and hate for an unworthy father.   Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451 Reading is a crime and firemen burn books in this futuristic society.   Cather, Willa My Antonia Immigrant pioneers strive to adapt to the Nebraska prairies.   Chopin, Kate The Awakening The story of a New Orleans woman who abandons her husband and children to search for love and self-understanding. ...

3 Problems of Parallel Structure Faulty combination of elements in sentences is a common syntactical flaw. Here are three examples of this type of organizational error. 1. “She is bright, creative, and has much to share.” This sentence, in which the predicate includes two adjectives following a verb, then a conjunction and a verb phrase, is out of balance. The subject is credited with three attributes, and they must share one verb, or each must have its own verb. The sentence initially appears to follow the former rule, but then another verb appears. The only way to maintain this structure is to combine  bright  and  creative  into a single item: “She is bright and creative and has much to share.” (Note that the comma after creative is no longer necessary.) Alternatively,  creative  could be assigned its own verb, but it — and the final phrase — would require a proprietary repetition of the pronoun as well: “She is bright, she is creative, and she ...

40 Idioms with First Many expressions include the word  first , often referring to beginnings or initial experiences. Here is a list of idiomatic phrases featuring the word, and their meanings. 1.  First aid : medical care for minor injuries such as mild abrasions, cuts, bruises, and burns 2.  First among equals : the sentiment that a leader is merely the premier person among his or her colleagues 3.  First base : the first step or stage in a process or procedure, from baseball terminology 4.  First blood : referring to the rite of passage of a hunter making a first kill 5.  (At) first blush : referring to reconsideration of one’s initial thought 6.  First call : the right to priority in use of something 7.  First cause : the philosophical concept of the original self-created cause of which all other causes are by-products 8.  First chair : the lead musician among those playing a particular instrument in an orchestra (such as f...

“Least,” “Less,” “More,” and “Most” The adjectives  least ,  less ,  more , and  most  present difficulties for writers when the words are paired with other adjectives: Should hyphens be employed? And what about when  little ,  much , and similar terms are involved? Generally, do not hyphenate such constructions. The following examples are all correct: “She bought the least expensive shampoo.” “I’ve never heard a less interesting story.” “That wasn’t the most regrettable part.” “We have a more likely explanation.” But use these words cautiously in such sentences. For example, “He made several more successful efforts” is ambiguous: Does it mean that the person added a few successful efforts to his record of previous successful ones, or that the person’s efforts were more successful than previous ones? Some writers choose to hyphenate “more successful” when appropriate in such a context, but such a strategy leads to inconsistency when the hy...

3 Disagreements About How to Use “Either” and “Neither” Use of  either  and  neither , and their associated words  or  and  nor , is complicated by disagreements about proper usage. Here’s a discussion of the words and the opinions about their appropriate use. An “either . . . or” or “neither . . . nor” construction can include more than two elements, but some grammar guides advise writers to restrict the usage to reference to two choices: “I’m going to wear either blue or green” but not “I’m going to wear either blue, green, or red.” If you agree with that restriction (I don’t), delete  either  from the latter sentence — and it’s optional in the first one, for that matter. Omitting  neither  is not an option in the sentence “I’m going to wear neither blue nor green,” but the idea can also be rendered “I’m not going to wear blue or green.” The proscription against using  or , rather than  nor , with  neither ...

3 Functions of the Comma The general purpose of a comma is to separate closely related but distinct elements in a sentence. Discussion of three specific functions of the comma follows: 1. Place Names and Dates A pair of commas sets a more widely encompassing place name off from the more specific designation of a place within the other location, as in “She was born in Pensacola, Florida, in 1980.” Likewise, a reference to a year is set off from the rest of the sentence when it follows a reference to a month and day (but not to the month alone), as in “She was born on January 1, 1980, in Pensacola” (but “She was born in January 1980 in Pensacola”). When the items in a list of locations require internal commas, the items should be set off by semicolons: “I’ve participated in events with him in Kansas City, Missouri; Rapid City, South Dakota; and Oak Park, Illinois.” However, if only one of the items requires an internal comma, place it last in the series and rely on commas to dist...

1.  What do you say when you are comforting a grammar nazi? tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr Make Rubbable There, their, they’re. 2.  What’s another name for Santa’s elves? Make Rubbable Subordinate Clauses. 3. tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr 4. 5. theindiepedant.com  / Via  theindiepedant.com 6. tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr 7. pinterest.com  / Via  pinimg.com 8. tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr 9. blogger.com  / Via  blogspot.com 10. i186.photobucket.com  / Via  Photobucket.com 11. wordpress.com  / Via  wordpress.com 12. pinterest.com  / Via  pinimg.com 13. pinterest.com  / Via  pinimg.com 14. tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr 15. tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr 16. tumblr.com  / Via Tumblr 17. tumblr.com  / Via  Tumblr.com Make Rubbable ...