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April 2008 This month's tip: Affect/effect We're gonna clear up this bad boy once and for all. Feature article: More punctuation for your edification and validation Hyphens, dashes and stuff like that.
Humor: Buzzword Bingo Be the best of breed and shift your paradigm with this win-win game!
March 2008 This month's tip: A or an? It's the simple things in life you treasure. Feature article: My cable guy's a proofreader too On this, the one-year anniversary of the first issue of Conan, we revisit one of my pet peeves.
Humor: Mangled proverbs II Words of wisdom well said.
February 2008 This month's tip: Plurals, take two WI hate having to repeat myself, repeat myself, repeat myself... Feature article: Comma tally voo? Roughly translated from its original Pig French, it means "Do you, like most people, use commas incorrectly?"
Humor: Mangled proverbs What are they teaching in schools nowadays?
January 2008 This month's tip: Plurals Wouldn't life be easier if we could just slap an "i" on the end of everything like those crazy Romans? Feature article: Reading aloud The world's best-kept editing secret.
Humor: More product warnings No explanation needed!
December 2007 This month's tip: Me, myself and I Direct to you from the Myself Decade! Feature article: Fear not: Christmas letters Forget doctoral theses--Christmas letters are the truest test of intellect.
Humor: Warning labels You can't say lawyers haven't contributed anything to society.
November 2007 This month's tip: Your/you're The incubus of online spammers Feature article: News release writing for dummies I don't mean you, of course!
Humor: Double-speak Is double-speak evasive? That depends on what your definition of "is" is. Is that clear?
October 2007 This month's tip: Farther/further Somebody call PETA! Feature article: Pronouns He, she, it, they...what the heck are we talking about here?
Humor: From the dopey baby-name file If you've run out of humiliating children's names, here are some ideas.
September 2007 This month's tip: Capital/capitol Say it aloud enough times and it starts to lose its meaning. But I guess that works with any word, huh? Feature article: Similes and you This month I'm throwing the fiction writers a bone. Brace yourself—it's a long'un.
Humor: Even more fun with similes Q: What do some similes have in common with modern-day verbal dialogue attributions? A: The word “like.”
August 2007 This month's tip: Who's/Whose Is there an owl in here? Feature article: Consistency counts And no, I'm not talking about viscosity.
Humor: The benefits of multi-lingualism Learn some innovative foreign phrases and impress your out-of-town guests.
This month's tip: There, their, they're For your information, there not interchangeable--I mean, their's a correct way to...oh, they're I go again...
Feature article: Let's talk about exclamation points! Hey! Stop using exclamation points! And you must definitely stop using multiple exclamation points!! Right now!!! Do you hear me?!?
Humor: Fun with signs What do those "universal" icons/illustrations on signs really mean? Canadian writer Darren Barefoot explains all.
This month's tip: Then/than Won the science fair, flunked the spelling bee...
Feature article: Passive voice part deux Find out when it's actually appropriate to use passive voice, even though some people would prefer you never used it (oh, I'm sorry. I forgot we're not talking about passive aggressive voice...)
Humor: Church bulletins Errors in these earnest publications have been entertaining the faithful ever since Pete and the boys were hanging out in old Jerusalem. Read on for some classic flubs.
This month's tip: When sports writing goes very, very wrong My kingdom for an editor! (Or at least a dictionary...)
Feature article: Passive voice part I You will be taught the perils of passive voice by me.
Humor: The most "misunderstood" punctuation "You" guessed it--"quotation" marks.
This month's tip: Alot, a lot, allot I can't believe you're making me explain this.
Feature article: Put the thesaurus down and back slowly away Why using words you wouldn't say in everyday conversation makes you sound--well, not as smart as you think.
Humor: Headlines that would make the editor at Weekly World News blush Yes, I'm pulling a Jay Leno on you...
This month's tip: Lead us not into temptation... Soft metal or past tense of a verb? You be the judge.
Feature article: A cautionary tale Why everyone needs a proofreader...including proofreaders!
Humor: I'll bet they wish they hadn't named their web site that Let's laugh at our mistakes!