This week’s musings are brought to us, for the first time, by Saintseester! Last week, she wrote to me and said:
Chili:
Three things have been bugging me, lately. Why they are bugging me, I cannot reason.
Pleaded vs. Pled: I swear a long time ago, every used pled for the past tense, as in, “He pled guilty [...]
School for the girls starts on Wednesday (though, really, I don’t think it actually starts until next Tuesday. Why the kids go back for two days this week only to have four days off makes no sense to me, but I’m not the one who sets the calendar, I suppose). For the most part, we’re [...]
I found this at DrPrezz’s place.
Back To School Meme
Completed in Reference to (Self or Child): Self
1. Number of years teaching or your eldest child has been in school (k through college) ? 3, but this will be my first term at Local U.
2. Amount approximately spent on Back to School Items so far including clothes? [...]
Look, You Guys; it’s not like me to make fun of people, and you all know that. I recognize that English is a tough language to learn (hell, I’m a native speaker, and I still struggle with it some times). Please know that no insult is intended. Having said that, let’s lighten [...]
I rarely meme here, but since there’s been little happening on the professional front lately (I’m teaching a once-a-week lit. class and there’s really nothing exciting happening there, and the Local U. gig doesn’t start for another couple of weeks), I thought I’d do this fun little bit of nothingness found over at Colonel Colonel’s [...]
You, know; the one on WEDNESDAY.
Seriously, You Guys; I don’t know what was wrong with me yesterday. I’m back on track now, though; I know what day it is today. Sorry ’bout that.
Okay, here’s a question from Kizz, who says:
I keep forgetting to ask for a review of complimenting vs. complementing. I’ve been seeing them [...]
Helping verbs!
One of my favorite lessons in my public speaking classes is the one about the First Amendment. To begin the lesson, I write the text on the board:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the [...]
O’Mama and I found ourselves in the local Big Box Book Store this afternoon and discovered that they were completely sold out of the Othello version of No Fear Shakespeare.
Guess what our students are supposed to be reading for this week?
Coincidence? I think not.
Alternately titled: The Post that Came to Me Already Written.
Here’s the email that CTG (re)sent to me with his question about the differences between lay and lie. I don’t think that I need to add anything to it, do you?
My dear Mrs. Chili,
Sort out the verbs lie (to recline) and lay (to place or put [...]
A Grammar Wednesday is forthcoming, though we might not get to it today.
California Teacher Guy (who is in direct competition with Kizz for the title of most stalwart supporter of this little weekly feature) sent me an email last week asking me to review the differences between “lay” and “lie.” In his email, he included [...]
