Category Archives: language choices

George Wickham: How Jane Austen Masterfully Uses a Minor Character to Drive the Main Plot

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Regina Jeffers

How a Minor Character Controls the Story’s Action: Jane Austen’s Use of George Wickham On Monday, I interviewed our favorite Austen bad boy, Mr. George Wickham. Actually, I held a celebrity intervention, but as an afterthought to that momentous event, … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Britain, Jane Austen, language choices, Living in the Regency, Regency era, word play, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Are You Familiar With These Words and Phrases?

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Regina Jeffers

Spillikin ~ The Oxford Living Dictionaries gives us: [treated as singular] A game played with a heap of small rods of wood, bone, or plastic, in which players try to remove one at a time without disturbing the others, while Wikitionary … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, language choices, Pop Culture, tall tales, vocabulary, word origins | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Colorful, Colored, and Colorless Words: Fixing Writing Errors

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Regina Jeffers

Do you recall the dreaded 500-words’ essay often assigned by English teachers? Do you also recall the sinking feeling of coming up with 500 words on a subject for which you held no opinion? Do you also recall writing something … Continue reading →

Posted in eBooks, editing, language choices, publishing, word choices, word play, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Do You Know These Words and Phrases?

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Regina Jeffers

Dead as a Doornail. The “doornail” is the plate or knocker upon which the hammer of a door knocker strikes. Phrases.org gives us this explanation on the origin of the phrase. In 1350,  William Langland used the phrase in a translation … Continue reading →

Posted in language choices, vocabulary, word choices, word origins, writing | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Do You Know These Words and Phrases?

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Regina Jeffers

These are some of the words and phrases I have encountered of late while reading. Some I knew the meaning and some I did not. Even when I knew the meaning, I was interested in the word’s origin or how … Continue reading →

Posted in language choices, vocabulary, word choices, word origins, word play | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Do You Know the Origin of These Words and Phrases?

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Regina Jeffers

Do You Know The Origin of These Words and Phrases? I have been editing again, as well as judging a few writing contests. The process had me searching out some of the least common words and phrases I encountered. Check … Continue reading →

Posted in editing, etymology, language choices, vocabulary, word choices, word origins, word play, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

More Doublespeak and Euphemisms

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Regina Jeffers

We all love delightfully delicious euphemisms, but we do not all know the source of some of our favorite phrases. Here are a few more tidbits to add to your supper conversation.  The sources of many of the entries are … Continue reading →

Posted in language choices, word choices | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Regency Era Lexicon – Next Up is the Letter “G”

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Regina Jeffers

Regency Era Lexicon – We’re Up to “G” Gaiters – knee-high leggings that buttoned on the side; a master would wear these over his clothing to protect them from mud, dirt, and rain Gallery – a long narrow room in … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, language choices, Living in the Regency, Regency era | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

From Where Does That Phrase Come?

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

This first one is for Brian, who spoke of a preference for the word in one of my recent posts. Codswallop ~ Unknown, attested from 1959 episode of UK TV series Hancock’s Half Hour. The writers (Galton and Simpson) state that … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, language choices, legends and myths, Uncategorized, word play | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Origin of “Rub-a-dub-dub” Nursery Rhyme

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

As part of my writing of “The Prosecution of Mr. Darcy’s Cousin,” I completed research on “Rub-A-Dub-Dub,” an English language nursery rhyme first published at the end of the eighteenth century. The nursery rhyme plays out as part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, language choices, legends and myths, Living in the UK, writing | Tagged , | Comments Off on Origin of “Rub-a-dub-dub” Nursery Rhyme