More Confusing Words

So, what is the difference between…
Poor = lack of financial stability
Pore = (verb) meaning to study or read; (noun) meaning small openings in the skin
Pour = to flow in a continuous stream

Precede = means to go before
The man preceded his wife in death
Proceed = means to continue
He could not proceed with the experiment

respectfully = in an honorable manner
respectively = listing person or things in order
Matthew MacFadyen has played Mr. Darcy and Aramis is Pride & Prejudice and The Three Musketeers, respectively.

Last = means “final”
The last week of the Winter Olympics features my favorite sport: ice skating.
Past = means “previous”
The past two weeks crawled by.

Emerge = to rise from obscurity
Sarah Palin emerged as legitimate candidate, which whom people would align themselves, after the 2008 elections.
Immerge = disappear into or plunge into
Alvin Green immerged quickly into the ranks of obscure candidates.

altogether = wholly; entirely
It is altogether too hot for December.
all together = every person or thing in the same place at the same time
We were all together at Christmas time.

all ready = everyone or everything is prepared or available for use
The PRHS players are all ready for the state championship game.
already = previously (in time)
We have already completed the last draft of the manuscript.

all right = giving permission; better than before
He said he felt all right after his bout with the flu.
It was all right with Mom that we stayed until the end of the game.
Alright is not a word!!!

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Words that People Frequently Confuse

As an author, I come across words all the time, which people frequently confuse. Among those are

Affect = a verb meaning to influence
Effect = a noun meaning result
Effect = a verb meaning to cause an action
The explosive sound affected the crowd’s behavior.
The Cavs fans had little effect on the Miami Heat’s play.
The administration has effected how we see ourselves as students.

Agree To = used when referring to things
Agree With = used when referring to people
We agreed to the changes in policy.
We agreed with the experts in the field.

Amount = an indefinite quantity (cannot be counted)
Number = a quantity which can be counted
The amount of news consumed by individuals each day varies.
The number of people at the malls on Black Friday increased.

Backward is ALWAYS used; never use Backwards.
She stumbled backward into the arms of the man she loved.

Envelop = means to surround
Envelope = the paper wrapper for a letter

Ensure = to guarantee or to make certain
Insure = to purchase protection for life, health, etc.
Even an expensive stereo system cannot ensure good quality sound.
I will insure the package’s contents when I ship it.

Lead = a soft, heavy material
Lead = to guide, show the way, to be in command of
Led = past tense of the verb “lead”

Passed = is a verb
Past = is never a verb (can be a preposition, a noun, or an adjective)
He passed his test.
I walked past the cemetery on my way here.
In my past, I have done things of which I am not proud.
In the past year, my career has changed dramatically.

So, what words and phrases confuse you? Do you have some such as “lie” and “lay,” which forever plague you?

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Nate Ruffin Memorial

Earlier this week, I wrote about the Marshall University plane crash in 1970. As a follow up to that post, I want to share some follow-up information.

A bust of Nate Ruffin was recently unveiled during the 2010 Homecoming Festivities on Marshall University’s campus. Ruffin was a member of the 1970 Thundering Herd football team and was very instrumental in keeping the program alive after the crash. Ruffin did not make the ill-fated trip to eastern North Carolina the day of the crash because of an injury. Ruffin, who was portrayed by Anthony Mackie in the film We Are Marshall passed away several years ago and is buried at Springhill Cemetery in Huntington, WV, beside the mass grave holding the six unidentified bodies from the crash.

Steve and Mary Williams commissioned the bust of Ruffin. During the October 2010 Homecoming ceremonies, the Marshall Black Alumni Association, along with the Marshall University Alumni Association, held a joint champagne reception to dedicate the Nate Ruffin Lounge in the Marshall University Foundation Hall, home of the Erickson Alumni Center.

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“Even you can write comedy,” he said.

A friend of mine recently told me that I should consider writing comedy. I laughed, naturally, because I assumed he meant it as a joke. I am known for those kind of lines, which can strip someone of his dignity, but I would not say I was particularly funny. When I hear a good joke, I do not remember it to retell it to my friends.
He was serious, though. He said, “Writing comedy is the same as writing the romance novels, which are your stock and trade.”
Again, I laughed.
“Comedy needs real-life situations,” he explained.
I thought about it and agreed.
“It needs strong dialogue, which tells the story.”
My interest piqued. “I think dialogue is one of my strengths in writing.”
“The characters have to be relatable. You have to see yourself in them.”
“Okay, I get it. What else?” I asked, now enthralled with the idea.
He paused to think what other examples he should use to sell me on the idea. “Pacing is important,” he added.
“Yes. . .” I encouraged.
“A balance between the elements,” he continued.
“Does not one have to know how to write a joke?” I asked when he paused again. “Should not one have a sense of humor?”
“You have an excellent sense of humor,” he assured me. “Maybe a bit too sophisticated at times.”
“So, I do not like bathroom humor,” I countered.
“But you do like word puns and malapropisms.”
“That is true. But just because I enjoy twisting the King’s English, that does not mean I can write comedy.”
“Have it your way,” he said. “But you are funny, whether you know it or not.”
I thought about what he said. Then I noticed the sly smirk turning up the corners of his mouth. “Oh, yeah,” I protested. “Tell me a time when you recognized my natural comedic flare,” I challenged.
He sat for several elongated minutes. Finally, he said, “Besides when you slipped on the ice and looked like a windmill trying to catch your balance.”
“Yes, besides that.”
“Never.”
“I rest my case.”

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Austen-Related Actors with November Birthdays

For November, we are presented with a several actors who have been seen in more than one Jane Austen-related film: Lindsay Duncan and Jonny Lee Miller have each been in two, whereas, Hugh Bonneville has been in three Austen films. Both Duncan and Bonneville were in Lost in Austen. Duncan, Bonneville, and Miller were all in Mansfield Park 1999.

http://pf.kizoa.com/sflite.swf?did=1167687&k=P159235046&hk=1

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Words Which Can Be Funny

Yesterday’s post reminded me of a line in Neil Simon’s (one of my favorite playwrights) The Sunshine Boys. One of the main characters, Willy, says, “Fifty-seven years in this business, you learn a few things. You know what words are funny and which words are not funny. Alka Seltzer is funny. You say ‘Alka Seltzer’ you get a laugh . . . Words with ‘k’ in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that’s a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Cupcake is funny. Tomato is not funny. Cookie is funny. Cucumber is funny. Car keys. Cleveland . . . Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny. Then, there’s chicken. Chicken is funny. Pickle is funny.”

So, I was wondering if you knew of other funny words or phrases. There is a whole science of etymology which explores such things, but as listeners we have certain phrases or words that spark humor. I mean when Steve Martin first said “Excuuuuuse me!” did we not all laugh? The funniest words and those which many comedians employ are those we can categorize as “double entendres.” (Can you tell I used to teach English Language and Composition?) A double entendre is an expression with a double meaning, one of which is a bit more risque than expected. For example, on TV last evening, one could watch Meet the Fokkers.

Please keep it clean in your responses, but have you seen or heard such phrases? I once remember a restaurant billboard that said something such as, “Try our new fish dinner, just for the halibut.”
I mean, let’s face it: “Kumquats” is a funny word. As is “Oshkosh,” “Peoria,” “Chock Full of Nuts,” Organ Grinder,” and “Chamber Pot.” (The last of which I use quite often, as I write Regency romance.)

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A Comedy of Manners

In a comedy of manners, witticisms are the rule of the day. People are judged as being wits or being idiots, so to speak. The audience (by silent agreement) allow the wits to be in charge, and anything outside the social norms and expectations are subject to ridicule. They allow themselves the pleasure of sitting back and laughing at their own foibles. Comedies of manners have flourished when a population saw themselves as homogeneous and could accept that they are very much like the superior class displayed within the plot. These comedies are associated with the aristocracy. One can find such plays all the way back in the 17th century. James Shirley’s A Lady of Pleasure is one of the first to come to mind.

The wits in a comedy of manners are self-assured, superior beings. They love to quote poetry or famous writers. The are fine speakers, as well as being very resourceful.

The “butts of the jokes” are clumsy and ridiculously in love with themselves. They are lacking in intellect and cannot succeed in social situations due to their lack of a “swift” mind. The poor “butts” are taught a lesson within the comedy on how to be better dressed, how to be less crude, and how to have a “more fulfilling” lifestyle.

However, do not think of the comedy of manners as only about social snobs. The “snobs” are more than just fancy clothes and social manners. These people are masters of mental agility. They are skilled with the repartee and the epigrammatic phrase. They are pure geniuses when it comes to le most juste.

So, what brought on this look at a comedic form. On their Facebook pages, my former students were bemoaning their required reading of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a play I absolutely love to watch, but abhor to read. In it, Wilde is openly satirical of the middle-class values he meets daily in and about London and Dublin. The idle rich aristocracy in this play see the folly of their ways, but they continue them in order to foist upon the lower class a false illusion. The title and much of the play’s action (or inaction) comes from the concept of being “earnest” or “honest.”

Lady Bracknell: To be born in a handbag, whether it had handles or not, seems to me to display a contempt for the ordinary decencies of family life that reminds one of the worst excesses of the French Revolution.

The scene between Lady Bracknell and Jack Worthing is one of my favorites. I used to include it in my acting classes for young people to see how to create a “stereotype” on the stage.
Lady Bracknell’s one dimensional character adds pure comic genius to the scene.
The wits in a comedy of manners mock the foibles of others with a subtlely amused self-deprecation.

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Mars vs. Venus Part III

This is more on the differences between males and females:
Women not on the pill, find masculine features attractive, but women on the pill find feminized male faces more attractive.
When men sweat, pheromones, which have no odor themselves, are mixed with the sweat to attract the opposite sex.
Males see a female’s waist to hip ratio instinctively when meeting the woman for the first time. It probably has something to do with childbearing and whether a woman might conceive easily.
Large amounts of dopamine and oxytocin surge in a woman’s body when she is talking/bonding with her partner.
Women pay more attention to the tone of a person’s voice and his body language when interpreting meaning. Men are likely to miss these cues to meaning because they need precision in word choice.
Obviously, the woman’s nurturing center of the brain is more developed than a man’s, while his sexual center is more developed.
Women show their teeth when smiling. Men do not. In a man, showing one’s teeth is considered a weakness.
Women can recall the spoken word exactly. They have a better blood supply to that part of the brain. Men remember the “gist” of the conversation.
Women have a stronger sense of smell, and the chocolate cravings are natural for they also taste sugar better. Men have a better sense of taste for salty and bitter foods/drinks.
Women are physically and neurologically mature at 17; men not until age 22-24.
Women have better finger dexterity than a man, but he has better eye-hand coordination.

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Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

This morning, like so many of you, I awoke an hour earlier than necessary because of the time change to Eastern Standard Time. At first, I considered turning over and going back to sleep, but I flipped on the TV to see if anything of importance happened overnight in the news. Finding nothing to keep my eyes open, I began a search with the remote. When I landed on Turner Classic Movies, I stopped. Here was a film from the golden age of movies of which I was not aware…actually had never seen it before. It was Till the Clouds Roll By, released in 1946 (before I was born), a film about the life of Jerome Kern. Kern was the genius behind these Broadway classics: Showboat, Roberta, and Sweet Adeline.

The film was loaded with some of Kern’s finest pieces. Some of these were featured:
“Ol’ Man River”
“Can’t Help Lovin Dat Man”
“A Fine Romance”
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”
“The Way You Look Tonight”
“Long Ago (and Far Away)”
“I Won’t Dance”
“Make Believe”
“Bill”
“The Last Time I Saw Paris”

The movie starred Robert Walker as Jerome Kern, but it had smaller bit parts for some of Hollywood’s finest, some of whom appeared in cameo parts, while others played characters in Kern’s life.
Among them were Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore, Esther Williams, Angela Lansbury, Lena Horne, Van Heflin, Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Tony Martin, Van Johnson, and Judy Garland. Add to that the dancing talents of Gower Champion and Cyd Charisse.
So, although my body clock still needs readjusting, I do not regret the moments of watching the film version about a man whose music we still sing after all these years. It was an enjoyable way to start my day.

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Mars vs. Venus – Part II

Here are some other distinct differences between males and females of which writers must be aware in developing characters:

Women learn quickly in a cooperative setting, where men need competition. For YA authors, this means differences in a classroom setting (all female vs. traditional classrooms)
Women need the emotional bonding of hearing a man talk to them and to listen to them to be “turned on.” Men react to visual responses: nudity, sexy underwear, etc.
Women are interested in developing relationships; men are interested in the baser forms of recreation.
Women like to talk through their problems; men rarely speak of their problems to anyone.
Being more right brained, women are more in tune with their emotions. They will, therefore, cry more often. Men have difficulty accessing the right brain centers, which control grief or sadness or depression. A man will seldom cry because of this. Plus, society looks down on a man who cries, saying he must “act like a man.”
For women, testosterone levels control her depression (literally, reducing her irritability, and her nervousness. Men with high testosterone levels, rarely suffer from sadness.

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