I learned something new today – I have been using the word “loathe” incorrectly! I have used the word “loathe” as an adjective: “I am loathe to try bungee jumping“, which is incorrect! The word should only be used as a verb  as in “I loathe bungee jumping“. It turns out that there are actually … [Read More »]

I have had this problem for a while with the use of the word practice. I was raised in South Australia where they are – or at least were once – quite particular in teaching the “Queen’s English” the correct way. I remember in school being taught that practice was a noun and the verb … [Read More »]

And now for something a bit lighter … A colleague tried to use the word furphy in an email today – but complained that he wasn’t sure how it was spelt (furfy, furfee ?), and couldn’t find any references in the dictionary or thesauruses. I knew what he was trying to say – a furphy … [Read More »]

dictionary.com/solmisation (also solmization) The act or a system of using syllables, especially sol-fa syllables, to represent the tones of the scale. The song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music is an example of solmisation !

I’d thought I’d get back to some word definitions (refer to my earlier post [url=http://www.hampel.net.au/blog/archives/2003/07/01/a-thousand-words/]A Thousand Words[/url] Today’s word is [url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=assonance]assonance[/url] Dictionary.com/assonance – Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in: “that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea” (William Butler Yeats) – The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed … [Read More »]