Diction

English Language ArtsPunctuation & Diction

An English professor wrote the words"A woman without her man is nothing"on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote:"A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the females in the class wrote:"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Can you read these right the first time?

1) The bandage waswoundaround the wound.

2) The farm was used toproduceproduce..

3) The dump was so full that it had torefusemorerefuse.

4) We mustpolishthePolishfurniture..

5) He couldleadif he would get theleadout.

6) The soldier decided todeserthis dessert in thedesert.

7) Since there is no time like thepresent, he thought it was time topresentthepresent.

8) Abasswas painted on the head of thebassdrum.

9) When shot at, thedovedoveinto the bushes.

10) I did notobjectto theobject.

Can you read these right the first time?11) The insurance wasinvalidfor theinvalid.

12) There was arow among the oarsmen about how torow.

13) They were toocloseto the door tocloseit.

14) The buckdoesfunny things when thedoesare present.

15) A seamstress and asewerfell down into asewerline.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught hissowtosow.

17) Thewindwas too strong towindthe sail.

18) Upon seeing thetearin the painting I shed atear.

19) I had tosubjectthesubjectto a series of tests.

20) How can Iintimatethis to my most intimatefriend?

English?Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

English?And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

English?And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

English?How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English?English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'?

Word ChoiceThere is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is'UP.'

It's easy to understandUP,meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wakeUP? At a meeting, why does a topic comeUP? Why do we speakUPand why are the officersUPfor election and why is itUPto the secretaryto writeUPa report?

We callUPour friends. And we use it to brightenUPa room, polishUPthe silver, we warmUPthe leftovers and cleanUPthe kitchen. We lockUPthe house and some guys fixUPthe old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stirUPtrouble, lineUPfor tickets, workUPan appetite, and thinkUPexcuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressedUPis special.

And thisUPis confusing: A drain must be openedUPbecause it is stoppedUP. We openUPa store in the morning but we close itUPat night.

Word ChoiceWe seem to be pretty mixedUPaboutUP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses ofUP, look the wordUP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takesUPalmost 1/4th of the page and can addUPto about thirty definitions. If you areUPto it, you might try buildingUPa list of the many waysUPis used. It will takeUPa lot of your time, but if you don't giveUP, you may windUPwith a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is cloudingUP. When the sun comes! out we say it is clearingUP.

Word ChoiceWhen it rains, it wets the earth and often messes thingsUP

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dryUP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap itUP, for now my time is UP, so......... Time to shutUP!

Oh...one more thing:

What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?U-P

Punctuation?Dear John:I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?Gloria

Punctuation?Dear John:I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?Yours,Gloria

DICTION

What is it?Diction refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression.choice and use of words

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