Life in progress

Tag Archives: words


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#JusJoJan the 17th/23 – Hyphens

Our prompt word of the day today is “hyphenated.” Thanks today go to Sally for the great prompt!

As an editor, I spend most of my days fixing hyphens or looking up hyphens … did you know hyphenated words (and non-hyphenated words) are in the dictionary? If you’re ever not sure, have a look.

A lot of the time it depends how you’re using the words. You and someone else can walk side by side beside side-by-side windows, for instance.

Ah, I love the English language.

Much easier than trying to figure out French.

No matter how much they told me to allons-y at school.

 ***

This hyphenateful post is brought to you by Just Jot it January and Sally! Please be sure to check out Sally’s blog here!

For Just Jot it January, click the following link to see how you, too, can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2023/01/17/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-17th-2023/ It’s fun!


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Skinnier than …

Funny story.

I was talking to my son Chris this morning about a dream he had of elephants.

As we were chatting, Winston, our dog, came into the kitchen to say hello to me.

I bent to pat him and asked him if he was an elephant.

“You’ve got four legs, and a tail, and floppy ears, and a long nose,” I told him. “But you can’t be an elephant. You’ve got a furry body.”

To which Chris replied, “Elephants are skinnier.”

“Skinnier than Winston? I’ve never seen an elephant skinnier than Winston,” I said.

“No, Mom, not skinnier. SKINnier. They have more skin!”

So I’m hereby declaring myself skinnier than an Irish Setter.

And no one is going to convince me otherwise!


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#JusJoJan the 2nd/23 – Constellation of characters

As I contemplated what I could write on the subject of Willow’s excellent prompt of the day, I decided to go to the dictionary to see what beyond the stars I could write.

And as I thought about it some more, I came to realize that I tend to write the same sort of characters in all my books. That is to say characters all of a sort that have deep issues. Issues of longing, of hardship, of loves lost.

Some of my characters deal with their issues with laughter—they tend to end up in my romantic comedies.

Some of my characters deal with their issues in a more angsty way, as in my paranormal series, “The Great Dagmaru,” and another dark romance that’s been gathering steam in my imagination.

But they’re all part of a constellation in my mind. They’re with me constantly … perhaps helping me sort out my own issues.

***

This contemplative post is brought to you by Just Jot it January and Willow! Thanks so much again, Willow, for the great prompt. Please be sure to check out her blog.

For Just Jot it January, click the following link to see how you, too, can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2023/01/02/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-2nd-2023/ It’s fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Snacks

“That’s crackers!”

“That’s nuts!”

Why do snacks = crazy?

Next time I see something off-the-wall, I’m going to say, “That’s snacks!” and wait for everyone to look at me like I’m … well … yummy.

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

The Magician’s Curse (.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else (Amazon worldwide, Kobo, etc.)
The Magician’s Blood (3.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else
The Magician’s Soul (3.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else
“The Great Dagmaru” Complete Series (6.99) on Amazon US and everywhere else
The Magician’s Sire (free with sign-up) here.


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#SoCS – Turning the page

I think what I miss most when I’m reading an ebook is the act of physically turning the paper page. There’s a certain anticipation that comes with the extra second it takes, compared to swiping a screen to get to the next screen’s-worth of text.

Is it just me?

And then there’s the fact that a paper page isn’t backlit. Much more restful for the eyes. My eyes have been bugging me all day.

I told my son this morning that getting too much sleep sucks for me now that I’m not used to it. It’s like drinking too much–both sleeping and drinking are lovely at the time, but I inadvertently wake up with a headache. Mine has been kind of in the background all day (because I slept 8 hours, not because I was drinking), and it’s bugging my eyes.

Wouldn’t it be nice if when we typed, the words could show up on a paper page instead? Yeah, I know. That’s been invented and it’s called a typewriter, but what if those words on the page could go out instantaneously to the world like it does on the screen?

What if I could type a page of text and hit the return button and you could read it?

Without waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

Hmm.

Somebody invent that, would you?

 

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This daft post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2022/02/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-5-2022/


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#SoCS – The Word I Hate the Most

There are a few words that get on my nerves and leave a bad taste in my mouth. No, “bitter” is not one of them. But the one word I really hate? The one I absolutely detest?

It’s the one I can’t remember.

The one that gets stuck on the tip of my tongue and I just can’t spit out.

Like the one I couldn’t remember tonight. It’s the word(s) for the old stripey colored thing you used to get on the TV when there was an emergency or when the station went off for the night. You know. The thing. The … coloured thingy.

(Do you remember what it’s called? I’ll tell you at the end of the post. Because if I had to suffer, so will you. Haha.)

Stephen King said once, or maybe a million times, that writers should never use a thesaurus. I’m sure at the time he said it he never had a word he couldn’t remember, because that’s a good 99% of the only use I have for one.

I’m not looking for a better word. I’m looking for THE word.

You know, the one I’ve forgotten.

Like test pattern. 😉

 

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This frustrating post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2021/07/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-17-2021/


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One-Liner Wednesday – Just me?

Photo: A new lawn being laid with a hoe, held by someone out of the picture, evening out the soil to roll out a roll of sod on top of it. Caption reads: “Am I the only one whose eye puts an N between the W and the M whenever they read the word “lawmaker”?”

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com


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#SoCS – Spot the difference

As I sat down to write this post, I realized that my job is basically a game of “spot the difference.” Because what is editing if it’s not finding things that are not what they’re supposed to be? On one hand, you have a tpyo, and on the other hand, you have the dictionary. The word is “typo.” Spot the difference!

And for this I spent thousands of dollars in school fees and hours upon hours of studying. HA!

Speaking of words, have you ever noticed how many four-letter words you can spell out of the letters S-P-O-T?

spot

stop

post

pots

tops

opts

Did I miss any?

 

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This observational post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/08/07/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-8-2020/


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#SoCS – Sofa, so good

Sitting on the couch, writing this and eating chips, it occurred to me that if I put a chip on the seat beside me, it would literally be a couch potato.

Couch–such a versatile word. As a verb it can mean how you phrase or word something … how you couch it.

The advice goes that if you want to write a book, you’ve got to get your butt in the chair.

But I sit on the couch to write.

Which means I can couch it “get your butt on the couch.”

Which is what I’m doing now: writing with my couch potatoes.

Sofa, so good.

I think it’s about time I couched myself in bed.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This silly post was written for Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to find all the other posts linked in the comments and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/08/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-31-19/

 


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Inch – #JusJoJan Jot #18

Inch is one of those words that, if I look at it too long, it stops making sense.

Inches are the only thing that make sense to me when I’m measuring height. Of course, if I don’t want to do math, feet are important too.

I just realized why my 12 times tables were so important in school. Are they still? In countries other than the U.S., that is.

I’d rather measure snow in inches–four inches sounds much better than ten centimetres.

Inches are about as far away I am from going to bed after a very busy day.

Inch is the prompt word for today, brought to us by John Holton. Thanks, John! Here’s the link to his “inch” post. Drop by and say hi to him, if you haven’t already!

 

It’s never too late to participate in Just Jot it January! Click the following link to find out how, and see all the other participants’ links in the comment section. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/17/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-17th/