One of my greatest objections to English grammar is the concept of the gender-neutral pronoun. I’m all for gender equality, but I object to the unwieldy sentences it has created. Take this egregious example from an automobile safety card:
“The passenger should keep his or her seatbelt fastened at all times to protect himself or herself in the event of an accident.”

With the media hysteria over swine flu – excuse me, 2009 H1N1 influenza – I thought I’d take a shot at clearing up some confusing terms related to health and illness. They may not make you feel any safer, but take heart – it appears that the hysteria over the disease may be more to be feared than the actual germ. At least it’s not “Captain Trips”:

Epidemic/pandemic
An epidemic is a sudden outbreak of illness affecting more than the usual number of people or a wider range or people than usual. A pandemic is a multi-country or worldwide epidemic.

Nauseous/nauseated
We’ve already heard flu this and flu that, ad nauseam, but does that make us nauseous or nauseated? “Nauseated” is that unpleasant feeling in your tum-tum; “nauseous” is something that provokes that ill-feeling. As one source put it, if you say you’re nauseous, you’re describing how people react to you.

Infectious/Contagious
Contagious diseases spread via bodily contact with an ill person. Infectious diseases are spread by germs through air or water or some other medium. All contagious diseases are infectious, in the sense they are caused by some foreign substance entering the body, but not all infectious diseases are contagious. In any case, wash your hands!

Virus/bacteria
A virus is a chunk of protein that contains genetic material. A virus is not considered to be a living thing. It cannot reproduce on its own; it must infect a living cell to grow. Flus and colds are caused by viruses.

Bacteria, however, are one-celled living organisms. They can multiply and reproduce themselves. They cause diseases like strep, tuberculosis and scarlet fever. Antibiotics kill bacteria, but do nothing to viruses. So taking an antibiotic to fight cold symptoms or the flu is a waste of money and effort.

Inoculate vs. vaccinate
These originally were two different processes to achieve the same goal – immunity against a disease. Inoculate at first meant introducing some kind of substance into the body to provoke an immune system reaction that would provide lasting immunity. Vaccinate meant to introduce a vaccine – a liquified preparation. Their meanings have since merged.

Prone/Supine
If you catch something, either contagious or infectious, and don’t have immunity, you may wind up in bed. But prone or supine? That’s mostly your choice: Prone means face down, supine means face up. Me, I just curl up in a ball and will the world to go away.

Recently a wine-buff friend of mine poured a glass of pricey Bordeaux for me. “How about that aroma?” he asked. I had to confess to him that my sense of smell has deteriorated a lot. “I usually smell good, but I don’t smell well,” I quipped.

Few pairs of words get more groans from us grammar hair-dividers than “well” and “good.” Above, “good” describes me, while “well” describes my olfactory prowess. Each word can be either a noun or an interjection without any confusion; “well” can also be either an adjective or an adverb, while “good” can serve as an adjective.
And this is where the debate starts.

6 Steps to a Productive Session

Before writing this post, I had no idea where to start. So what did I do? I sat down at my computer for 10 minutes and typed as much as I could on the reasons why I free write. The result wasn’t polished enough to post here, but it got me thinking. And that is the point of free writing—to remove the obstacles that block your creativity and get you thinking.
Also known as “stream of consciousness writing,” free writing is not that different from those grade-school exercises where the teacher would ask you to take out a piece of paper and write whatever you wanted on a topic until she called time. I used to hate it when my teacher would snatch up my paper before I was done, but what I didn’t realize then was that free writing isn’t about producing perfect prose. It’s about collecting and connecting your thoughts, and silencing that critical voice inside that keeps you from fully expressing yourself.

At Hammock, we have a talented staff of writers and editors who contribute to the print and media we produce for clients, but we also rely on a network of amazing freelance and contract creators to help us tell our clients’ stories. What does it take for a freelancer to catch our eye? We asked Hammock editors to share their thoughts on the topic. Check out the Q & A below for tips on writing winning queries, impressing editors and building ongoing relationships with publications.

It can be difficult to balance an association’s desire to make a national impact and its need to recognize and celebrate the efforts of its grassroots membership. We walk this delicate balance with many of our clients—including the National Federation of Independent Business and the Daughters of the American Revolution—and we’re challenged to find creative ways to present local chapter content so that it’s still compelling to a national audience.

For some reason, I’ve been thinking about simpler times lately. Times when I was younger and I didn’t have a 401(k) to fret about. Times when all I had to worry about was remembering my locker combination, whether Keith Barnes liked me or not, and preparing for the English quiz Mrs. Hohertz was sure to give every Friday afternoon.

When my mind goes back to my English lessons in Mrs. Hohertz’s classroom, I can visualize the posters that she had on the walls like they were right here with me today. They had a very 1950s feel to them: the colors, the fonts, the illustrations. The posters that I remember helped me out on more than one of those Friday afternoon quizzes. Each poster focused on just a single word, and these are the ones I remember best:

Four Tips for Making Content Work Online
Some may think that writing is writing. But truth be told, writing for the web is different from writing for a children’s book or for a magazine. Research shows that web readers want fast and easy information, in a format that is easy to digest. Here are a few things we keep in mind when we write specifically for online audiences for our clients or ourselves:

If you’re not doing the crossword puzzle with your morning coffee today, we have a little quiz for you.
Each month, we write a post about a simple grammar rule or two because we could all use a little refresher from time to time. Now, it’s time to test yourself on what you know (or think you know) about some of those rules. It’s easy. Simply pick the correct sentence from each of the five sets below. Answers and explanations are below, so no peeking!

We’ve talked about commonly mixed words before. Effect and affect. Ensure and insure. They can be tricky, but they’re not so bad once you get them down.
Two more sets that we’ve been talking about around here lately are lie/lay and who/whom.