Naughty or Nice Grammar Quiz

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The Mother of All Blog Posts

According to History.com, a woman named Anna Jarvis created the American version of the holiday in 1908, prompted by the passing of her own mother. It became an official holiday in 1914. Jarvis later denounced the commercialization of the holiday and tried to have it removed from the calendar!

Here are some fascinating facts about Mother’s Day:

• More phones calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year, with a spike in traffic of as much as 37 percent.

• According to CNN.com, Mother’s Day is big business. Approximately 65 percent of card sales are made five days prior to Mother’s Day and consumers spend more than $20 billion on the holiday.

• We all value our mothers, but do you know what a mother’s work at home is really worth? According to Insure.com, in 2013 the average value of an at-home mother was more than $59,000 per year!

Sure, Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate all-things-mom. But, it is also cause for a linguistic celebration. There are a variety of popular idioms that incorporate the word “mother.” Have you heard any of the following?

Failure is the mother of success.

You’d assume that this means failure breeds success, or that you can’t have success without failure. However, UsingEnglish.com translates the saying to “failure is often a stepping stone towards success.”

Similar idioms:

Diligence is the mother of good luck: This reminds me of the famous saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” which, according to LifeHacker.com, is attributed to Roman philosopher, Seneca.

Necessity is the mother of invention: According to GoodReads.com, this quote can be attributed to Plato.

Motherhood and apple pie.

This phrase is used to refer to something that is largely agreed upon by all. The idea is that most people approve of motherhood and we all like apple pie, right? Another meaning the phrase has taken on in later years is to refer to something that is quintessentially American.

MakingHeadsOrTailsOfIdioms.com provides interesting background on the origin of the phrase. Most people agree that the original saying came from soldiers at war telling reports what they miss most about home.

A face that only a mother could love.

This phrase doesn’t require much thought to understand. Let’s just say, I hope to never hear this one directed at me! If you need some help deciphering, UsingEnglish.com explains it here.

Shall I be mother?

This phrase is common to British and Australian English and is typically used in a humorous way to ask whether the speaker should serve food or drink. In today’s politically correct world, the phrase is arguably sexist, but generally no offense is intended. Find more on this phrase and other British gems on EffingPot.com.

Word to your mother.

Believe it or not, this slang phrase has origins in the Afrocentric movement of the 1980s and started as “word to the mother,” as a reference to Africa or “The Motherland.” The corrupted phrase, “word to your mother,” generally implies agreement with what was said just before. UrbanDictionary.com provides a pretty comprehensive overview.

In addition to idioms using the word “mother,” we also have a plethora of quotes about the dear women that brought us into this world. Psychology Today has a nice list including:

The phrase ‘working mother’ is redundant. – Jane Sellman

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. – Oprah Winfrey

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. – Jill Churchill

As Mother’s Day approaches, remember the ways that the mothers in your life – and in your language – make your days richer. And don’t forget to buy a card!

10 (More) Words That English Needs

You can’t leave the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows after reading only ten entries, and you can’t spread the word about one of the best websites on the Internet in just one article. So here we go, ten more words from the great fictional dictionary describing feelings and sensations you’ll recognize as soon as you read their descriptions.

Ambedo is the melancholic, almost hypnotic state you get into when you focus on sensory details like the flickering of a candle or tall trees swaying in the wind and you start thinking about the frailty of life.

Ellipsism is a sadness you feel because you will never know the answer to the question of our existence and you’ll never know how it all turns out in the end.

Apomakrysmenophobia is not a sorrow, it’s a fear—a fear that every connection you have in your life is, essentially, shallow.

We are but the smallest dots in the great and vast universe, and when you look at the night sky and feel slightly unsettled but also awed by the millions of miles separating huge stars, you feel degrassé.

Xeno is the tiniest measure of human connection you can actually feel, like when a person sends you a flirtatious glance, or when someone smiles at you passing by.

Every once in a while, you come across an author with whom you just connect, no matter how far in space or time they might be from you. That feeling of connection is called moledro

Chrysalism is the feeling of calmness you get while you’re indoors, listening to a thunderstorm happening outside.

Sonder will happen to you on the street, when you start noticing the people passing you by, and all of a sudden you realize that each and every one of them has a life that’s as vivid to them as yours is to you.

Catoptric tristesse is a sadness you feel when you realize that you’ll never really know what other people think about you.

On the day you turn 26, you have a midsummer—a feast that marks the point in your life when you can no longer use your youth as an excuse. It’s a time to buck up and start reaping what you sow, all the while noticing that the days of your life are becoming shorter.

Led or Lead—The Past Tense of Lead?

• Led is the correct way to spell the past tense of lead.
• Lead is a common misspelling of the past tense of the verb lead.

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The past tense of the verb lead is led, not lead. One reason for the confusion might be that a similar verb, read, has an infinitive that’s spelled the same as the past tense. But with lead, that’s not how things are.

Definition of Led

Led is the past tense of the verb lead:

She led the party through the marshland.

The accident led to an astonishing discovery.

They led us believe we were welcome guests.

By the way, if you see the word led written in uppercase—LED—it’s an acronym that stands for light emitting diode, which is, as its name says, a diode that emits light.

What Does Lead Mean?

Lead is also the name of a certain type of metal. However, when it’s used for the metal, the word lead is pronounced just like led, which can add to the confusion:

His legs felt heavy, like they were made from lead.

You should avoid getting lead poisoning.

The soft core of a pencil is also sometimes referred to as lead, even though it’s made out of graphite and doesn’t usually contain lead:

The lead in this pencil is too soft.

Examples

Beaming with pride, this is the inspiring moment heroic Frankie Sherwood led his beloved Newcastle United out in front of thousands of fans.

The Chronicle

Babar Azam led Pakistan’s fightback on day three with an unbeaten 90 as they went on to post 216 in their first innings following which rain played spoilsport restricting New Zealand’s second innings to just one delivery at stumps of the second Test in Hamilton.

Cricket World

Dr Andy Wakefield led the field research in a project supervised by Professors Gareth Jones and Stephen Harris from the University’s School of Biological Sciences.

Science Daily

The loss dropped the Heat to 4-10, with Haslem inserted late in a game the Pistons led by as many as 28 points.

Sun Sentinel

Not-So-Sweet 16 Game 7: Passive-Aggressive Notes vs. Loud Music

We’re nearing the end of the Not-So-Sweet 16, and so far, we’ve had some fierce battles over everything from emojis to interrupting your coworkers. But we’re not done yet! Today’s voting presents the last two battles of the season, and they’re both going to be nail-biters.

For this match, we have a classic debate between silent passive aggression and overtly aggressive, loud music. Which do you hate more? Make your point of view known (quietly) below.

Passive-Aggressive Notes:

We all know them. Some of us even make Tumblrs about them. These are the sticky notes on the fridge, your desk, or the snack area that say something that seems polite but is actually petty.

Loud Music

Not everyone enjoys music while they work, and no one likes listining to a second-hand beat buzzing indecipherably from a neighbor’s headphones. Heaven forbid, someone decides to turn the office into a club, blaring their music over speakers.

#GrammoWriMo FAQ

What is #GrammoWriMo?

In November 2013, in honor of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Grammarly has organized the largest group of authors to collaborate on a single novel—we’re calling the project #GrammoWriMo.

How many people are participating?

More than 750 people have signed up to participate in #GrammoWriMo. We’ve divided the novel into 30 chapters—between 25 and 26 writers have been assigned to contribute to each chapter. One person is assigned to contribute to each chapter per day (30 writers each day), so the entire novel will be written simultaneously.

How can I submit my entry?

You, along with the other 25 – 26 writers assigned to your chapter, should have received a link to a shared Google Doc for the chapter. Although you will be able to write in this document at any time, we ask that you only add your text to the chapter on the day you have been assigned to write.  (Please see the Rules of Participation for additional clarification.)

If you have questions or comments about another writer’s contributions, please feel free to use the comment feature in the shared Google Doc in real-time.

How do I comment on my chapter’s Google Doc?

If you would like to make an edit or suggestion, but it is not your turn to write, please use the comment feature. Here is a quick tutorial explaining how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOrdesAOqBQ

Can I delete or edit another writer’s writing?

No. You may add comments to your shared Google Doc, but edits are up to the discretion of the Grammarly team during the month of December.

Please see the Rules of Participation here.

Can I still sign up?

Sign-up for #GrammoWriMo 2013 has been closed. However, you may follow the story development in real-time here.

What if I can’t write on my assigned day?

If you are unable to write between one sentence and 800-words on your assigned day, please connect with others in your chapter Facebook Group to see if there is anyone who can switch with you.

If this is not a possibility, please let us know at socialmedia@grammarly.com.

I received a chapter assignment and a date to write. What do I do next?

There are up to 26 writers contributing to each chapter, so you are not independently responsible for the content in your assigned chapter. For this reason, it is important to write only on the day you have been assigned so that everyone has a chance to contribute.

You may watch your chapter unfold in real-time in your shared Google Doc, comment on others’ writing, and share ideas in your chapter-specific Facebook Group. When it is your turn to write, you may add your text directly to the shared Google Doc.

How much do I need to write?

You may write as little as one sentence or as much as 800 words.

What should I write about?

You can see the entire #GrammoWriMo Plot Summary here. This should give you some ideas about what to write about in your specific chapter.

How can I get in touch with other writers working on my chapter?

Follow the chapter development in your assigned chapter in Google Docs. Feel free to use the comment feature to comment on other writer’s work with suggestions and ideas. However, please refrain from writing or editing another writer’s work directly on the text page.

You may also connect with other writers in your chapter via designated Facebook Groups.

How can I get in touch with Grammarly?

You can reach us on Twitter at @GrammoWriMo, post to your chapter-specific Facebook group, or email your questions to socialmedia@grammarly.com.

POLL: What is the “scariest” writing issue that you see in professional emails?

All of us know that business emails should be professional, meaning they should be free of basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. Often, however, business emails are filled with errors. For better or worse, those errors make the writer seem not only unprofessional, but often also unqualified.

What do you think? 

Let us know and cast your vote!