Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage |
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Common terms and phrases
active voice adjective adverb ain't alliteration apostrophe archaisms audience avoid back-formed bah-dee banshee better bureaucratize called colloquial comma compound subjects confusing conjunction connotation correct dangling dependent clause dialect double negative drab homebodies eponyms euphemism exclamation point feel fladverbs frog FUMBLERULES future perfect tense gram grammar Here's hype hyperbole hyphen idiom indefinite pronoun intro kids knock language maven linking verb litotes look mark mean mistake modifiers never noun offend the ear onomatopoeia paragraph participle passive voice past tense pause Permissive grammarians person pluperfect plural prose quickly readers with misplaced Richard Nixon Ronald Colman rule Safire's scrod semicolon sentence fragment separates sexism singular slang sneaked snuck sound speaker split the infinitive Standard English Stick style subjunctive tence thing tion trick tube usage verb form watch William Safire word wrong wrote