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Arica Travis: Book 1

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Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Top Ten Words for Bad Writing

Editors and critiquers tend to find overly expressive ways to describe just how bad they think someone's writing is.  Here are some over-dramatic (in my opinion) ones I've noticed.  Definitions are from Google:


1.) clichéd - showing a lack of originality; based on frequently repeated phrases or opinions
2.) hackneyed - lacking significance through having been overused; unoriginal and trite
3.) trite - overused and consequently of little import; lacking originality or freshness
4.) doggerel - comic verse composed in irregular rhythm
5.) bawdy - humorously indecent talk or writing
6.) mawkish - sentimental in a feeble or sickly way
7.) disingenuous - not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does
8.) maudlin - self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
9.)  drivel - silly nonsense
10.) dreck - rubbish; trash


So if you ever feel the need to write that over-the-top review, you've got plenty of descriptors to choose from.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Top Ten German Compound Words Used in English

I love how when Germans want to make a new word, they just add two existing words together and create an entirely new concept.  This happens in English (and I'm sure other languages) as well, but it doesn't seem to be near as common -- or as effective -- as it is in German.

Here's a list of my ten favorite German compound words (most of them are commonly used in English):

In no particular order:

1.) wunderkind (literally "wonder child," a prodigy)
2.) gegenuber (literally "against over," meaning across from)
3.) blitzkrieg (literally "lightning war")
4.) doppelganger (literally "double goer")
5.) dummkopf (literally "dumb head")
6.) rinderpest (literally "cattle plague," the name of a cattle plague)
7.) schadenfreude (literally "harm joy," happiness at someone else's misfortune)
8.) ubermensch (literally "super man")
9.) schlitterbahn (literally "water road," the name of a waterpark in Texas)
10.) wanderlust (literally "travel desire")