Michael's English Usage

Grammar Lessons from a Grumpy Old English Teacher

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 By Michael Lyons Leave a Comment

APRIL 6, 2007

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

Michael’s English Usage

I am proud to report that www.michaelsenglishusage.com is four years old today. I have campaigned for correct English usage by posing English composition problems five times a week with corrections and explanations for each week’s problems being posted on succeeding weekends. I use a simple Socratic teaching method and hope I have goaded people to be more conscious of using English correctly. I have no intention of quitting and I thank all who have supported my efforts over the years.

Here are some statistics that reflect my crusade’s efforts:

Postings:                            1,160
Weekly aphorisms:       139
New words:                      790
Awards:                             2010 Masters Award for English help from the Online Masters Degree Program
:                              2007 Best Education Blog from the Canadian Blog Awards
News stories:                  2 Windsor Star stories about the focus of the blog and the Best Education Blog Award

Further Contributions: current contributing writer about English usage for www.ourwindsor.ca

Today’s assignment is to answer the questions from the first entry. Call it a retro assignment, if you would like.

THE FIRST ENTRY

LET US RAISE OUR SIGHTS

by Michael Lyons on Friday, April 6, 2007

The site is dedicated to eradicating writing errors and to exploring new words which could be added to your lexicon.

TODAY’S WORD

“Desultory”
Are you able to define and use it?

MISTAKE OF THE DAY

“I should have went to the store yesterday but I was too lazy.”
What is the mistake in the sentence above?

APRIL 6, 2011  –  DO NOT MISINTERPRET THIS

Identify the author of the following piece of wisdom. Explain its full meaning.

“It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.”

TODAY’S WORD

The word for today is “rascality”.
What part of speech is “rascality”?
What other parts of speech is “rascality”?
Define “rascality” and use it in a sentence that shows its meaning.

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