Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Idioms and the English Language

For the last couple of months, I have been planning to visit Fully Booked or Powerbooks and catch a new edition of Kate Turabian's writers' guide. As a regular in the web logging world, I think that every writer should be responsible enough to use proper English and correct grammar. I know, though, that online diaries and journals speak the kind of language its authors want. Still, I speak for myself when I say I strive not to butcher the universal language. In fact, it takes me about five times to go over my posts before I could publish them. And it always works for me.

On the other hand, I also wanted to get updated on idioms which I think can help me to embellish my posts right here.

Idioms are figurative statements often used in American literature that produce flamboyance in the written work. An exercise of the use of idioms can be enriching as it provides me as a frustrated writer with the ability to expound on things discussed as flourishing as possible.

Idioms like "in the neck of the woods" (nearby or around the area), "cut to the chase" (go direct to the point), "at the eleventh hour" (at the last minute or too late), and "blow one's top" (be very angry) have all been used in many literary pieces. I have yet to discover and read about the endless idioms that the English language gave birth to.

There are also other interesting forms that we use to change the way we describe and talk of things. Think figures of speech such as simile, personification, metaphors.

Truly, the English language is never as easy as pie, but it should serve as our armor as budding writers until we are all over the hills. The success of our stories will depend on the way we can best put out and arrange the flowers in our garden.

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