Category: Word lovers

Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Collectable OR Collectible?

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. And this week’s one could become quite the collectable item… Q: Hello AWC, I was watching that new show Storage Antique Pawn Shop Roadshow Wars last night. A: That’s not a show. Q: Well, something like that.

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: The natural order of things like adjectives

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. And this one moves in an orderly fashion for a change… Q: Hello AWC, we had a question recently from Marianne. A: Hello Marianne. Q: Her grammar gripe goes something like this: “Why do we say ‘the

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: “More than” vs “Over”

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. There are, after all, more than 1000 of them. Or is that over 1000? Now we’re confused… Q: Hi AWC, I read somewhere that you’ve produced more than 24,000 graduates since you started. A: Sounds about right.

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picture of magnetic alphebet
Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

11 words you can stop misspelling

The modern age has given us amazing tools like spell check, but that’s a little like having an excellent team of paramedics always waiting at the base of the cliff (surely a dubious use of medical resources?). What happens if you can’t use ‘spell check’? Wouldn’t you rather not leap

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Analogue vs Analog?

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. Although this week it’s more analogy than anomaly… Q: Hi AWC, what time is it? A: It’s GRAMMAR TIME! Q: Ah, okay. NO. That’s very cute, but I actually want to know what the actual time is.

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: The Oxford/Harvard/Serial comma explained

Each week, we chat about the quirks, oddities and anomalies of the English language. Like whether we needed a comma after the word “oddities” in that last sentence… Q: Hi AWC, one of our readers recently wrote to us to say that her mother always said that you should never

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Is it Winter or winter? Capitalising the seasons…

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language – meaning we’ll have enough material to last us another century. This week, it’s the winter of our discontent… Q: Hi AWC, is it cold or is it just me? A: It’s winter, so we’re pretty sure

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Percentages: Is it fewer than or less than?

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. And this week, we are 100% sure that would like to know about percentages and fewer/less… Q: Hi AWC, I was wondering if we’d ever discussed the whole fewer vs less thing? A: We sure have –

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Word lovers
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Writers: are we safe from the robot invasion?

Writers and authors; great news. If and when our fridges start talking to our mobile phones, and plotting world domination with our garage door remotes, we can be assured of one thing – we’re not so easily replaced. That’s right. A little procrastination device post appeared online this week with

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Photo of the Wikipedia entry for Comprised of
Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Is “comprised of” a compromise?

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. This week comprises of an often controversial word… Q: Hi AWC, I was wondering if you could clear something up for me? A: We told you last time that if the rash persisted you should see your

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

An AWC exclusive: Our interview with the Apostrophe

It’s not every day you get the scoop on all the grammar goings-on from someone on the inside. But today, we’re fortunate to be speaking with one of the biggest players and perhaps one of the more misunderstood members of the Punctuation Team. That’s right, it’s the one and only

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Versus and versing

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. This week, we’re up against it with an exploration of “versus”… Q: Hi AWC, I keep hearing kids say “versing”. As in, “our team is versing your team this weekend”. Surely that’s not a “thing” is it?

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Is “alot” a real word?

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. And this week, we have a lot to say… Q: Hi AWC, could we maybe allot a few minutes this week to a pet peeve of mine? A: Sure. We have a lot of time to spare

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Capitalisation in the capital

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. This week, we explore want to know which words have a capital letter and which do not… Q: Hi AWC, I just got back from Australia’s capital. A: The letter A? Q: Haha, no, Canberra. And when

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Grammar and Punctuation
Dean Koorey

Q&A: When to use ampersands

Each week, we chat about the quirks & anomalies of the English language. & this week, we explore why we should have used “and’” twice already in this intro… Q: Hi AWC. I have a question about this Q&A. A: That’s very “meta” of you. What would you like to

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: "Mum vs Mom" – the mother of all battles

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week, in celebration of Mother’s Day, we wanted to know why mum’s not the word everywhere… Q: Hey there AWC. Did you know that it was Mother’s Day on Sunday? A: We did. Q: And do

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Our famous Q&As!
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Port of call vs point of call

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week we talk about what happens when we confuse and mix idioms. Q: Hi AWC, I hear people say ‘first point of call’ a lot these days and it bugs me. Is that actually correct usage?

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Word lovers
Dean Koorey

Q&A: Centenary vs Centennial

Each week, we chat about the quirks and anomalies of the English language. This week a question that was 100 years in the making… Q: Hi AWC, I have a question – it’s to do with commemorating or celebrating 100 years of something. Is it called a ‘centenary’ or a

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