. Prov. Many things may happen to prevent you from carrying out what you intend to do. Bob: Now that I have a contract with a publisher, nothing in the world can stop me from writing this book. Alan: Don't be so sure. There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
Back channel support: the feedback that listeners give to speakers, by verbal expressions like mmm, uhuh, yeah, and by nodding, frowning or other facial and body gestures.
A favorite spectator sport in some corners of the journalistic world is watching an ill-mannered critic toss and gore a third-rate writer for his limp cliches and flaccid prose.
"In some ways, he was this town at its best--strong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas-boastful."
The clauses or phrases joined by the conjunctions should have similar grammatical structures to ensure that your reader can follow the logic of your sentence and to avoid awkwardness. Consider the sentence,
My first-year philosophy professor was informative, lively, and a source of inspiration.
Notice that the first two phrases in the a, b, and c construction are adjectives, while the third is a noun phrase. This sentence suffers from faulty parallelism.
Comments by bojan
bojan commented on the word many a slip 'twixt cup and lip
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip
. Prov. Many things may happen to prevent you from carrying out what you intend to do. Bob: Now that I have a contract with a publisher, nothing in the world can stop me from writing this book. Alan: Don't be so sure. There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
September 16, 2011
bojan commented on the word bite back
— vb
( tr, adverb ) to restrain (a hurtful, embarrassing, or indiscreet remark); avoid saying
source: www.dictionary.com
September 6, 2011
bojan commented on the word back channel
Back channel support: the feedback that listeners give to speakers, by verbal expressions like mmm, uhuh, yeah, and by nodding, frowning or other facial and body gestures.
August 23, 2011
bojan commented on the word toss and gore
A favorite spectator sport in some corners of the journalistic world is watching an ill-mannered critic toss and gore a third-rate writer for his limp cliches and flaccid prose.
July 29, 2011
bojan commented on the word zeugma
The farmers in the valley grew potatoes, peanuts, and bored.
He lost his coat and his temper.
The kleptomaniac illusionist stole the show and my wallet.
July 17, 2011
bojan commented on the list expressions--5
The mail order bicycle that my nephew bought turned out to be a pig in a poke, and he is now trying to get his money back.
July 14, 2011
bojan commented on the word asyndeton
"In some ways, he was this town at its best--strong, hard-driving, working feverishly, pushing, building, driven by ambitions so big they seemed Texas-boastful."
(Mike Royko, "A Tribute")
July 14, 2011
bojan commented on the word faulty parallelism
The clauses or phrases joined by the conjunctions should have similar grammatical structures to ensure that your reader can follow the logic of your sentence and to avoid awkwardness. Consider the sentence,
My first-year philosophy professor was informative, lively, and a source of inspiration.
Notice that the first two phrases in the a, b, and c construction are adjectives, while the third is a noun phrase. This sentence suffers from faulty parallelism.
July 14, 2011