Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Metaphor

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Metaphor: noun - a figure of speech where a name, descriptive word or pertinent phrase is assigned to an object or action different from, but similar to, that to which it is literally relevant; an instance of this, a metaphorical expression.

'One indication that a novel falls into the genre of literary fiction is the confident use of metaphor throughout the writing.'

'Crossing the beach from the sea in her bikini, the girl burned the eyes of her followers as they felt the heat wave she left in her wake.' 

'A breath of wind stirred the standing barley, sending waves across the field.'  

'The hippie girl swayed in her rainbow muslin sheath.'   

942 - William I of Normandy was assassinated.

1900 - A first prize of 10,000 francs was offered for communications with extra-terrestrials, but Martians were excluded as they were considered too easy. Could be a retrospective claim of false discrimination, taking account of current knowledge.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Fabulous

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Fabulous: adjective - of the nature of a fable; full of fables; unhistorical; known via fable; like a fable, absurd; found only in fable; astonishing; excellent, marvellous or terrific; of alleged existences or facts - belonging to fable, legendary;  of doctrines or ideas - based on fable;  celebrated through fable.

'The Beatles were referred to as the Fab Four in their early days as a supergroup; their rise to fame and fortune as fabulous as any myth or fairy tale you care to name.'

'Polly sauntered along the beach in her almost bikini, male eyes admiring her fabulous looks as she passed.'

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: i.e. or e.g?

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i.e. or e.g?

A bit of Latin:

i.e. or, id est, means ‘that is’. i.e. is another way of expressing ‘in other words’ and its purpose is to make something clearer by providing a more common definition.

‘The leading civil servant promised to ‘elucidate matters employing terminology comprehensively coherent to those deficient in the field of education and enlightenment on all prospective eventualities’. i.e. he would speak more clearly in future.

e.g. is an abbreviation of another Latin phrase; exempli gratia means ‘for example’. e.g. is used to present specific examples supporting an assertion.

‘The fact of the matter is that some women look better in a bikini than others; e.g. Kelly Brook, Elle Macpherson, Holly Weber and Anne Widdicombe.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Different from or different than

Different from or different than: In British English, and its cousins, you can’t follow ‘different’ with ‘than’. Although people use both ‘to’ and ‘from’, the preferred use is ‘from’. Fowler, ‘English Usage’ doesn’t even mention ‘different than’, probably because he wasn’t aware of it at the time: it is definitely US usage. And, here in Britain, it’s generally considered unacceptable. Things are logically different from one another, and using ‘than’ after ‘different’ is regarded as a grammatical blunder.

‘The bikini Elle's wearing is different from the one worn by Corinne, but I think that Elle’s is better than hers.’

Picture: the North Sea at Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Vacation

Vacation: noun - rest or freedom from an occupation, work; leisure devoted to a special purpose; absence from duty; fixed period of suspension of work, particularly a period when law courts, school and universities are shut; holiday or break from regular work. Ecclesiastical - a position or office falling vacant; state or period characterized by the absence of a thing or activity; vacating a house or position. verb – to take a holiday.

‘From today, I will be absent in person from these pages due to my annual vacation in the sun.’

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Discreet or discrete?

Discreet or discrete: 

Discreet means judicious, prudent, polite, civil, courteous. 

Discrete means separate, individually distinct.

So:

‘Jason was always discreet when anyone referred to his sister’s unfortunate propensity to dispense with her bikini at the drop of a hat; smiling and suggesting that she was merely trying to make her tan devoid of unsightly white lines and patches.’

‘Jenny divided the spoils of the morning’s bring and buy sale into discrete portions, nominating each for the individual charities represented.’

Writing: Another 1300 Words Today

A not-so-early rise today, following yesterday's physical exertions. But, after breakfast, managed another 1300 words of the epic fantasy; all moving the story along well, with the main party on the move again and leaving the strange city for a destination feared by some, welcomed by others. Who will be pleased, who disappointed, who placed in danger? That's all to come.

Also updated my writing contest page today, so if you're a writer looking for contest details, go no further than the 'Writing Contests' tab and see if any of the many competitions there is of interest.

Decided to have our usual Sunday walk today instead, since the weather is beautiful; though the wind is quite cold. Went to a local spot called Huggate, situated on the highest part of the Wolds. Only ever passed through here before, even though it's only 8 miles up the road. Parked up and took a 4 mile walk through some lovely countryside.  On our return, I updated my album on Facebook with another 5 pics from today.

You'll have noticed I often accompany my posts with pictures that are in the public domain, when I'm not using my own or those submitted by interviewees. These public pics come courtesy of a widget called Zemanta, which analyses the text of the post and then suggests various articles and pics that might go with it. Can anyone explain what in this post would make Zemanta think that pictures of girls in wet t-shirts or microscopic bikinis could possibly be appropriate? Weird.

Stuart’s Daily Word Spot: A while or Awhile

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A while: noun phrase – ‘The bathing beauties in their bikinis had to wait for a while until they heard the results of the contest from the judges.’

Awhile: adverb – ‘After the celebrations, the politicians who’d lost the election remained awhile, hoping the press pack would have dispersed before they emerged.’

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: X certificate

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X certificate: noun – a film classification (now sometimes superseded by ‘18’) indicating a movie is suitable only for adults; used figuratively to denote an entertainment, event, object etc., suitable only for those with an adult disposition, usually because of either sexual or violent content, or both.

‘The film, Reservoir Dogs, was awarded an X certificate ranking due to its extreme violence.’

‘Arthur marked Ursula’s bikini swimsuit in Dr No as X certificate because he thought she looked so hot he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off her if she moved too close to him.’ 

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Tabard

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Tabard: noun -  A coarse outer garment worn by common folk, monks and foot soldiers; a short open surcoat worn by a knight over his armour; a jerkin worn by a herald; woman's sleeveless jerkin or loose overgarment.

'She wore a highly decorated tabard in prime colours over her small white bikini, though it did little to hide her figure, as was her intention.'

'In my adult fantasy, currently undergoing the editing process, I've used the tabard as a universal and non-sexist garment for one of the societies depicted in the story, because it's an essential part of their religion that they're able to remove their covering quickly when at prayer.'