As I mentioned for Wondrous Words Wednesday this week, I’m busy editing my YA manuscript, and I had to look up the proper use of awhile. Webster’s gives the basic definition of “for a while” and calls the use of “awhile” a solecism, or improper usage.
Before I removed every “awhile” from my manuscript, I consulted Grammar Girl. As usual, she teased out the subtle grammar points. In short, there are three things to consider when using awhile vs a while:
A while is a noun (hint: it’s got the article “a” in front of it); it suggests a specific period of time. If you can replace “awhile” with “a week”, then you should use “a while”. Example: It’s been a while since I’ve had a good burger.
Awhile means “for a time”, and it’s an adverb. You should be able to replace “awhile” with another adverb, like “quickly”. Example: She ran awhile.
If a while is used in a prepositional phrase, as in, “She ran for a while,” you use “a while” because the object of a preposition must be a noun, not an adverb (“awhile”).
It looks like I’ll have to check each use of “awhile” when I go back through my manuscript. Sigh! I hope to be done by the end of the summer!
Word Nerd Workout
Let’s practice. In each sentence, decide if you should use awhile or a while.
Why don’t you go outside and play awhile/ a while?
I’m tired; I’m going to lie down for awhile/ a while.
I’m in the middle of editing my YA manuscript for the ninth time. You read that correctly, ninth. The publishing dream isn’t for wimps. Anyway, Microsoft Word keeps telling me that “awhile” isn’t grammatically correct, so I decided to research the topic. In the process, I came across the term “solecism”.
If you’d like to learn more interesting terms, visit Kathy and her friends for the Wondrous Words Wednesday meme. You can share a new word you’ve learned or one of your favorites.
When I looked up “awhile” in Websters, I found this:
Although considered a solecism by many commentators, awhile is often used in place of a while.
Of course, then I had to figure out what a solecism is.
Solecism \’sä-lǝ-si-zǝm\ noun from the Greek soloikos, speaking incorrectly; literally, inhabitant of Soloi, city in ancient Cilicia where a substandard form of Attic was spoken.
A mistake in speech or writing
An impolite or improper way of behaving
Word Nerd Workout
Can you think of another example of a solecism? The one I see most often in texts and social media is using “your” instead of “you’re”.
I used to dread summer vacation. One year, the thought of all four of my school-aged children home for three months sent me to the basement to weep.
But something has changed me. Perhaps it’s the repeated, gentle reminders of a friend who sends her last child off to college this August. Or my oldest son’s 15th birthday and the realization that in three years I will send him away. I’m over tired and prone to tears. Big on sentiment. I’ve embraced end of year activities with unusual enthusiasm this May because I finally realize these days will end, and I will miss them.
In my spirit of reflection, I dug up quotes on education for teacher cards and gifts. I think you might like them too.
I’ve always believed that stories do more than just entertain us. They teach, encourage, and help us sort out the sometimes confusing experiences of our lives. And now, new research shows that stories can change negative attitudes and combat discrimination.
On Friday, May 1 2015, NPR featured a story about a research study from Italy called “The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter”. Researchers, led by Loris Vezzali, analyzed the attitudes of elementary, high school, and college students before and after they read Harry Potter books or watched Harry Potter movies. The evidence shows that students were more tolerant of people from disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g. refugees, immigrants, and gay people) after exposure to the Harry Potter stories.
The theory is that when people read about underprivileged characters like Harry, who has no aristocratic status in the wizarding world, they learn how to empathize with people who are different. Stories help readers get into the minds of people who don’t think or act like they do, which improves understanding and compassion.
Perhaps instead of using logic and instruction to fight prejudice, we should use books! Most people would rather read a compelling narrative than listen to a lecture. And they’ll probably learn more.
To read the story about the research or listen to it, visit NPR.
I also recently listened to a great podcast on story telling at The TED Radio Hour called Framing the Story. In one segment of the show, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie explains why it’s dangerous for people to form opinions about an entire race or country based on one story. Give it a listen.
Why do you think stories are important? What story has had the greatest impact on you?
The novel The Kite Runnerhad a huge impact on me. Through it, I got a glimpse into the complicated world of Afghan culture and history. Although I realize I can’t base my understanding of Afghanistan solely on this book, it helped me appreciate the beauty and difficulty of life in the Middle East. I’d like to read I Am Malala this summer.
I recently said to the parent of one of my soccer players, “See you on the pitch.” She looked at me like I’d suggested we’d play our game on the moon.
Soccer geeks often refer to the playing field as “the pitch,” and I, a lover of all things soccer, would like to explain the term. Soccer season is wrapping up, so I promise this will be the last soccerly word nerd word for a while.
To learn more interesting words, visit Kathy at Bermuda Onion for her Wondrous Words Wednesday meme. Click through the links and add your own post!
After I explored the etymology of hat trick and nutmeg, my friend Jean wanted to learn more about the origin of “pitch”. She consulted Shane, a soccer enthusiast from England, and I consulted “On the Pitch”, a website dedicated to all things youth soccer. Here’s what we found.
For centuries, the verb “pitch” meant “to fit firmly in place”, like pitching stakes into the ground for a tent. (e.g. “pitching a tent”). It comes from the Middle English pichen, meaning to drive or fix firmly. Since the end of the 17th century, the process of pitching stumps into the ground to set up a game of cricket has been called “pitching the stumps”. By the late 1800s, people started using “pitch” as a noun to describe a playing area. By 1900, pitch was used specifically for a football (or soccer) playing area.
Pitch = playing area
In England, the term “field” usually refers to an open space, as in a pasture or grassy area, not a playing area.
Thanks Jean and Shane for your help!
Word Nerd Workout
Pitch has a ton of meanings. Can you share some others?
The crazy end-of-the-school-year schedule is wearing me out. I love all the field trips and awards assemblies, but holy cow, I’m never home!
Right now, I don’t want to read deep, sad, or insightful. My brain barely has enough blood flow to remember what day it is! So I’m thinking about fun “beachy” reads, and today I have a great suggestion for you.
My friend Jennifer Chow just released her “cozy mystery” Seniors Sleuth. It was a runner-up at the 2015 Beach Book Festival, and it has plenty of fun characters and a not-too-taxing mystery to enjoy.
What is a “Cozy Mystery”?
I asked Jennifer to explain the genre to me. She said:
A “cozy” mystery has less sex and violence than its crime fiction counterparts. It usually takes place in a community setting and often features amateur sleuths.
If you’ve read this blog at all, you know I prefer PG-13 content and under. So, cozy mysteries fit nicely into my reading wish list.
Seniors Sleuth features the lovable, somewhat bumbling, Winston Wong, eager to start his new career as a detective. His first case has him investigating a curious cast of characters who live together in a senior home.
Here’s how Jennifer summarizes her mystery:
Winston Wong used to test video games but has left his downward spiraling career to follow in the footsteps of Encyclopedia Brown, his favorite childhood detective. When the Pennysaver misprints his new job title, adding an extra “s” to his listing, Winston becomes a “Seniors Sleuth.” He gets an easy first case, confirming the natural death of a ninety-year-old man. However, under the surface of the bingo-loving senior home is a seedier world where a genuine homicide actually occurred. Winston finds himself surrounded by suspects on all sides: a slacker administrator, a kind-hearted nurse, and a motley crew of eccentric residents. To validate his new career choice (and maybe win the girl), he must unravel the truth from a tangle of lies.
What I liked
Winston is smart, slightly pudgy, and fun to spend time with. As he picks up clues, he lets the reader in on his deductions, which I enjoyed better than the last mystery I read, The Cuckoo’s Calling. In that book, the protagonist detective withheld most information until the end of the book, where he spelled it all out in ten pages of dialogue. I liked Jennifer’s style of giving hints to the puzzle throughout the story.
But just because Winston keeps the reader in the loop, don’t think that you’ll guess the ending. The guilty character completely surprised me.
There’s plenty of diversity in the novel, including characters with Asian and African-American ethnicity.
What I didn’t like
Some of the eccentric characters felt one-dimensional or predictable- there’s a belligerent Vietnam Vet and also an African-American who plays the piano and calls himself Jazz Man. I would have liked to learn more about their personalities “under the surface”. Also, at times, the dialogue felt stiff or formal and not how real people talk to each other.
Caveat
I’m brand new to “cozies”, and perhaps the characters in the genre are typically simple sketches. Wikipedia says this about characters in cozies:
The supporting characters in cozy mysteries are often very broadly drawn and used as comic relief. The accumulation of such characters in long-running cozy mystery series, such as those of Charlotte MacLeod, frequently creates a stock company of eccentrics, among whom the detective stands out as the most (perhaps only) truly sane person.
As I mentioned for Wondrous Words Wednesday this week, I’m busy editing my YA manuscript, and I had to look up the proper use of awhile. Webster’s gives the basic definition of “for a while” and calls the use of “awhile” a solecism, or improper usage.
