Preferred terminology for writing about the original peoples of Canada has changed over the years, and it’s important for journalists, business communicators and other writers to keep up with the times. When I was starting my journalism career, the preferred term for First Nations, Metis and Inuit collectively was aboriginal with a lowercase a. That […]
Indigenous, Aboriginal or . . . ? Read More »
Be careful how you use the word only. Poor placement of this little modifier can confuse the reader and twist the meaning of a sentence. “He only wrote three songs” could be taken to mean he alone wrote three songs or, alternatively, that he wrote three songs and did nothing more with them (i.e., he
Only in the Wrong Place Read More »
You know Nigeria’s citizens are Nigerians, but what are the folks in neighbouring Niger called? Are they also Nigerians, or Nigerans, or maybe Nigerites? What you’re looking for is Niger’s proper demonym. A demonym is a word that identifies people from a particular place. There are demonyms attached to countries, regions, cities and entire continents
Demonyms Around the World Read More »
Acronyms and initialisms can be powerful tools for concise communication, but be careful how you use them. Before I go further, let’s be clear on our terms. My New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines acronym as “a word formed from the initial letters or parts of other words.” Some commonly used acronyms are NATO (for
Acronyms and Initialisms Read More »