• Café Life is the Colony's main hangout, watering hole and meeting point.

    This is a place where you'll meet and make writing friends, and indulge in stratospherically-elevated wit or barometrically low humour.

    Some Colonists pop in religiously every day before or after work. Others we see here less regularly, but all are equally welcome. Two important grounds rules…

    • Don't give offence
    • Don't take offence

    We now allow political discussion, but strongly suggest it takes place in the Steam Room, which is a private sub-forum within Café Life. It’s only accessible to Full Members.

    You can dismiss this notice by clicking the "x" box

Help Please! Book Title?

  • Thread starter Thread starter OperaDivaAlix
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Cheers Chris, I like your suggestion a lot :)
 
It looks like everyone is about to say the same thing I am about to say. We have to look it up. You could use the word 'Shard' or 'Shards' to replace Spicule. Spicule sounds singular anyway when it's meaning is a group.

But this has brought to mind something I've noticed comes up a lot with my writing as well as something I've noticed while reading other people's writing. It's hard to know when to use a great, sparkling, beautiful, unique, and unusual word or when to use a word everyone understands. The guideline I try to use is that if the meaning of the word can be understood in context, then it's probably okay to use. Or, if the connotations of the word are exactly in keeping with what I mean to say, then I can probably keep it.

And sometimes, I just want to keep it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Further Articles from the Author Platform

Latest Articles By Litopians

  • Christmas on the Equator
    I’m often asked, “Do you celebrate Christmas over there in Borneo?” The official answer is “ ...
  • After 65 Decembers
    . In August, he smiled at the memories of 65 Decembers, and put away his razor. . Throughout Septemb ...
  • Sunnyside: A Man Without a Country
    I had good reason to believe Poland was “my” country; cashiers in Polish grocery stores would sp ...
  • Hooks
    It’s the word I keep encountering again and again when listening to interviews with agents and pub ...
  • Not an Ode to Howl
    I am privileged to belong to the Thursday Ladies of Letters, a writers’ group in Kota Kinabalu. It ...
  • Still Singing Those Songs
    I caught a sad news item concerning one of my music icons: Jimmy Cliff, who died at the age of 81… ...
  • Livers, and Maybe Gizzards Too
    American street food keeps getting re-invented: oysters, tripe soup, and chicken gizzards get replac ...
What Goes Around
Comes Around!
Back
Top