The eNotes Blog Cutting Teeth onLiterature

Cutting Teeth onLiterature In the perennial push to make new and over-achieving parents as paranoid as possible comes this new line of classics designed for you guessed it babies.  Baby Einstein? Pffft. Thats for all those poor children born in the last century. And besides, the claims that listening to classical music will enhance young _____________________ s (insert nom-du-jour here) intelligence proved false. So false, in fact, that consumers were refunded their money. But, like I said, it is now the twenty-first century and things are different. Now we have Baby Lit. The first two titles to be released, in board book form, are Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet. They are condensed to, I am assuming, handsome-boys-and-pretty-girls-dressed-in-primary-colors-and-smiling-a-lot. Because otherwise, a boiled-down-to-bare-essentials of Romeo and Juliet would involve a lot of yucky stabbiness. And I dont care how precocious your toddler is, two-year-olds simply cannot reliably comment on the politics of primogeniture. I have two children, aged 14 and 11, who are now top-notch readers. But when they were 0-3 years, the target audience for Baby Lit, they primarily used their board books for nomming purposes, and all were equal opportunity in the drool rotation: happy spoon, pat-able bunnies, and dump truck stories alike.  So go ahead, get a few Baby Lit titles for your diaper bag. It couldnt hurt and it just might make that tooth come through.

Answers to More Questions About Usage

Answers to More Questions About Usage Answers to More Questions About Usage Answers to More Questions About Usage By Mark Nichol Confusion about words or phrases with similar connotations or constructions is common; here are several questions from DailyWritingTips.com readers about usage, and my responses. 1. What is the difference between remuneration and emolument? The words have essentially the same meaning – â€Å"compensation or payment† though remuneration also pertains to payment by a customer or client, and emolument also refers to perquisites, or perks (privileges or offers for employees such as one’s own parking space or free use of a fitness center.) 2. I wish to know when and where to use toward or towards, and what is the difference? The words are variations with identical meanings. Towards is British English, though many Americans use it, especially in conversation. Toward is preferable in formal US English. 3. In my country, bottled, aerated drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are called â€Å"cold drinks† universally. But a sizable community calls them â€Å"cool drinks.† How do I convince and let them know the difference between cool and cold? Also, many people use the term action in place of acting when it comes to describing someone’s performance in a film or a play. â€Å"Cold drink† (and â€Å"cool drink†) may be universal in your country, but there are many terms for carbonated beverages, so I think any effort to try to control usage in this case is futile. As for action used as you describe, English usage evolves, and what may seem like an aberration now will often become standard vocabulary in the future. Even if action never becomes formally acceptable as a synonym for acting, its persistence as a variant is probably inevitable. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Regarding Re:Among vs. Amongst25 Idioms with Clean