Lightning
Let me be gentle. No, I am not frothing at the mouth. Yes. Let me smile and provide the following guidance with cheery goodwill. After all - in the end - does it really matter? It's only symbols on paper. I am not blowing a gasket. No I am not.
In my defence, I will say this... I was an English teacher for thirty eight years. I marked thousands of books, assignments, exam papers, essays, stories, letters, fake job applications, poems, playscripts, answers to questions. They all passed under my bridge, like autumn leaves upon the surface of a river.
One red pen said hello to a new red pen and another and another. Sometimes there were green pens - lines of them stretching out to the horizon. I was doing my best to help. Never belittling nor being superior. The ability to spell accurately is born into some of us but not into others. I know that very well.
The psychology of spelling is often interwoven with our sense of self.
And now I come to the main meat of this blogpost. Settle down everybody. I would like you to look at the following two words:-
lightning
&
lightening
Can you see how they are different from each other? The second one has an "e" in the middle, Not only do these words look different - they have very different meanings.
lightning - This refers to the natural phenomenon of a bright flash of light in the sky during a storm, caused by a discharge of electricity. It is also widely used figuratively to describe fast movement. Examples:-
During the storm, a bolt of lightning hit the church tower.
The pop fans ran like lightning to the front of the auditorium.
lightening - This is connected with the verb "To lighten". That verb may concern either light or weight.
Light examples:-
The make-up artist was busy lightening the actress's
cheeks with some white powder.
Over in the east, I observed a subtle lightening of the
clouds as night gave way to a new day.
Weight examples:-
At the airport, Pixie tried lightening her suitcase by
removing her bowling ball.
Lightening one's mind may often be achieved by sharing one's troubles.
⦿
So that's that. I thought that my teaching days were over but repeated evidence of lightning/lightening confusion in the blogosphere caused me to dust off my mortarboard and academic gown once more. Class dismissed.
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/Hy9MuPR
