Monthly Archives: July 2015

The “trick to ambiguity”

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

From the great Language Log: Most of the ambiguity contained in normal language use is passed over without any awareness on the audience’s part of the potential for double meanings. If one of the two intended meanings in an ad … Continue reading →

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Needing Readers

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

In my classes, as well as in my career as a “communications guy,” I stress the requirement that all written pieces be read by one or several people prior to submission or publication. My friend, the scholar Jonathan Mayhew, has … Continue reading →

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The Muse

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

I’m not a great creative individual by any stretch, but I do respect my muse and do *not* screw with it. My friend kat passed along this letter by musician Nick Cave, which he wrote to MTV in 1996, in … Continue reading →

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