EDITOR@WORK: Wikipedia

I'M OFTEN (OR USUALLY) wrong when my wife and I disagree over words, so I was a little apprehensive today when we talked about the singular of criteria (yes, criteria is plural).

She thought the singular of criteria ended in an "m," while I was sure it was criterion. So I looked it up and found several responses, including these two:

http://www.desiquintans.com/articles.php?page=criterias

http://journals.gagazine.com/juicyfruit/singular-form-for-criteria/

By the way, I learned through Wikipedia, that a criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course (usually less than 5 km), often run on closed-off city center streets.

It's amazing what you can learn on the Internet.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

Both sides now: I love Oxymorons, and you might check them out, too. The oxymoron I hate most is the war term friendly fire. Then there's Civil War; there's nothing civil about war.

You might look up the subject on Wikipedia or Ethan's Oxymorons Page.

It's interesting to note that oxymoron is a Greek term derived from oxy ("sharp") and moros ("dull"). Thus the word oxymoron is itself an oxymoron.

The classic oxymoron is military intelligence. Here are other oxymorons:

* Deafening silence
* Sweet sorrow
* Forward retreat
* Silent scream
* Quiet riot
* Serious joke

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE