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Plain Language Action Network - http://www.plainlanguage.gov/
Promoting clearer communication between the public and government. This site has resources for writers to attain that goal. |
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Bartleby.com: Strunk's Element of Style (1918) - http://www.bartleby.com/141/
For use in English courses in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature. It aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style. |
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AskOxford.com - http://www.askoxford.com/
For questions on English grammar, spelling, and usage. Search a dictionary of words, names or quotations. |
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Modern Language Association - http://www.mla.org
The Modern Language Association is the official guide to non-fiction writing. Includes a guide to MLA style. |
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Guide to Grammar and Writing - http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Digital handouts on grammar and English usage. From subject-verb agreement and use of articles to exercises in parallel structures and argumentative essays. You can submit questions about grammar and writing. |
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Yale Style Manual - http://www.webstyleguide.com/
For the design of Web pages and Web sites. Covers graphic and information design, page layout, Web graphics, site organization, navigation, and Web multimedia content. |
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Guide to Grammar and Style - http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/
The information ranges from copy editing to elements of style to discussions. Practical information about the writing craft. |
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World Wide Words - http://www.worldwidewords.org/
Explores the history, evolution byways, quirks, and curiosities of the English language. New and recent words and phrases are often featured, as are books on aspects of English. A weekly newsletter is sent by e-mail and RSS. |
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Bartleby.com: The Columbia Guide to Standard American English - http://www.bartleby.com/68/
Kenneth G. Wilson's handbook includes descriptive and prescriptive examples with hyperlinked cross-references. |
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The Visual Thesaurus - http://www.visualthesaurus.com/online/index.html
An exploration of sense relationships within the English language. By clicking on words, you follow a thread of meaning, creating a spatial map of linguistic associations. |
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Rhetorical Figures - http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html
From alliteration to zeugma, and everything in between, all the figures of speech are here. |
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Plain English Campaign - http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/
An independent group fighting for plain English in public communication. We oppose gobbledygook, jargon and legalese. |
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Paradigm Online Writing Assistant - http://www.powa.org/
Help in discovering, organizing, revising, and editing informal, thesis, argumentative, and exploratory essays. |
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Glossarist.com - http://www.glossarist.com/
A searchable directory of thousands of glossaries and topical dictionaries containing terms and definitions on hundreds of subjects. |
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Urban Dictionary - http://www.urbandictionary.com/
A veritable cornucopia of streetwise lingo, posted and defined by its readers. |
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Cliche Finder - http://www.westegg.com/cliche/
Special tool word-searches 3,300 cliches. |
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11 Rules of Writing - http://www.junketstudies.com/rulesofw/
Concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
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Grammar Slammer - http://englishplus.com/grammar/index.htm
This help file indexes style and usage, capitalization, abbreviations, punctuation, letter writing, common mistakes and a grammar glossary. |
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Phrases Thesaurus - http://www.phrasefinder.co.uk
A generator of headlines and copy for journalists. Enter a word and the database is searched to provide a list of phrases related to that word. |
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The Tongue Untied - http://grammar.uoregon.edu/
Grammar, punctuation and style for journalists. |
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A.Word.ADay - http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/index.html
The music and magic of words. This is the website for the mailing list A.Word.A.Day (AWAD), which sends a vocabulary word and its definition to the subscribers every day. |
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Word Lab - http://www.wordlab.com/
A message board where you can request and brainstorm words, names, titles, coinages, puns, phrases, slogans and slang. |
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Focusing on Words - http://www.wordfocus.com/
Subscription-based site for vocabulary development, showcasing the Latin and Greek roots of English words. |
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Guardian Unlimited - Style Guide - http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide
The British newspaper's guide to word usage, grammar and punctuation, edited by David Marsh and Nikki Marshall. Includes 1928 edition in pdf format. |
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NoodleBib - The MLA Bibliography Composer - http://www.noodletools.com/noodlebib/
A free tool to create, edit, and save your MLA-style bibliography online, then publish it to a Web page, email it, or save it as RTF and open it in Microsoft Word. |
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The Book of Cliches - http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/sybev/cliche/
A compilation of common phrases, euphemisms, and rationales for times of trouble. Organized by occasion. |
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Dr. NAD's Prig Page. - http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/5229/p_.htm
Tests of usage, built interactively. |
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Word Fugitives - http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fugitives/index.htm
An interactive column by The Atlantic's Barbara Wallraff. Discovers needs in our language and recommends new words to fill them. |
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Good Grammar, Good Style - http://www.protrainco.com/info/grammar.htm
Articles and answers to frequently asked questions about grammar, mechanics, and style. Links and bibliography. |
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WordWizard - http://www.wordwizard.com/
Portal for word lovers. Learn about word meanings, slang, quotations, insults, and famous authors. Wordwizard offers a round trip across the English language. |
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Guides for Better Science Writing - http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/14-05.html
Bibliography of style manuals for scientific research, writing, and presentation. Guides for biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering, geology, and mathematics. |
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The Sports Cliche List - http://www.sportscliche.com
A large, searchable collection of sports cliches, lingo, and jargon. |
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The Word Centre - http://www.wordcentre.co.uk
Consulting firm dedicated to training businesses to use plain English. Free newsletter and professional editing services. |
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The Well Bred Sentence - http://www.englishgrammartutor.com/Grammar%20Book.htm
This book offers an intensive course in sentence construction and punctuation. |
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WritingDEN - http://204.244.141.13/writ_den/
Interactive site created to help students improve English reading, writing and listening skills. |
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Tribe: Word Freaks - http://wordfreaks.tribe.net/
Group for people who love discussing words and writing style. |
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Pseudo Dictionary - http://www.pseudodictionary.com/index.php
The dictionary for words that wouldn't make it into dictionaries. |
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Word Quests - http://www.wordquests.info
Word lists that provide thematic units of English words derived from Latin and Greek sources. |
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Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature - http://www.spellorg.com/
Bimonthly publication, SPELL/Binder, contains articles on grammar, usage, word origins, and other subjects of interest to language lovers. |
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Cliche Site - http://www.clichesite.com/index.asp
Clichés, sayings or phrases listed with definitions and explanations. Clichés are organized by subject and alphabetically and you can use the search function. |
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LousyWriter.com - http://www.lousywriter.com/
A free online resource to improve your writing skills. Learn how to write, how to use words, how to write sentences, and how to communicate effectively. |
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Plain Language Center - http://www.gopdg.com/plainlanguage/
Articles and information on writing and evaluating plain and target-appropriate language for business publications and websites. |
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Suite 101: Workplace Communications - http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/communications_skills
Archive of articles covering writing and speaking skills, with emphasis on clear communication, basic design, communicating with international and multicultural audiences. |
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The Word Nerds - http://thewordnerds.libsyn.com/
A weekly podcast about words, language, and why we say the things we do. |
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The Archive of Endangered, Special, or Fun Words - http://www.13d.org/esofword/
Writing about and classifying words and language. |
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Exploring English - http://www.shared-visions.com/explore/english/
An online tutorial for the parts of speech with style notes for the English Language. |
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Cliche Web - http://www.cambiaresearch.com/clicheweb/
Thousands of cliches. Fully searchable and interactive. Formerly Steve's Cliche List. Since 1995. |
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Wordelizer - http://www.emse.fr/~yukna/kahula/wordelizer/wordelizer.html
Delve deeply into a word or subject. Quick search of several word and language related sites. |
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SecretariesUSA.com - http://secretariesusa.com/
Reference for the home and corporate office, including capitalization, punctuation, spelling, grammar, sentence structure, forms of address, abbreviations, letter styles, and business forms. |
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Word Files of Confusing English Words - http://www.wordfiles.info
A presentation of English words that are often confusing with definitions and context examples. |
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Suite101: Word Play - http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/words
Archived discussions and articles concerning words. |
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Top20Composition.com - http://www.top20composition.com
Online directory for grammar, spelling, punctuation, research, creative writing, and proofreading resources. |
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Ewriting - http://www.e-writing.info
Easy to learn electronic writing style that will speed up email and online chatroom discussions. |
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Illiterate Businesses - http://www.illiteratebusinesses.ca
An unabashed rant weblog featuring English-language business signs with grammatical, spelling and/or punctuation errors. Includes a free sign editing offer. |
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Braintique: The Natural Way to Write - http://www.braintique.com/barticles/writing/what/TOC.shtml
A process and system for helping people become better writers. Includes exercises, examples, and information about descriptive writing and metaphors. |
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The Wonderful Writing Skills Unhandbook - http://www.wonderfulwritingskillsunhandbook.com/
An interactive site that uses the writing process to teach writing skills. |
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Word Rogues - http://www.lanzbom.org
Tips on writing, English, and grammar. This site also includes active community college English syllabii and links to other writing, grammar sites. |
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Tribe: Linguistics - http://linguistica.tribe.net/
Group for discussions of words and language. |
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Tribe: Words of Power - http://powerwords.tribe.net/
For people who love words, use them, feel them in their mouths as flavorful bursts of energy. This is the tribe for fun with words and receptive learning. |
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Lingo Factory - http://lingofactory.tribe.net/
A cooperative effort to coin useable terms and then trick people into using them regularly as though they are real words. |
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Ralph's Manual of Style - http://www.rms.hung-sun.com/
A guide to style, grammar, usage, and more by a guy named Ralph. |
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ThereTheir.com - http://www.theretheir.com/
A guide to avoiding some of the most common spelling and grammar errors encountered in online communication, such as chat, texting, message boards, online games, and email. |
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How to Write an Explication - http://www.geocities.com/lrampey/2131/explicate.htm
Step-by-step directions to writing an explication. Good and bad examples provided. |
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Findaphrase.com - http://www.findaphrase.com/
Free phrase database to help journalists, copywriters and content editors search common phrases. |
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E-dition: Dictionary of Concise Writing - http://www.e-dition.net/dictionary.html
A look at word usage in popular culture. The Dictionary of Concision is a complete manual of several thousand wordy phrases. |
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CBC News: Words, Woe & Wonder - http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/
An in-depth look at the words we use from CBC News. |
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Garbl's Editorial Style Manual - http://garbl.home.comcast.net/stylemanual/
Provides advice on abbreviations, capitalization, grammar, numbers, plurals, possessives, punctuation, spelling and word usage. |
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Pataphysics, Pataphors and Pataphorology - http://www.geocities.com/pataphysician1/
An extended metaphor that creates its own context. A science invented by P.A. Lopez and derived from the science of 'pataphysics as described by Alfred Jarry. |
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Verbage - http://www.oceansiderevolution.com/verbage
If you are looking for just the right word, you may find it here. If not, you can suggest your own. |
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The Economist Style Guide - http://www.economist.com/research/StyleGuide/
Guide based on the style book given to all journalists at The Economist. |