My niece sent me this: “The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.” Meant just to be a joke but I detect an important message for writers in there: be sure to keep tenses consistent.<\/p>\n
On another note: Our local paper publishes a column on words, aptly called “Watchwords”. \u00a0The author, Mark Abley, urged that it was time to retire anachronistic proverbs As does he, I keep seeing these in papers I review and I can’t help but wonder if the writers understand their meaning or know their origins. A common proverb is “This is an example of the pot calling the kettle black.” Less familiar, and less useful, are “No man is a hero to his valet”; “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”; and “God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb”. I understand the first but am less certain about the other two. Much less familiar (to English writers and readers) and much, much less useful are “Better to be in front of a chicken than behind a pig” (from Taiwan) or “Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants” (from Japan), or “A camel does not drink with a spoon” (from Iran). Moral: choose your adverbs with care.<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My niece sent me this: “The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.” Meant just to be a joke but I detect an important message for writers in there: be sure to keep tenses consistent. On another note: Our local paper publishes a column on words, aptly called “Watchwords”. […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2574],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nMore on writing - Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More on writing - Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My niece sent me this: “The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.” Meant just to be a joke but I detect an important message for writers in there: be sure to keep tenses consistent. On another note: Our local paper publishes a column on words, aptly called “Watchwords”. [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-05T22:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"More on writing\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-05T22:20:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":217,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Writing for Publication\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/\",\"name\":\"More on writing - Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-05T22:20:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/05\\\/more-on-writing\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"More on writing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/\",\"name\":\"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog\",\"description\":\"The official blog for the journal Injury Prevention.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png\",\"width\":270,\"height\":34,\"caption\":\"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/injury-prevention\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"More on writing - Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"More on writing - Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog","og_description":"My niece sent me this: “The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense.” Meant just to be a joke but I detect an important message for writers in there: be sure to keep tenses consistent. On another note: Our local paper publishes a column on words, aptly called “Watchwords”. [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/","og_site_name":"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog","article_published_time":"2012-03-05T22:20:01+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"More on writing","datePublished":"2012-03-05T22:20:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/"},"wordCount":217,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Writing for Publication"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/","name":"More on writing - Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-03-05T22:20:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/2012\/03\/05\/more-on-writing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"More on writing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/","name":"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog","description":"The official blog for the journal Injury Prevention.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#organization","name":"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-injury-prevention.png","width":270,"height":34,"caption":"Injury Prevention: Editor's Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/injury-prevention\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}