The Lost Inside Joke, Xtra West #346, November 22, 2006
Something has been bothering me lately and it’s that L-word. No, not the skinny women on TV but the word “ladies.” All the irony seems to have gone out of it.
Read the whole column here.
Life is Full of Medical Surprises
This site has been lacking updates because I had unexpected surgery in the middle of November. Everything went fine, and I gathered lots of material for comics and other such things… but computer work won’t be an option for a while. Please check back in December!
Grammar Tip #8: Spend A While With My Dad
It was taking me so long to get another grammar tip posted, I knew I needed help. So I emailed my dad and asked if he would be a Guest Grammar Tipper. And he said, “Oy! I can’t do it right now. Maybe tomorrow.” But within an hour I received the following. He is obsessed. That is why I am so weird.
(this is Dad explaining the following rule to my nephew Zev)
A While and Awhile
By Robert Leavitt
Do not confuse a while and awhile. The noun a while means “a relatively short period of time.” The adverb awhile means “for a short time”; in other words, awhile is equivalent to “for a while.” The following examples illustrate the differences.
She spent a while on the telephone.
She was playing cards awhile this afternoon.
Wait for a while before you go out. Wait awhile before you go out.
It’s not always easy to tell which term is correct. A good rule of thumb is that if you can substitute “for a short time” then you can use awhile. See how this works in the next two sentences (and try it in the other sentences here, too).
She waited (for a short time). — Therefore, She waited awhile is correct.
She waited quite (for a short time). — This doesn’t make sense; therefore, you must write She waited quite a while.
If you remember that prepositions (in, after, for, etc.) are followed by nouns, then you can avoid spelling errors in the following situations.
Lunch will be ready in a while.
He got the hang of it after a while.
At the beginning of a sentence, a while is almost always a noun.
A while later, he returned from the store.
A while ago, I received a cheque for $500.
So, stop awhile! Take a while to decide on the correct spelling!
