To look a gift horse in the mouth is to fail to appreciate the generosity someone has shown you.

Now as a city girl, I’ve never received a horse, and if I did I’m pretty sure looking in its mouth wouldn’t be my first impulse. So who would look a gift horse in the mouth?

Here's the third and final installment of Mac’s mysterious and grandiloquent Vest-Pocket-Challenge-winning entry If you missed the first installment, you can find it at https://hello.heather-martin.com/2010/06/01/open-and-shut-part-1/

Here's the second installment of Mac’s gritty yet florid Vest-Pocket-Challenge-winning entry. If you missed the first installment, you can find it at https://hello.heather-martin.com/2010/06/01/open-and-shut-part-1/

I know you can’t wait to read Mac’s chilling and circumfloribus Vest-Pocket-Challenge-winning entry, so without further ado here it is. Warning: the following contains coarse language, sexual innuendo, depressing content and altiloquence. Reader discretion is advised. Please also note, the author takes no responsibility for forensic, medical or police-procedural accuracy. People always choose the most […]

Mac! Thanks to all the readers who tried their hand at the Vest-Pocket Challenge! I know this one was a toughie, and I promise that the next Word Blog contest will be easier! But I just couldn’t resist seeing what you’d come up with, and you’ll be glad I didn’t when you read Mac’s winning […]

Lexical Vexations lightening v. inflected form of the verb to lighten, as of weight, illumination, or colour. lightning n. the discharge of electricity in the atmosphere. Words in the Wild: The horizon had been lightening by degrees for the past half hour when the storm blew through and lightning flashed, illuminating the city. The contributor of […]

Proofreaders’ Marks It’s a little-known fact that dashes come in different sizes. Most folks know about the hyphen, but fewer are familiar with the em dash and the en dash. The length of the em dash corresponds to the width of the letter m: —. The en dash is the width of the letter n: […]

Hello, verbivores! So I’ve heard that my Vest-Pocket Challenge is more than challenging—it’s impossible! If you’re working on the challenge and asking yourself how the heck you can fit all those Vest-Pocket words into a 500-word document, you’re not the only one. Fret not! Let’s keep the challenge fun by throwing the maximum word count […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Since so many of you will be toiling away on your entries for the Vest-Pocket Challenge, I thought I’d take this opportunity to demonstrate the value of vocabulary.   For example you might explain to your boss that you need to take a sick day because you have an appointment at the zythepsary. […]

Lexical Vexations rout 1. n. a terrible defeat; 2. a rabble or mob; 3. a disturbance. route n. path, road, course. Words in the Wild: Despite intensive training the Mighty Slugs suffered a crushing rout at their first cricket match of the season. And to add insult to injury the players had to put up […]