Wolf-whistle is a little different from many of the phrases I’ve explored. Just why the sound, made by inserting one’s fingers into…one’s mouth…is unknown. Some suggest it’s called that because the men making it are wolves–giving unwanted advances toward women. The high-pitched whistle is also sometimes called a wolf call. Humans have a long and…
Category: Writing Wrongs: Essays on Language
This blog is an opportunity to discuss language – its usage, its limitations, and its beauty—through an array of shorter and longer essays.
Exploring wolf references “…and the wolves will eat you.”
The phrase, “Make yourself a sheep and the wolf will eat you” is from a 1773 letter to Jane Mecom, written by the famous quipster, Benjamin Franklin. In this instance, he is telling others not to allow superiors to do wrong and ignore it. Of course, the advice applies in many scenarios. Humans have a…
Exploring wolf references: Fear makes the wolf bigger…
“Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” This German proverb makes use of the wolf as metaphor for anything we anticipate, making worse than the actuality. Imagine a wolf howling in the night; we fear it even from a long distance when it poses no threat. Humans have a long and sordid history with…
Writing GLBTQ characters
In a guest post on the blog of author Adrian J. Smith, I share my thoughts on writing GLBTQ characters in fiction. I decided to focus on the power of representation. —Excerpt— The power of representation Whether I have one reader or 100,000 readers, I take the power of representation seriously. As authors, we have the…
Exploring wolf references: Throw to the wolves
If you throw someone to the wolves, you’ve given him or her over to a terrible fate or abandoned him/her. For example: “The manager threw his employee to the wolves to save his own skin.” In this instance, a person is sacrificed by another to save his/her job. Another popular way to express this sentiment…
Exploring Wolf References: Wolf Down
To “wolf down” means to eat like a wolf, or quickly and in large chunks without chewing well. The phrase is most often used colloquially. This subject was inspired by #WerewolfWednesday, which I hold each week on my Facebook page. Also see: Keep the wolves at bay Lone Wolf Cry Wolf Keep the wolf from the door…
Exploring wolf references: “Lone Wolf”
Lone wolf is an American expression that began in the early 1900s. A “lone wolf” is a person who acts alone or enjoys his or her own company—and not being part of the pack. The phrase persists in popular culture today. Lone Wolf is the title of a 1988 horror film, and Lone Wolf McQuade…
Setting the tone in writing: Weather-related phenomenon
Weather is easy to overlook in fiction unless it pertains purposefully to plot. The elements, however, can convey mood or setting. I think of when I was a child, waiting for the bus in the country. I loved the fog! It was eerie the way it changed my relationship with the world around me. I…
Celebrating the women who scare us silly
Horror is often considered a male-dominated genre. I beg to differ. Plenty of women have written fiction that has made us clutch our (metaphorical) pearls. Of course, you immediately think of Anne Rice today and Mary Shelley for penning Frankenstein — the oft imitated and replicated tale of the horror of reanimation. Even Toni Morrison tipped…
Setting: This Old House
I’ll admit right off that I enjoy setting. I believe that through the place where someone lives and the things that s/he owns, you can learn much about personality. For instance, you probably know the meaning between a designer label and a knock off. If someone has the designer label, that means s/he cares about fashion…
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