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Idiom: The Black Sheep of the Family

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black sheep of the family

Fig. A worthless or disreputable family member.

The “black sheep” is a member of a social group or family who is regarded as a disgrace and an embarrassment to the rest of the group. The phrase became popular during the 18th century and is associated with the proverb, “There’s a black sheep in every flock.”

It is believed that the phrase derived from the fact that the fleeces of black sheep were not as valuable as those of the white sheep.  While the wool of a white sheep could be dyed many different colors, the black fleece was a lot more limited and, for this reason, people preferred to have only white sheep in their flocks.

Examples:

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The Most Painfully Idiotic Contradictions You Have Ever Seen

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Top sign reads 'Do not enter". Sign directly below reads "enter only"

One of the biggest thing our proofreaders keep a beady eye out for when proofreading important documents is contradictions. It’s important that your text does not contain any events characters, plot lines and settings that contradict each other and leave your readers scratching their heads. Here are some great examples of contradictions in action.

Sign reads: "Do not enter. Entrance only."

No pets allowed. All pets must be on a leash.

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A Humorous Look at The Importance of Punctuation

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Punctuation is importantPunctuation is not really that important, right?  WRONG!  It’s very important, and a tiny, misplaced comma or question mark can cost millions of dollars or break someone’s heart. That’s why using native English proofreading services before publishing your work is so important.

Not convinced?

Take a look at some of these great examples of punctuation mistakes.  If you didn’t previously recognize the importance of punctuation, you will after seeing these!

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The Definitive Guide to Cockney Rhyming Slang

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Dog and bone. Cockney rhyming slang.Cockney Rhyming Slang is a part of the English language that many English learners may not be familiar with.  In English, a slang word is a word that isn’t really considered to be standard English but is something that many people continue to use nonetheless.

Cockney rhyming slang first started to appear on the streets of the East End of London during the 19th century and was primarily used as a secret language through which criminals could communicate with one another without being understood by the police.  However, despite its origins, it has remained popular with all people in that area of the country and is still very much in use today.  People who use these slang expressions generally substitute one word with two or more words that rhyme with the original word to speak in some type of code.  Only people who are familiar with Cockney Rhyming Slang would be able to truly understand what the person is actually talking about.

Confused?  Let’s have a bit of fun.

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Proofreading Marks for All Needs

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If life hands you melons, hire a proofreader

Proofreading marks are used by proofreaders and editors to indicate an error in the copy.  The nature of the mark is directly related to the type of error that has been produced, and proofreaders and editors will place the proofreading mark in the line of text where the error takes place.

Depending on the nature of the editing services, the proofreader will then either write a correction in the margin or will write a correction directly above the sentence.

You can read more about what proofreaders do in our guide to the differences between editing and proofreading.

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Idioms in Music: Lady Gaga Lyrics Explained

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Picture of Lady Gaga wearing meatIf you’re teaching or learning English, one way to keep things interesting is to look at the use of idioms in music.  One musician who certainly knows how to rock idioms is Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga shocked the world in 2011 when she appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards wearing a dress made of meat… yuk!  Love her or loathe her, her songs can be actually very useful if you are learning English as a second language. In this article, we take a look at the idioms contained within some of Lady Gaga’s most popular songs and tell you exactly what they mean.

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10 Very Funny Restaurant Signs

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Sign reads: "eat here and get gas"We love receiving links to funny bloopers. These funny restaurant signs were sent in from a professor of English who uses them in her class.

The following funny restaurant and hotel signs are real. We think the people who wrote these are in desperate need of our professional proofreading services!

P.S. If you like these, you’ll love our President Bush Bloopers.

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Introductory Phrases. What Are They and Why Should You Care?

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Image of introductory phrasesLast week we promised to share some of our proofreader’s tricks of the trade and because we’re great at keeping promises, here they are. Again we’re looking at the common English errors that proofreaders will look for when they are studying a document. This week we’re going to stick with the comma theme and explore another one of the errors that seem to appear regularly: failing to use a comma after introductory phrases or words.

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How a Trip to Starbucks Can Make you an Expert Proofreader

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Many people rely on a strong cup of coffee to get them through the morning, but new research suggests that a daily fix of caffeine can actually help to improve your proofreading skills. According to Tad Brunye, a senior cognitive scientist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts, caffeine … Read more