Spelling Thursday: Wrap and rap.

Wrap: put a covering on; or wind or coil round. At the end of filming a director says 'that's a wrap'; and people talking about wrapping up a project; or wrapping up loose ends.

Rap: to knock sharply or perform a rhythmic speech with a musical backing. It's also a legal charge -- a murder rap (probably only for headlines in punchier papers). You can also take the rap for somebody else's crimes -- meaning you take their punishment for them.

Spelling Thursday: wrrrowl -- reek, wreck, wreak, rack and wrack

Reek: to smell strongly and unpleasantly of.

Wreck: to destroy or smash up, as in a shipwreck, or if you are American, a car wreck. It can also refer to something that has already been broken up. 'It's an old wreck.' It can also refer to items brought ashore after a shipwreck.

Wreak: cause a lot of damage. Pronounced 'reek'. 'Page planning have wreaked havoc on page three.' 'The damage wreaked by that woman ruined my wedding'. NOTE: Every time you write 'wrecked havoc', your chief sub kills a kitten.

Rack: this is a framework for supporting things, as in a luggage rack. You can rack up points in a game -- or rack up trade deals or successes. It is also an instrument of torture -- so someone who is on the rack is probably being dragged over the coals as they receive a bollocking.

Wrack: Seaweed; or thin high cloud.

Here's where it gets complicated. A rack for holding things is never spelled 'wrack'; The seaweed is never spelled 'rack'; however, you can rack, or wrack, your brains when thinking hard; and be racked, or wracked, with guilt. Something falling into disrepair can go to 'rack and ruin' or 'wrack and ruin'. And a diaphanous wrack, or rack, of cloud can cover the gibbous moon.

Spelling Thursday: Ring and wring

The bell ringer ran rings around us, and the experience made me feel as if I'd been put through the wringer. I could have wrung his neck.

To ring something is to either make a circle round it; or to make it chime like a bell.

To wring something is to twist it -- either to squeeze water out of it by twisting (hence, a wringer as another word for a mangle; and also 'wringing wet'); or to kill something by twisting its neck.

Phrases:
Handwringing describes a gesture of powerless distress where the hands are clasped and twisted.
Wring someone's heart: hurt them emotionally.
Ring down (or up) the curtain on: To begin or end an enterprise (don't let those mean old subs make you change it to 'bring down (or up)').
Ring fence: This is a fence surrounding and sealing in a piece of land; but it is used in talk about funding and finance: "About £10m has been ring-fenced for research into HIV."
Ring the changes: This creeps into stories about... well change of any sort really. A writer who does this is wearing down the real meaning. To 'ring the changes' means to ring bells in a specific sequence which changes with every repetition. Be amazed -- check the Wikipedia article.

Spelling Thursday: discreet and discrete

I hate these words. I never know which one to use; and they both sound like feminine hygiene products that I didn't know I needed until an advertisement made me paranoid.


Discreet: an adjective meaning something or someone that avoids social embarrassment or distress by secretiveness.


Discrete: this adjective means distinct in form or concept. If the sentence involves data, this is probably the word.


Discrete data has values that are not infinitesimally close. So the number of Asbos given out in a patch in a year might be 2008: 4; 2009: 6; 2010; 3. These data are discrete, because you can't have 3.43245 Asbos. But if you have a list of heights of wrong-doers, that data set would read: 187.445cm; 134.567cm; 140.356cm; 189.001cm; 181.222cm. This is continuous data (and police are hunting high and low).


In the wild

He vomited discreetly into the wastepaper basket; wiped his mouth on a silk handkerchief, which he threw likewise into the same receptacle; and continued the interview.


Each volunteer group has a discrete budget for their own projects.


I am going to remember this because the avoiding social humiliation variety of discreet has double letters in it, just like embarrassment.

Spelling Thursday: Rain, rein and reign

Seeing 'reigned in' or 'during his short but happy rein...' makes me feel like putting a slight distort on the width of the byline mugshot.

I've yet to see 'rain of terror', however.

Rain falls out of the sky. It can be a verb or a noun.

Rein is what you drive a horse with. If your sentence is about a. horses; or b. giving or taking away freedom, use this word. It can be a verb or a noun.

Reign is what kings and queens do. If your sentence is about someone who is in charge, use this word. It can be a verb or a noun.

That particular editor's reign of terror was marked by a full fortnight of rain and only ended when head office decided to rein him in.

Sky falling water rain is the one that has a visual rhyme with pain.

A king's reign is connected with the word 'regal' which means fit for royalty, or dignified. Knowing this might help stick that vital 'g' in your memory.

And the one left over is a horse rein. Reinforce this idea by picturing it in use on a reindeer.

Spelling Thursday: Stationary and stationery

Stationary -- still, in one place -- has an 'a' for 'adjective' in it.
Stationery -- pens and paper -- doesn't have an 'a' for 'adjective in it.

In the wild:

'He leapt from the stationary car and disappeared into the night.'

'Meet me in the stationery cupboard. I have some pens for you.'

Spelling Thursday: Complement and Compliment

Complement (v. and n.) -- to enhance or add extra features to make something better. 'That tomato sauces complements my dinner.' Also, as a noun: 'Your new purple hat is the perfect complement to your ball gown.'
Complement (n.) -- the number needed to complete a group: 'We have a full complement at the moment. Couldn't jam another sailor in if you tried.'

Compliment (v.) -- say something nice about someone. And this is the word to use if you're thinking of 'compliment slips'. 'May I compliment you on your choice of purple hat and ball gown?'
Complimentary (adj.) -- free of charge. 'Here's your complimentary moist towelette.'

There's a 'lime' in the middle of the 'saying something nice' and 'free gift' compliment, so perhaps you can fix in your head the idea of praising a small green citrus fruit which someone has given you for free.

Spelling Thursday: Principle and Principal

There are nouns:

A principal is head of a school (most commonly in America).
'Mr Fitzgibbons was the principal at the time, and he never did like me.'

A principle is a moral rule, or a general truth.
'I understand the principles of chemistry.'
'I object on principle.'

And there are adjectives:
'Principal' describes something that is foremost in importance and value.
'Our principal publication is the newspaper.'

A principled person or action is one guided by moral rules.
'He made a principled objection to eating horsemeat, on the grounds that they carry us and our burdens so mankind should ask no more of them.'
'You can trust the vicar to judge the pumpkin contest fairly. He's a principled man.'

Getting it right
A principled person is led by his principles; and if you suck up, the principal (a person foremost in importance and value) could be your pal.

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Spelling Thursday: Practice (n.) and practise (v.)

If you've spelt the verb correctly and add 'ing', it will sing for you: practising.

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Spelling Thursday: Accommodation

To help me get the right number of Cs, Ms and Ds, I think of arriving at a hotel room after a long journey only to find it already occupied by two Cats, two Mice and a Dog.

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Spelling Thursday: Committee

The committee is having a lunch meeting: you can tell by the sounds through the closed door: Munch, Munch, Talk, Talk, Eat, Eat.

Spelling Thursday: Formally and formerly

These two are less of a problem once you know there's a trap here. Think about what you are saying:

• If you are referrering to how something used to be, you want 'former'.
• If you want to describe an action that is according to convention or etiquette, it's 'formal'.

Then tack the -ly on the end, and you're away.

As seen in the wild:
'The artist formerly known as Prince has changed his name to a hard-to-describe symbol.'

'My dog Socks is formally known as Lady Arwen Evenstar of Featherstonehough III -- that's her Kennel Club name.'