Adrian Spratt

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Word usage

Words That Make Us Feel Hopeless

March 21, 2025 Tags: politics, word usage

Certain phrases and words in common use today contribute to widespread feelings of futility. It’s a despair we can’t afford. Here are three examples. 1. Chaos When I think of chaos, I picture a herd of cattle in a stampede or refugees fleeing a

Gender Tags

November 27, 2023 Tags: annoyances, morality and justice, politics, word usage

In the past few decades my name, Adrian, has become androgynous. The distinction used to be between my spelling, which was for boys and men, and “Adrienne” for girls and women. Often this distinction is maintained today, but often not. Combine the

“I Think,” Therefore I Listen

December 18, 2022 Tags: empathy, morality and justice, politics, word usage

A book review I just encountered from six decades ago uses the phrase “I think” not once, but twice. Such a concession to subjectivity isn’t only rare today, but even frowned on. It shouldn’t be. “I think” might make the world a kinder, gentler

Regret

June 27, 2022 Tags: empathy, memoir, morality and justice, well-being and medical, word usage

The subject of regret has been on my mind after a month of disturbed insomniac nights as I began my recovery from a broken femur (thigh bone) and surgery. My focus is now on physical therapy and the slow return to normal. However, those early, rather

Disability and Censorship

December 20, 2021 Tags: censorship, disability, word usage

“Ableism” has been defined as “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.” Advocates for people with disabilities believe that central to the fight to end ableism is the censorship of words that could cause offense and perpetuate harmful

Righting the Wrong Word

November 18, 2021 Tags: censorship, history, literature, morality and justice, politics, word usage

A few months ago, drafting my response to a questionnaire in advance of an upcoming interview in connection with Caroline, I wrote the phrase “fiction’s ghetto.” Here’s the question and my original answer: Q: Do you have a target reader? A:

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A lawyer can hardly resist an opportunity for a disclaimer or two. No statement on this website constitutes or is intended as legal advice. Also, resemblance of any person, living or otherwise, to any of my fictional characters is strictly coincidental. Even in my nonfiction, names have been changed and biographical details altered, and often traits of several people are combined into a single character. The exceptions, apart from myself, are inescapably my parents and brother, and I can only hope I’ve done them justice. Any other exceptions are noted.
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