Confusing words- Might, May, and Can

I’ve been told that the English language is full of mysteries waiting to be unravelled.
That’s all well and good, but does grammar have to be so damned difficult?
Who decided the puzzle should be so complicated that even most life-long English speakers and writers can’t make head nor tail of it?
So, I’m going to help out- or maybe confuse you more- by occasional posts about confusing words.
May and Might
Often may and might are used interchangeably.
I may go to the supermarket to buy groceries.
I might go to the supermarket to buy groceries.
There is a small difference but not usually enough to worry too much about in writing.
May suggests a possibility that an action will occur, while might suggests a slightly smaller possibility.
The problem occurs when something happens in the past, because the past tense of may is might.
She might have gone to the supermarket for groceries.
Not – She may have gone…
May and Can
The difference between may and can is wider.
May gives permission, while can shows ability.
I’ll bet your mother corrected you when you were a child, didn’t she?
Can I eat four of those hamburgers?
You probably can, but no, you certainly may not or you will be sick.
Although, these days, can is often used when may should have been because the rules seems a little old-fashioned.
What do you think?

Confused still?  Or is this slightly clearer?

Suzi

Melbourne Cup Day in Australia

Today in Australia is the horse race that stops a nation.

So to all those lucky racegoers who are trackside in Melbourne, have a great day and have a glass of bubbly for me.
To all the other writers who are on deadlines or locked into word counts for NaNo Wrimo Book in a month, I commiserate that we are not trackside together. Maybe next year.

But I will be watching the race and having a quiet celebration nevertheless,

Have fun everyone,

Suzi Love

Elenifest has Paula Roe on character motivation

Elenifest

Over at Elenifest today, the gorgeous Paula Roe is blogging about character motivation.

Paula writes for the Silhouette Desire and her book Boardrooms & a Billionaire Heir was a finalist for this year’s R*BY short sexy category for the Romance Writers of Australia.

Jump over there and catch this great blog and leave a comment for a chance to win a prize as there aren’t many days left in Eleni’s wonderful Octoberfest of writers.

Enjoy,
Suzi

Weird historical pants for men

Pantaloons

Buckskins

Breeches

Weird and Wacky pants for men

        No wonder men needed valets! 

        It wasn’t just women struggling into tight fitting clothing! And no wonder it took both sexes so long to dress every day, often  changing clothes four or five times a day!

Early on were Breeches – Short, close-fitting trousers that fastened just below the knees or above the ankles, with a horizontal front flap called the ‘fall’ and were worn with stockings. In Regency times, breeches were  worn tighter to show off a manly physique. Boys of 3 – 6 years stopped wearing loose dress-type children’s garments and went into short pants instead, and were considered ‘breeched.’

 Then of course we had Pantaloons –By the late 1810s and beyond, these became popular and eventually they evolved into full length trousers. Originally pantaloons were made to suit shorter Hessian boots that fell below the typical knee-breech level and they were worn very form-fitting.

Buckskins – Fashionable trousers made from deer skin also showed off every curve of the man’s figure.

              How could ladies not want to peek?

                          Oooh, what a display of fine, manly figure!! Swoon!

And so to more modern Trousers –

       The word Trouser came into usage in the late 1600’s,  so we’ve had trousers around for a long time. But at first, they were mostly for lower classes.

      Revolutionary France started a trend for sans-culottes, which meant trousers or pantaloons instead of culottes, or knee breeches, which were associated with the aristocracy.

       The styles of the revolution moved across to England and were taken up by those who either sided with revolutionary ideals or who took them up as part of a protest against the establishment set.

         Early trousers looked strange because they were generally a bit looser than pantaloons or breeches, and ended at the ankles with slits on the side for foot access. They often needed under-the-foot straps to fix them in place.

  Now here’s a couple of insider tips from a gentleman’s valet for you to remember -

- False calves can be created by padding so that a master’s calves fill out his stockings and make him look more muscular, especially when he is wearing knee-breeches. Every woman’s dream!

- For rotund gentlemen, tightly pulled corsets help keep the paunch to a minimum and enhance his figure.

- To keep trousers in place and prevent disgrace, braces( suspenders) can be worn under vests.

          Even in cases of his master’s over-imbibing, or just plain clumsiness, a valet can ensure his lordship remains correctly clothes at all times when representing the household in public by taking a few early precautions. 

      Imagine the poor valet’s work if –

             -  a gentleman rode before breakfast   – changed to join the family

              – spent the morning boxing with friends in looser attire – changed for lunch at his club with peers        

             - changed for afternoon calls or a drive in the park with the women

        -  changed for dinner with friends

                        –  changed into evening dress for a formal ball

                    - arrived home just before daylight to change into his banyan( robe) to smoke his cheroot before bed

- then rose 3 hours later expecting his clothes laid out so he could do it all over again.!!

No, I seriously do not want to go back in time and become wither a lady’s maid or a gentleman’s valet

                        – although, if I had the choice….

                                   Hmmmm….being in a gentleman’s bedroom…. does hold a certain appeal.

                                                  Suzi

Woman’s wardrobe essentials in history

Nightgown

Lace bonnets and collars

Pelise

Scandalous showing of ankle beneath lace of gown

Spencer

Corsets

Fichu for dress

Chemise

In modern times, what are classed as essential items for a woman?

 A pair of designer jeans?

A bikini?

Red lacy underwear?

In history, essential items were a little more decorous but seen as essential, nevertheless.

Would you like to be wearing these? 

Most sound very, very, uncomfortable!!!

Betsy – Detachable collar of lace ruffles worn with different dresses. Fashionable way to keep neck warm.

Corset – French term for ’stays,’ Body-shaping garments to hold in the waist and lift the bosom and tightened by laces in the back. Stays were canvas, often faced with silk, reinforced inside with whalebone. Regency stays were not as uncomfortable as the later Victorian corsets.

Chemise – Also called a ‘shift,’ this undergarment is essentially a slip. This sleeveless, mid-calf length garment of white cotton or muslin was worn next to the skin under the stays.

Fichu – A piece of lace, muslin, or other cloth worn about the neck and cleavage to preserve a lady’s modesty. From French word meaning neckerchief

Pelisse – Light overcoat, with or without sleeves, open or buttoning down the front, hanging to shin or floor level. Made from anything from muslin to fur and often with ornate trimmings.

Spencer – Short, bodice hugging, usually long sleeved, outer jacket. For warmth and for fashion.

Think I’ll stick to T-shirts and jeans thanks very much!!!

Suzi

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia

Once again, I’m supporting a fellow Australian romance writer, Eleni, who is running a month long writing festival at her blog site. Eleni is blogging today about a topic close to my own heart, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

On the list of famous people with CFS are listed two of my own Victorian favourites - 

 Florence Nightingale (nurse, writer, statistician)  and   Charles Darwin (naturalist)Seven years ago after a dental accident, I acquired CFS and Fibromyalgia but, like Eleni, have learned to adjust and work around it. The silver lining for me is that I was able to join Romance Writer’s of Australia and concentrate on full time writing.

  Yippee! 

  So my motto is that when life deals you lemons, make lemonade! And hope that one day oyu may be able to seell that lemonade in the form of a best-selling book. That’s my goal!!

So please, go and read about CFS and support Eleni, http://eleni-konstantine.blogspot.com/

Suzi Love

Weird and wacky costumes early-mid Victorian

1825

1830

1851

1862

1878

The clothing worn by the ladies of my favourite era never ceases to amaze me – it seems uncomfortable, impractical, and ridiculous. These women made shopping into a year-long occupation, even more so than many modern day shoppers.
Not to mention how long it took to get dressed and undressed, several times a day!  
The poke bonnet owes its origins to France, or rather, Paris, which dictated fashions to the civilised world. In 1825, this bonnet was made more remarkable by the general scantiness of attire and the puffed sleeves that accompanied it.
In 1830, the so-called neglige bonnet was worn with a ruff about the neck, the bodice of the dress fastened at the back, a reticule hung  from the long overhanging sleeves on to the untrimmed skirt which opened in front.
In 1851, birds of paradise crowned th every prominent head-gear, and English- women showed how ill-arranged a shawl could be.
In 1862, the  ungraceful ugliness of hoops was seen when they were worn with the spoon bonnets and looped skirts.
In 1878, the scant drapery borrowed ideas of costume from other periods, for this hat is Tudor in origin, also the ruff. The zebra braided jacket and long skirt, neither draped nor flowing, the square shoulders and tight long sleeves combines ideas from other eras.

Enjoy,
Suzi Love

Eleni-fest

 

This blog post is in support of  Eleni Konstantine, a fellow Australian Romance Writer plus her Boot Camp group.

Pop over to Eleni’s amazing site and enter the contests for some great prizes.

This is how Eleni describes her month long writing festival -

            What is Eleni-fest? As part of my application to Arts SA for a grant (the Richard Llewellyn Arts & Disability Trust) to attend to the Romance Writer’s of Australia national conference, I included undertaking some promotion work after the conference.

           Special guests include –  Erica Hayes, Anna Campbell, Tracey O’hara, Anna Hackett, Mel Teshco, Trish Morey, Rachel Bailey, Anne Gracie, Elizabeth Rolls, Nikki Logan, Anne Oliver, Denise Rossetti, Christina Phillips, Keri Arthur and my CP, Fiona Gregory.

            Website prizes include –  copy of Heart & Craft compiled by Valerie Parv, and a copy of Night’s Cold Kiss by Tracey O’hara.

           Like me, Eleni suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so she does a great job managing all this,

                 Have fun visiting at her site,

                         Suzi

Cathryn Brunet at Samhain Publishing

I am so very excited to announce that my critique partner has her new Fantasy Romance called Ritual Passion up at the Samhain Publishing web site under Coming Soon.
Race over there and check out her hot new story.
You’re going to need a cold shower after the excerpt,and I’m certain you’ll love reading the entire story when it is released on December 22nd 2009. A great Christmas present.

You can find out more about Cathryn and her work by visiting her website, or her blog.

Congratulations to a very talented writer,
Suzi Love.

Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

Blue Petal

Garden Admirers

Orange Petal People

Mosaic Urn

Pink Cadillac

Blue Cadillac Historic

Gold Maxwell Veteran

Steam train hedge

Dancing Floral Skirts

Carnival Float

Umbrelliads Pink

Umbrelliads Coloured

Flower ball of buckets

Multi coloured gardens

60th Anniversary of Carnival

 

        Toowoomba is an hour and a half driving west of the capital city of Brisbane in the state of Queensland, on the east coast of Australia. It is up in the Great Dividing Range. Each year in spring they stage a magnificent week of flowers, a garden competition and carnival that attracts visitors from far and wide.           

          The weekend was windy and blowing red dust , yet the Toowoomba gardens still looked magnificent.
Congratulations to everyone who put in so much hard work to enter the competitions or to put their gardens on display for everyone to walk through and enjoy.
          Flowers of every colour were there, vintage cars, and a street carnival. 

          Plus, lots of novelty things scattered around to keep this crazy writer very happy.  I’m addicted to anything wild and wacky. Apart from my love of meeting all sorts of weird and wonderful people. 

          Have you ever seen an umbrella/ flower- An umbrelliad?   How about a floral dancing skirt? Or a giant flower ball made of red buckets? A hedge trimmed like a steam train? Petal People?

        And of course, being addicted to the lovely colour- PINK – I was in my element. Not only for Carnival Floats, flowers, balloons, and umbrellas, but also a Pink Cadillac.  Simply divine!

       Suzi Love