On the other hand “notorious” and “infamous” refer to being widely known for bad deeds or for having undesirable qualities. The Oxford dictionary also defines infamous as being wicked or abominable. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “notorious” as “widely and unfavorably known” and defines “infamous” as “having a reputation of the worst kind:  notoriously evil”. So while all three words describe the state of being widely known, the words “infamous” and “notorious” have connotations that make them different to plain old “famous”. You have to understand and be aware of the difference in usage of the three words.

The most common error seems to be that very often persons when speaking or writing will use “infamous” as a substitute for “famous”. Sometimes they also use “notorious” as a substitute for “famous”. You have to determine the reason for the fame. That is what would give you the clue to using each word correctly.

You can write:-

The captain who won the yacht race is famous for his superior sailing ability.

But you cannot write:-

Secretary was an infamous horse which won many races..

Here are some tips and sample sentences to help you use the words correctly. Sportsmen and athletes are described as famous when they are successful in their field or are exceptionally skilled.

Example: The famous footballer encouraged the young players to practise their skills.

A good cook can also be famous if her skills and dishes are exceptional.

Example: She was famous for her delicious stews.

Even a city or country can be famous for an admirable quality or feature.

The city of London is famous for its grand architecture.

When you use “infamous” or “notorious” a bad or evil quality is implied.

Example: The infamous pirate Blackbeard terrorised shipping in the West Indies.

Example: Chicago was notorious for its liquor smuggling during the Prohibition period. 

So although all three words mean well known or widely known remember that their connotations and usage are different. Do not confuse them.

How do you get children to write especially younger children about eight to twelve years old? If you could get them to read then getting them to write would be less of a problem. It is good advice to encourage more writing in order to cultivate writing skills. The more writing practice students get the better they will write eventually. But first you have to get them writing.

Have discussions before the writing starts

My experience as a tutor has revealed that if I have a discussion about the subject or area on which I want the students to write I get some interest. A discussion is also a way to discover how much knowledge your student has about the subject. Writing will depend on knowledge or feelings or opinion about a subject. Younger children may not have enough knowledge about many subject areas or even events. When you realise that the student does not know much about the topic, then the discussion allows you to help fill that gap.

Provide helpful resources

Prepare purposefully and lead your students to resources that give them information. An article from a newspaper can help and so can a video. Use examples or excerpts from books to share information. Of course it is best that your resources are examples of good writing and logical accurate information. The more opinions or writing that students are introduced to the more information they will have on which to base their opinions. Getting their opinion on the information you are discovering or leading them to is another way they can practise expressing themselves. The more they share their opinion in a discussion the more confident they will become in expressing themselves through writing. Later you can develop their analytical skills as you have them recognise and respond to faulty information and arguments.

Model good writing

The articles and books you introduce to students should also be a means of modelling good writing to them. Apart from increasing the student’s knowledge these resources can and should be used to demonstrate writing basics like unity in a paragraph and organisation of information. Dissect a paragraph and show how the writer indicated his main point and how he supported it. Show how all the sentences in the paragraph focus on the same Break down an article and work backwards to illustrate the possible outline of the writer prior to fleshing out the article.

Helping makes it easier

These activities are the building blocks to encourage  writing and to provide guidelines and examples. Actual writing must take place though. However these preparations will show how to gather information and will create opportunities to express opinions. Most importantly they will make students feel more confident about writing. Students are reluctant to write because they may not know enough about some topic to write about it. If you can help them with the background and show them how to structure their writing they would be willing to get started on their writing.

Have you noticed that the word “google” is being used as a verb?

Look at this sentence.

I had no idea what a fun palace was so I googled the expression. 

Notice that it is even used with the appropriate tense forms.

But Google is really the name of the search engine of its company Google Inc. It is a trademark. The word describes a brand and the use of the word or brand belongs only to Google Inc.

While Google is still a trademark the word is now commonly used as a part of speech and when it is used everyone understands its meaning. It is now included as a verb in some dictionaries. See how it is defined in the  Oxford English Living Dictionary online.

It is defined as:

Search for information about (someone or something) on the Internet using the search engine Google

It is also found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The definition is given as:

to use the Google search engine to obtain information about (someone or something) on the World Wide Web

I searched to find the dates of these additions and found that the Oxford English Dictionary added google as a verb in June 2006 and the Merriam-Webster added it in July 2006.

With google officially in the major dictionaries as a verb then it means that it has been officially adopted as a working part of the language. It now has a life beyond a trademark. However the dictionaries clearly relate the verb to the use of the specific search engine Google. It is quite possible though that some users of the verb google may mean a search by any search engine.

For the time being google as a verb is more often used in conversation. It may not yet be acceptable for use in formal or academic writing.

People are already using Photoshop as a verb and Skype as well. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has an entry for photoshop thus:

photoshop

transitive verb

:to alter (a digital image) with Photoshop software or other image-editing software especially in a way that distorts reality (as for deliberately deceptive purposes)

Language evolves and expands. What is happening to the use of google and photoshop as verbs has happened to other brand and trademarks before. Even words that are not trademarks are used as verbs. Take email for example. Originally a noun it is often used as a verb as in the following sentence.  After the job fair he emailed his resume to several companies.

Often the momentum of these language changes cannot be stopped. Follow up and be aware of the newest changes to the language. Your writing is bound to include some of these new words at some point.