And

'And' is a little word that we use a lot in speech, but should we use it so much in our writing? There are alternatives for some situations.

While - Instead of writing 'Terry played guitar and Andy the drums', try 'Terry played the guitar while Andy played the drums'. 'While' cannot be used all the time, but it's useful in some situations.

Punctuation - No, not the word, those little bits of magic that divide sentences, paragraphs, phrases etc. You could use a comma, a colon or a dash as in the following:

Terry played the guitar, Andy the drums.
Terry played a tuneful riff on the guitar: Andy hit the drums hard.

Ampersand - Okay, I know this is the same as an and, but when written it helps disinguish between an 'and' as a join and an 'and' as part of a name. 'Marks & Spencers and Dobbins & Sons played 'Land of Hope & Glory' over their tannoys at closing time.' It can cover a number of things that help make the writing look a little more pleasant and readable, even if in the reader's mind it still makes the same sound.

As well as - One to be used sparingly. It's not appropriate all the time, but is useful to keep in mind, while making reading a little easier.

With some imagination I'm sure you can come up with a few more of these. (That is now your homework)

I'll leave you with a few old words that need to be resurrected.