Bra podd

‘Spark words’ and the hidden history of ‘panic’ and ‘Ritalin,’ with Martha Barnette

31 juli | 32 min

What your hands are saying (even when you’re not thinking about it), with Lauren Gawne

12 juni | 30 min

‘Further’ vs. ‘farther.’ Why designers use fake Latin. Blondie hot

10 juni | 16 min

What AI means for writers and editors, with Daniel Heuman

5 juni | 29 min

'The' rules you never learned. Why did Latin die?

3 juni | 17 min

The publishing world is changing. Jane Friedman tells us how.

29 maj | 27 min

Why 'plz' might be pushing people away. How to write better thank-you notes. Studaloo

27 maj | 19 min

Why simplified spelling nearly took over America (and why it didn't), with Gabe Henry

22 maj | 31 min

Why 'wake' is so confusing. The playful language of vacations.

20 maj | 18 min

Ambrose Bierce, from ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ to disappearing in Mexico, with Jim Norrena

15 maj | 30 min

Why 'epitome' is confusing. Quirky stories behind baby animal names. Alice doors

13 maj | 19 min

How YouTubers' voices evolve, with Andrew Cheng

8 maj | 22 min

What dictionary labels tell us about words. Why we say 'mama'. DU, STU, and LO.

6 maj | 17 min

The secret to writing ‘the same but different,’ with Mary Robinette Kowal

1 maj | 20 min

'Lit' vs. 'lighted.' The mysteries of the dollar sign. Redd up.

29 april | 19 min

Ghostwriters, book deals, and AI: What you didn’t know about publishing, with Dan Gerstein

24 april | 23 min

'I.e.' versus 'e.g.' What Shakespeare actually added to English. Four schnitzels.

22 april | 18 min

AI and the future of dictionaries, with Erin McKean

17 april | 26 min

Better paragraph breaks. The story behind 'mad money' and 'pin money.' Bruce bad.

15 april | 16 min

The future of editing jobs in the age of AI, with Samantha Enslen

10 april | 17 min

How to write photo captions. The real difference between ‘immigrate’ and ‘emigrate.’ Ko Pha-ngan'd

8 april | 17 min

The hidden techniques behind well-paced fiction, with Joshua Essoe

3 april | 26 min

Why don't we say the L in 'walk'? Never use 'always.' PABST

1 april | 15 min

Exploring slang, AI ghost words, and language change, with Heddwen Newton

27 mars | 31 min

What’s wrong with "'til"? Why tiny words control conversations. How many cookies?

25 mars | 17 min

The best punctuation book, period, with June Casagrande

20 mars | 25 min

Why we say ‘OK.’ How tea shaped English slang. Poetry winner

18 mars | 17 min

Behind the scenes of Wikipedia: editing, accuracy, and notability, with Jonathan Rick

13 mars | 28 min

How did our holidays become so 'corny'? Why do some words have accent marks in English? Cubby hole

11 mars | 16 min

Why kids can't read (and what we can do about it), with Kate Crist

6 mars | 28 min

The mystery of ‘it’ in English. The most dramatic moments in grammar history. Ghost Town Mad, the song

4 mars | 17 min

From 'Parasite' to 'Emilia Pérez': How movies shape language, with Andrew Cheng

27 februari | 31 min

Why Americans write 'canceled' but still write 'cancellation.' How printing history gave us 'fine print.' Fluff.

25 februari | 16 min

Writing Motivation Hacks, with Mary Robinette Kowal

20 februari | 28 min

Why we misuse ‘literally.’ How ham radio got its name. District

18 februari | 18 min

How to be a ghostwriter, with Dan Gerstein

13 februari | 34 min

Why some holidays have apostrophes. Why Californians say ‘the 405.’ MIGD

11 februari | 19 min

Word games and the joy of playing every day, with Lex Friedman

6 februari | 26 min

'Toeing' the line. Metonymy versus synecdoche. Ghost town mad

4 februari | 17 min

Wordplay and cartoons: Inside the making of 'AB@C,' with Rob Meyerson and Dan Misdea

30 januari | 18 min

Does 'book-book' make sense? Fun words for jigsaw lovers. Chilly chickens.

28 januari | 15 min

The secret to writing a good memoir, with Wendy Dale

23 januari | 20 min

Quotation marks in 1906. Starting stories in the middle. Road trip words.

21 januari | 17 min

'Rebel with a Clause,' the movie, with Ellen Jovin and Brandt Johnson

16 januari | 25 min

From "august" to "August." Why the union is always "strong." Nee nee

14 januari | 16 min

The psychology of fandom, with Jennifer Lynn Barnes

9 januari | 23 min

Does 'Wicked' have a grammar error? What is the 'neck of the woods'? To be Frances

7 januari | 15 min

The case of the mystery dialect, with Natalie Schilling

2 januari | 20 min

2024 words of the year, with John Kelly

30 december 2024 | 44 min

Twee pop, bumbershoot, amongst, and more, with Ben Yagoda

26 december 2024 | 15 min

'Home' for the holidays. False friends. Hello, Dentist.

23 december 2024 | 14 min

Struggling with AI: Job loss, energy use, and more, with Christopher Penn

19 december 2024 | 23 min

Why people say 'I mean ...' Missing pronouns. Cat-tracted.

17 december 2024 | 17 min

Why the new CMOS is yellow. Pandemic collectors editions. And more

12 december 2024 | 17 min

Positive 'anymore.' 'Wreaked' or 'wrought'? Seat of your pants. Pecan pie.

10 december 2024 | 13 min

Making your own dictionary, with Erin McKean

5 december 2024 | 25 min

Good first sentences. The language of 'Gladiator II.' Bear barber.

3 december 2024 | 16 min

How to write about trademarks. Why we say 'thank you.'

26 november 2024 | 16 min

Why one creative agency changed its stance on AI

21 november 2024 | 36 min

Why children learn languages faster than adults. Are band names singular or plural?

19 november 2024 | 19 min

'Beer' words in the OED, with Fiona McPherson

14 november 2024 | 28 min

'Hanged' versus 'Hung.' Is 'pair' singular or plural? Fossilized phrases.

12 november 2024 | 17 min

The psychology of writing bestsellers, with Jennifer Lynn Barnes

7 november 2024 | 41 min

Are you "pantless" or "pantsless"? Who (or what) is Beetlejuice?

5 november 2024 | 17 min

How linguists solve crimes, with Natalie Schilling

31 oktober 2024 | 35 min

From Guy Fawkes to Guido Fawkes. Tales from the crypt (and catacombs, mausoleums, and ossuaries). Taquitos

29 oktober 2024 | 17 min

The language of meetings, with Jim Slaughter

24 oktober 2024 | 26 min

Why don't we say 'I'm smarter than YOU'RE'? The language of fear. Catherineisms.

22 oktober 2024 | 17 min

Feeling stuck? Anne Lamott's here to kickstart your writing!

17 oktober 2024 | 38 min

Quack! What's a lame duck? A German punctuation kerfuffle.

15 oktober 2024 | 17 min

Can AI really write? A no-nonsense discussion, with Christopher Penn

10 oktober 2024 | 40 min

How to talk like a chef. The Michigander controversy. Jakey.

8 oktober 2024 | 18 min

How writers navigate failure and find success, with Jonathan Small

3 oktober 2024 | 29 min

From game boards to boardrooms. Commas with participial phrases. Gritties.

1 oktober 2024 | 14 min

From 'gobsmacked' to 'ginger': The British invasion of American English, with Ben Yagoda

26 september 2024 | 29 min

Why some verb sets are so odd (like 'go/went'). Corporate euphemisms. Goggy.

24 september 2024 | 16 min

What's new in the Chicago Manual of Style (18th edition), with Russell Harper and Mary Laur

19 september 2024 | 52 min

Do words like 'mandate' and 'cockamamie' come from words for men? Grammatical doppelgangers. A pair of teeth.

17 september 2024 | 17 min

What fiction writers know about avoiding stereotypes, with Alex Temblador

12 september 2024 | 35 min

'Tea' or 'chai'? Why we misspeak. Fellatone.

10 september 2024 | 14 min

The language of liars. 'Legendary,' 'famous,' or 'notorious'? Fish shapes.

3 september 2024 | 15 min

Cat Idioms. 'Summerween' and other blends. Bankery

27 augusti 2024 | 17 min

Apostrophes have always been confusing. 'First' or 'firstly'? Trudy!

20 augusti 2024 | 16 min

When to use 'the' before a noun. Why rhymes help us remember. Opening a lime.

13 augusti 2024 | 18 min

Why singers lose their accents. Why the 'I before E' rule is weird.

6 augusti 2024 | 18 min

Why 'I' takes plural verbs. Making names that end in S, like Harris and Biles, possessive. Marinate.

30 juli 2024 | 15 min

A brief history of English (aka when they spoke French in England). Killer death meat.

23 juli 2024 | 19 min

The power of words: Conscious language, with Karen Yin

18 juli 2024 | 42 min

How to write about zero. Are your emails accidentally rude? PAPST.

16 juli 2024 | 17 min

AI: Friend or foe? A conversation with Martha Brockenbrough

11 juli 2024 | 22 min

The unspoken rules of adjectives. The rise of 'yeah-nah.' Sundies

9 juli 2024 | 18 min

Grammar Girl at 1000: Words, wisdom, and a dash of whimsy

4 juli 2024 | 26 min

The birth of American English. How to recognize a phrasal verb. Cucka-nucka.

2 juli 2024 | 19 min

Buying your hometown newspaper, with Samantha & Greg Enslen

27 juni 2024 | 46 min

'Which' versus 'that.' Words for walking. Bottleadammit.

25 juni 2024 | 16 min

The Hidden Stories of African American English with Dr. Sonja Lanehart

20 juni 2024 | 40 min

The art of punctuation and the charm of 'kerfuffle.' Nicing.

18 juni 2024 | 18 min

Exploring the Language of 'Dune': An Interview with Kevin J. Anderson and Scott Brick

13 juni 2024 | 45 min

The power of sign language in 'Dune.' The words we use for dad. Chee

11 juni 2024 | 17 min

The crossword craze — now and then — with Ben Zimmer

6 juni 2024 | 27 min

From 'dog' to 'hot dog.' The 'audience of one' trick. More on the long S. Footbridge.

4 juni 2024 | 20 min

Why is this a question? with Paul Anthony Jones

30 maj 2024 | 30 min

What is a Word? Target moments.

28 maj 2024 | 19 min

How a special dictionary kept soldiers connected during WWII, with Peter Sokolowski

23 maj 2024 | 27 min

Why some sentences have double subjects. The story behind the old F-like letter S. Schwen schwen on dill.

21 maj 2024 | 17 min

Efficiency hacks for writers and editors with Erin Brenner

16 maj 2024 | 32 min

We found the story behind "whim wham for a mucket"!

14 maj 2024 | 16 min

Words, coffee, and urban planning: Eli Burnstein on the Dictionary of Fine Distinctions

9 maj 2024 | 27 min

Skunked words. The power of pronouns. Quigleys

7 maj 2024 | 18 min

Air worms and fire breathing dragons: Old English animal stories with Hana Videen

2 maj 2024 | 31 min

When (and How) Should You Cite AI? 'Critters,' 'Varmints,' and Beyond. Choobers.

30 april 2024 | 18 min

Exploring the 'Funnest' Parts of Language with Anne Curzan

25 april 2024 | 34 min

The birth of punctuation: from oral traditions to silent reading. Noun clusters. A wing wang in a mucket.

23 april 2024 | 16 min

How to become a supercommunicator, with Charles Duhigg

18 april 2024 | 19 min

Big changes in Associated Press style. The 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' finale was catawampus. Bappy

16 april 2024 | 14 min

Pet-Speak: From Meowlogisms to Zoomies. 'Imply' or 'Infer'?

9 april 2024 | 20 min

You love to read. Could you narrate?

2 april 2024 | 24 min

Memory, Aging, and the Lingering 'Anyways'

26 mars 2024 | 18 min

A nuclear win at the Oscars. CamelCase. One clo.

19 mars 2024 | 17 min

From grunts to grammar. The Irish 'after doing.' The winning NGD poem!

12 mars 2024 | 14 min

Where did our language start?

5 mars 2024 | 22 min

'Addictive' or 'addicting'? Types of nouns. Folley

27 februari 2024 | 14 min

Tracing the origins of Miami's new English. Why it's not a 'gumballs' machine. Embassy Sweets.

20 februari 2024 | 20 min

Taylor Swift Doesn't Need Your Grammatical Approval. In Love. Foil Lump Surprise.

13 februari 2024 | 13 min

'A' versus 'an.' 'Larruping' rides again. Euonyms. Flavoring.

6 februari 2024 | 13 min

From 'hwhat' to 'what': Tracing a letter's disappearing act. Barkhouse.

30 januari 2024 | 18 min

The listener show! (canceled, think, lettuce, funnily, episode numbers, at about, mangos, musgos)

23 januari 2024 | 20 min

Technology changes how we write. Who was the first Goody Two Shoes?

16 januari 2024 | 17 min

More than fluff: Understanding 'needless' words. Larruping. Chicken surprise.

9 januari 2024 | 11 min

The psychology (and language) of time. Commas are like people on the subway. Fox chores.

2 januari 2024 | 16 min

Why English has silent letters. Dayjamas.

26 december 2023 | 20 min

A rizzy word-of-the-year chat (with Jess Zafarris)

26 december 2023 | 23 min

The special sauce of human language. Gotten. NATO alphabet. A1 sauce.

19 december 2023 | 14 min

What's the difference between Hispanic, Chicano, Latino, Latinx, and Latine? Can something 'grow' smaller? Musko.

12 december 2023 | 18 min

When does a house become a mansion? Giving someone house.

5 december 2023 | 13 min

From metal type to metaphor: printing terms that extended their reach. The positive 'anymore.' Gigglemare.

28 november 2023 | 18 min

Why is Black Friday black? The NATO alphabet. Byeloveyou.

21 november 2023 | 17 min

The science of the plot twist. Irregardless. Spug.

14 november 2023 | 18 min

Omnishambles! Military slang across the pond (interview with Ben Yagoda)

7 november 2023 | 33 min

Cliches. Organic. Bully pulpit. Fimfy.

31 oktober 2023 | 20 min

The dark histories behind your favorite scary words, with Jess Zafarris

24 oktober 2023 | 35 min

Namesake. Commentate. Sprigly

17 oktober 2023 | 14 min

How to write great topic sentences. Fanilects. Throwawayable.

10 oktober 2023 | 15 min

When 'nice' was bad and 'bully' was good. Is 'preorder' redundant? High-intensity transformer.

3 oktober 2023 | 16 min

Think faster and talk smarter. Tips from Matt Abrahams that will make you a better writer and speaker

26 september 2023 | 22 min

Did Disney nail the pronunciation of 'Caribbean'? How to write equations. Chuther.

19 september 2023 | 13 min

Asking experts about language (interview with Steve Kleinedler, former executive editor of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel)

12 september 2023 | 33 min

When you shouldn't 'write tight.' 'Behead' versus 'decapitate.' YesHony.

5 september 2023 | 17 min

Say hwat?! 'Anxious' versus 'eager.' Pink stein.

29 augusti 2023 | 14 min

The wonders of the 'a-' prefix in English. 'Personal' versus 'personnel.'

22 augusti 2023 | 19 min

Hilarious typos (and how to avoid them). Why do we 'take' a walk?

15 augusti 2023 | 17 min

Have you ridden an acoustic bike lately? Write it tight.

8 augusti 2023 | 18 min

Did you know that on US Army bases, soldiers get a tattoo every day? Keep writing.

1 augusti 2023 | 13 min

People have ~feelings~ about the exclamation point (Florence Hazrat interview)

25 juli 2023 | 34 min

15 years of podcasting with Money Girl and Nutrition Diva

21 juli 2023 | 34 min

'Less' versus 'fewer.' Fun names for fingers. Scunscreen.

18 juli 2023 | 17 min

'Inspirational' or 'aspirational'? The surprising dangers of ChatGPT. Spaghetto.

11 juli 2023 | 18 min

Phrasal verb mysteries and minced oath origins. Night water.

4 juli 2023 | 17 min

Unlocking the mystery of 'ever words' and Latin abbreviations. Juna.

27 juni 2023 | 13 min

Why words can suddenly look unrecognizable. Learn to love the full stop. Marley.

20 juni 2023 | 17 min

Imagine life as a fiction editor (interview with Amy Schneider, author of the Chicago Guide to Copy Editing Fiction)

13 juni 2023 | 30 min

Darth Vader and the word 'father.' Comparatives and superlatives. Pritinear.

6 juni 2023 | 18 min

TV changes how you use language. When to use (and not use) 'more' and 'most'

30 maj 2023 | 16 min

Why the heck does 'score' mean 20? How we subconsciously know how to pronounce different plurals.

23 maj 2023 | 18 min

Why English is the best language for Wordle, with Lynne Murphy

16 maj 2023 | 25 min

It's all uphill from here (or is that downhill?). Eating like a pig (animal idioms).

9 maj 2023 | 15 min

What's wrong with 'there are' sentences? 5 fun facts about Spanish for Cinco de Mayo

2 maj 2023 | 18 min

Have you begged the question lately? What kind of learning is best: online, remote, distance, or virtual?

25 april 2023 | 19 min

What we get wrong about 'um' and 'uh,' with Valerie Fridland

18 april 2023 | 32 min

5 things every writer wants to learn, with Roy Peter Clark

11 april 2023 | 34 min

Killer bunnies in medieval manuscripts. The strange rules of 'dozen.'

4 april 2023 | 22 min

The Rosetta Stone and taxes. Is your sufficiency suffonsified?

28 mars 2023 | 14 min

Why we have both 'a' and 'an.' What does it mean to be lonely? Sufficiency.

21 mars 2023 | 17 min

How 'napron' became 'apron' (and what that has to do with newts). 'Ahold' or 'a hold'?

14 mars 2023 | 13 min

Why do people 'drop' a new single? How to pronounce 'often.'

7 mars 2023 | 13 min

How to actually improve your grammar. Why parallelism is important (and how to use it). Keycoos.

28 februari 2023 | 18 min

How writing very short stories can improve all your writing (with Grant Faulkner)

21 februari 2023 | 28 min

Language reveals universal truths about love. 'Wool sweater' or 'woolen sweater'? Grandmother crackers.

14 februari 2023 | 12 min

Interview with a creator of 'Schoolhouse Rock'!

7 februari 2023 | 15 min

What Does the AP Have Against France? Out Over Your Skis. Lands' End. Tolater.

31 januari 2023 | 16 min

Teddy Bears. The Brothers Grimm. Danger Cluck.

24 januari 2023 | 9 min

Weird punctuation with 'Jr.' Carl's Jr. Hockey.

17 januari 2023 | 15 min

Inflation, quiet quitting, and "un-" words, like "undressed," that can have two meanings. Gotcha Day.

10 januari 2023 | 15 min

How COVID Changed the Way We Think About Words. How to Write Dates. Prefeed.

3 januari 2023 | 15 min

World Cup Words. The Origin of Toasting. Says.

27 december 2022 | 15 min

Goblin Mode, Woman, & More. Words of the Year, with Kory Stamper

20 december 2022 | 34 min

The Wonderful Words of Christmas

13 december 2022 | 16 min

We found the book!

6 december 2022 | 13 min

What's a Honeyfuggler? 'Through' vs. 'Throughout.' Arriversary.

2 december 2022 | 13 min

A Strange Use of 'Said.' Kith and Kin. New Scrabble Words!

25 november 2022 | 13 min

Why Today's 'Thank You' Is Different from an Ancient 'Thank You.' Gerunds.

18 november 2022 | 17 min

WWII Words. A 'bit' of an Issue. Kleenex.

11 november 2022 | 14 min

The Medieval Origins of the @ Symbol. Hyphens in Dual-Heritage Terms. Pitch.

4 november 2022 | 15 min

The Difference Between Magic and Magick. Some Fascinating Spooky Words. Holy Fagachi!

28 oktober 2022 | 14 min

Randall Munroe of xkcd: Language Chat and Weird Bee Laws.

21 oktober 2022 | 36 min

The Subconscious Rules of Conversation. The Double-Word Problem. Cookie Fish.

14 oktober 2022 | 17 min

Wick-ED Fun Pronunciations. Deviled Eggs.

7 oktober 2022 | 15 min

When Is a Man a Widow? Where Do We Get the Word 'Blurb'? Sci-Fi Versus Fantasy. Bert and Ernie.

30 september 2022 | 11 min

Mood & Atmosphere in Fiction. An Interview with Joshua Essoe

23 september 2022 | 34 min

Split Infinitives. I Can't Even. Macken.

16 september 2022 | 15 min

Why Some People Say 'Might Could.' The Spanish Influence on English. Mickle Story.

9 september 2022 | 19 min

Accent Hallucination. False Ranges. Thanks, Chris.

2 september 2022 | 19 min

'Skrrt,' 'Bottle Episode,' 'Skeuomorphs' and more. An Interview with John Kelly of Dictionary.com.

26 augusti 2022 | 32 min

What's up with Splooting? Capitalizing Titles. Momilltellya.

19 augusti 2022 | 12 min

How Gendered Languages Are Changing. Jugopop.

12 augusti 2022 | 15 min

How Using Pliers Improves Your Language. Weird Possessives. Ducky File.

5 augusti 2022 | 16 min

A Riotous Good Time with Ellen Jovin of the Grammar Table

29 juli 2022 | 28 min

Ripe. Lede. Prevent. Awesome. Fulsome. MacGuffin. Daisy.

22 juli 2022 | 13 min

Why Nobody Says 'You're Welcome' Anymore. Whose. Chimichanga.

15 juli 2022 | 17 min

Code-Switching. Mignon Snaps Over Numbers. Foomp.

8 juli 2022 | 20 min

Surprising Words Related to 'Freedom.' Double Subjects. Foop.

1 juli 2022 | 14 min

'Ant' or 'Ahnt'? Capitalizing Cocktail Names. Archie Bunker.

24 juni 2022 | 15 min

The Many Meanings of 'Father.' How Watergate Changed English. Punim

17 juni 2022 | 20 min

Demonyms: Why People from North Carolina Are Called Tar Heels. 'Healthy' Versus 'Healthful.' Sussies 3!

10 juni 2022 | 20 min

Are Wisdom Teeth Smart? Capitalizing Degree Names. Sussies 2

3 juni 2022 | 15 min

Whatever Happened to "Thou"?

27 maj 2022 | 15 min

How Spellers Tackle the 'Dreaded Schwa'

20 maj 2022 | 17 min

Why "'Em" Isn't Short for "Them." The Subjunctive. Sussies.

13 maj 2022 | 16 min

Tomi Adeyemi: The Writing Life and Her New Writing Course.

6 maj 2022 | 41 min

Scissors, Jeans, and Other Nouns That Are Always Plural. Flat Adverbs. Boteep.

28 april 2022 | 18 min

If Earth Looks Like a Blue Marble, Why Is Earth Day Associated with the Color Green? Also, 'Funnest.'

21 april 2022 | 15 min

You Know. Doppelganger. Trademarks. Funnily. Chicken Milk.

14 april 2022 | 14 min

I Cannot Tell a Lie (but I Can Mislead)! And Sometimes People Do It With Percentages.

8 april 2022 | 17 min

How Aphasia Causes Difficulty Speaking. Chairdrobe.

31 mars 2022 | 24 min

Why Tired People Talk About Being 'Out of Spoons.' Why Nouns Are More Complicated Than You May Think.

24 mars 2022 | 11 min

Barracking, Sheilas and Shouts: How the Irish Influenced Australian English

17 mars 2022 | 14 min

The Oxford Comma. And Should You Start a Sentence with 'And'?

10 mars 2022 | 17 min

Is 'Materiel' Just a Fancy Pronunciation of 'Material'? Are Binomials the Same Across Languages?

3 mars 2022 | 11 min

Why Do We Cringe at 'Pepper and Salt'? Why 'Square' Is Uncool. Quickquish.

24 februari 2022 | 16 min

What's Square About a Square Meal? How to Use Parentheses, Brackets, and Braces. Guck.

17 februari 2022 | 16 min

Are People Using 'Commiserate' Wrong? The Origin of (the Word) 'Influenza.' Hersband.

10 februari 2022 | 12 min

Do You Call In, Out, or Off Sick? How Kids Learn Language. Hexaboobiated.

4 februari 2022 | 18 min

Tips for Learning a New Language: The Fluent Show

27 januari 2022 | 28 min

Why 'Tiny' Sounds Smaller Than 'Huge.' Nixing the Horrid 'Of.' Kokopelli.

20 januari 2022 | 19 min

'Strollout,' 'Insurrection,' 'Yassify,' and Other Words of the Year for 2021

13 januari 2022 | 14 min

Cardsharp. The Old-New Singular 'They.' Grignug.

6 januari 2022 | 16 min

Questions, Questions, So Many Questions!

30 december 2021 | 14 min

Is "Milk and Cookies" One Thing or Two? A New Language Term: The Santaback. Shoedabakers.

24 december 2021 | 16 min

How Lori Rader-Day Wrote a Historical Novel About War Evacuees in Agatha Christie's Vacation Home

16 december 2021 | 29 min

Pretending to Be British. How to Use Ellipses. Spiders.

9 december 2021 | 18 min

Shibboleth. Greeting Card Grammar. Bunkaree.

3 december 2021 | 12 min

How to Use a Semicolon, Amirite? Partu.

25 november 2021 | 13 min

Penultimate. Veni, Vidi, Vici. Smidge.

18 november 2021 | 14 min

New Words from WWII. How Places Like Featherstonehaugh Get Their Names. Uncoming.

11 november 2021 | 19 min

Editing an Anthology: 'Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed'

4 november 2021 | 28 min

Is That a Tombstone, Gravestone, or Headstone? Why Is the Sound of a Human Scream So Terrifying?

28 oktober 2021 | 12 min

Using Present Tense in a Story About the Past. Beck and Call. Tie-Dye Trees.

21 oktober 2021 | 16 min

Surprise! These Names Are Trademarks. How to Write 'Dos and Don'ts' (or Is That 'Do's and Don'ts'?). Wording Your Mixes.

14 oktober 2021 | 11 min

The Hedonometer and Your Feelings. What Does 'Schnozz' Mean?

7 oktober 2021 | 20 min

How Do You Pronounce 'Tomato'? Why Is 'Chiropractic' Singular. Fish.

30 september 2021 | 12 min

The Power of Very Specific Words, with Joel Schwartzberg

23 september 2021 | 30 min

How to Really Talk Like a Pirate. When Do You Need a Comma Before 'Because'?

16 september 2021 | 12 min

Why and When 'Very Unique' Is Wrong. Capitalizing 'Delta Variant' (or Not). Happy to You.

9 september 2021 | 15 min

Naked Idioms. Short-Lived. Capitalizing Earth. Hector Protector.

2 september 2021 | 13 min

The Origin of 'Honeymoon.' 'Where' Versus 'In Which.' Fevesteter.

26 augusti 2021 | 11 min

Weird Words for Alcohol. Starting a Sentence with 'However.' Fam-ished.

19 augusti 2021 | 17 min

How Storytelling Makes a Difference (and How to Do It Well)

13 augusti 2021 | 43 min

What's the Opposite of Deja Vu? Commas Between Adjectives

5 augusti 2021 | 15 min

The Best Stories from 15 Years of Grammar Girl

29 juli 2021 | 16 min

What the Two Spellings of Stationary/ery Have to Do with Booksellers. Why Pronunciations Change.

22 juli 2021 | 15 min

'Fish' or 'Fishes'? Why Do We Call Out 'Nothing' as 'Bupkis'?

15 juli 2021 | 11 min

'If' Versus 'Whether.' Why We Say 'The Exception That Proves the Rule.'

8 juli 2021 | 12 min

Trundle, Amble, Roam, and Shamble. How Some Preposition Use Has Changed Over Time.

1 juli 2021 | 17 min

Pedantic Nonsense Up with Which I Will Not Put! 'Discreet' or 'Discrete'?

24 juni 2021 | 14 min

Starting a Sentence with a Conjunction: Right or Wrong? Good 'Subpar' and Bad 'Subpar.'

17 juni 2021 | 16 min

How Long Is a Good Sentence? 'Cord' or 'Chord'? Grumple.

10 juni 2021 | 12 min

What Made 'Friends' Funny. How Cicadas Got Their Name. Dog Replacer.

3 juni 2021 | 14 min

Is 'Graduated College' Wrong? Five Wonderful Latin Phrases.

27 maj 2021 | 12 min

'Bring,' 'Take,' and 'Carry.' 'The Queen's Gambit.' Sweepy Thing.

20 maj 2021 | 15 min

Writing Dialogue. 'Associate Degree' or 'Associate's Degree'? Wiffy.

13 maj 2021 | 13 min

'Ketchup' or 'Catsup'? How to Punctuate Questions. Gmoing Gmoing.

6 maj 2021 | 14 min

What Does ‘Op-Ed’ Really Mean? The Perfect Paragraph Length. Items.

29 april 2021 | 11 min

The Intrusive "Of." What Makes English Weird.

22 april 2021 | 14 min

How to Write Faster. The Origin of the Odd Letter W

15 april 2021 | 15 min

'Borrow' and 'Lend.' When to Use 'Nor.' Boncho.

8 april 2021 | 11 min

Squirrelly Animal Verbs. 'People,' 'Peoples,' and 'Persons': Why It Matters.

1 april 2021 | 10 min

A vast number of words have surprising origins. We talked about some today, including "scientist," "impressionist," "beatnik," and "paradigm."

25 mars 2021 | 18 min

'Normalcy' or 'Normality'? A Punctuation Question from a Famous Movie Line. Taco Cats.

18 mars 2021 | 10 min

It's Not Just March. Other Months Have 'Ides' Too! Are You on the Pig's Back Today?

11 mars 2021 | 11 min

813 - The History of National Grammar Day. My Favorite Resources. Anniversity

4 mars 2021 | 14 min

812 - Kibosh. Sidekicks. Misolation.

25 februari 2021 | 17 min

811 - Inigo Montoya and Coining Phrases. 'Dose' or 'Dosage'?

18 februari 2021 | 13 min

810 - Words out of Time. Why 'OK' Is OK.

11 februari 2021 | 15 min

809 - Rethink Descriptions Like 'Diabetic.' The Wonderful World of Italics,

4 februari 2021 | 14 min

808 - 6 Latin Abbreviations You Should Know. 'Imply' or 'Infer'?

28 januari 2021 | 15 min

807 - Why We Call Them Sea 'Shanties.' A Trick to Remember How to Spell 'Conscience'

21 januari 2021 | 12 min

806 - Why You Should Try Fanfiction. How to Find Tricky Pronunciations.

14 januari 2021 | 16 min

805 - 'Acedia': the lost name for the emotion we're all feeling right now

7 januari 2021 | 11 min

804 - Another Think/Thing Coming. 'Sanction,' 'Cleave,' 'Dust,' and More

31 december 2020 | 14 min

803 - Pandemic, COVID, anderhalvemetersamenleving: 2020 Words of the Year

24 december 2020 | 23 min

802 - Brandon Sanderson on Writing, Character and Place Names, and the Future

17 december 2020 | 34 min

801 - How to Get Your 'Just Deserts.' Comma After 'But'? Why?

10 december 2020 | 12 min

800 - What Did You Step On? And Is That a Desert or a Dessert?

3 december 2020 | 10 min

799 - What 'Whence' Has to Do with 'Where Are You At?' 'Regime' or 'Regimen'?

26 november 2020 | 12 min

798 - Why 'Hilarious' Is Funnier than 'Hysterical.' How to Start a Novel.

19 november 2020 | 16 min

797 - Why Dickens' Character Names Are So Revealing. 'Continual' or 'Continuous'?

12 november 2020 | 14 min

796 - What Is a 'Crony'? Why Doesn’t 'Veterans Day' Have an Apostrophe?

6 november 2020 | 13 min

795 - Why People Use Scare Quotes. 'Dialog' or 'Dialogue'?

29 oktober 2020 | 11 min

794 - Create Characters as Great as Hamlet. How to Format Internal Dialogue

22 oktober 2020 | 15 min

793 - Why Journalists Use Misspellings Like 'Lede' and 'Spox'

15 oktober 2020 | 16 min

792 - A Totally, Like, Bitchin' Podcast About 'Like'

8 oktober 2020 | 16 min

791 - 'Although' Versus 'While.' Why We Write with Cliches (and How to Stop)

1 oktober 2020 | 12 min

790 - 'Laureate' Is Good. Why Is 'Resting on Your Laurels' Bad? 'Smarmy.'

24 september 2020 | 15 min

789 - How to Make Your Readers Laugh. 'Whoa' or 'Woah'?

17 september 2020 | 15 min

788 - Why 'Out of Pocket' Means Both 'Inappropriate' and 'Unavailable'

10 september 2020 | 16 min

787 - Why We Associate Political Parties with the Colors Red and Blue

3 september 2020 | 25 min

786 - 'Doomscrolling' (OK, Doomer). 'Each Other' or 'One Another'?

27 augusti 2020 | 15 min

785 - 'Gantlet' or 'Gauntlet'? Do You Want to Say 'Had Went'?

20 augusti 2020 | 12 min

784 - A Historical Tip for Remembering When to Use 'Historical.' Put More Thought into Your Punctuation.

13 augusti 2020 | 15 min

783 - How Hurricanes Get Their Names. When You Should Avoid Using Contractions.

6 augusti 2020 | 18 min

782 - What are those dots over letters? Why does 'money' have a plural, and how do you spell it?

30 juli 2020 | 10 min

781 - Blursday or Whensday? Middle Grade Versus Young Adult Fiction

23 juli 2020 | 17 min

780 - Which Comes First? Who or Where?

16 juli 2020 | 15 min

779 - How You Can Help the OED. Capitalizing 'Black.' How Playwriting Techniques Can Improve Your Writing.

9 juli 2020 | 14 min

778 - Do We Say 'Red Skies at Night, Sailor's Delight' Because of the Saharan Dust Plumes? Also, 'Yoiks!'

2 juli 2020 | 14 min

777 - How to Write Fight Scenes (and How to Get Started as a Fiction Editor)

25 juni 2020 | 29 min

776 - Why a Detective Searched for 'Clews' in a 1929 Novel. ‘Systemic’ or ‘Systematic’?

18 juni 2020 | 12 min

775 - Why We Talk About 'Bad Apples.' 'A Few' Versus 'a Couple'

11 juni 2020 | 11 min

774 - Roy Peter Clark on Civic Clarity

4 juni 2020 | 33 min

773 - Postal Zones. Reenter. Bougie.

28 maj 2020 | 12 min

772 - The History of ZIP Codes and Addresses (Plus How to Write Them)

21 maj 2020 | 22 min

771 - Writing Lessons from Bad Job Applications

14 maj 2020 | 16 min

770 - 'Muslim' or 'Moslem'? 'Fishfolk'? 'Fishist'? What Is the Gender-Neutral Term for 'Fisherman'?

7 maj 2020 | 13 min

769 - Why Do We Say 'Cool Your Heels'? What's Up With 'Zhuzh'?

30 april 2020 | 18 min

768 - Why Aren't We 'Whelmed'? And Cabin 'Fever,' Anyone?

23 april 2020 | 11 min

767 - The semicolon is so much more interesting than you imagine

16 april 2020 | 29 min

766 - 'Flaunt' and 'Flout.' 'Band Together.'

9 april 2020 | 12 min

765 - Say No to Marshall Law. How 'Vaccine' Is Related to 'Cow.'

2 april 2020 | 10 min

764 - Skeleton Crew. Hunker Down. Uncharted. Existential.

26 mars 2020 | 11 min

763 - How to Write Better Email. 'Pandemic' vs. 'Epidemic.' 'Canceled' vs. 'Cancelled.'

19 mars 2020 | 14 min

762 - How to Pronounce 'Celtic.' 'Whiskey' or 'Whisky'?

12 mars 2020 | 11 min

761 - Why It's Called 'Daylight Saving Time.' The Origin of the Word 'Woman.'

5 mars 2020 | 14 min

760 - What Is Genre. 'Bangs' Versus 'Fringe.'

27 februari 2020 | 11 min

759 - What Does ‛Mardi Gras’ Mean? "Drive to Work" Versus "Drive Home"

20 februari 2020 | 9 min

758 - Why 'XOXO' Means 'Hugs and Kisses'

13 februari 2020 | 6 min

757 - The days of the week are names you've known your whole life, but do you know their origin?

6 februari 2020 | 10 min

756 - High Odds or Low Odds?

30 januari 2020 | 10 min

755 - How to Write Anything

23 januari 2020 | 8 min

754 - The Tie Between Ann Landers and 'Could Care Less.'

16 januari 2020 | 8 min

753 - Take Heart! Here's Why You Still Have Time to Write Your First Novel

9 januari 2020 | 16 min

752 - Why Do Asian Languages Have So Many Different Scripts?

2 januari 2020 | 7 min

751 - Why Are There So Many Spellings for 'Hanukkah'? (Or Is That 'Chanukah'?)

26 december 2019 | 7 min

750 - Pitch Black. Frankincense and Myrrh.

19 december 2019 | 10 min

749 - How to Identify Your Main Point. It's Harder Than You Think!

16 december 2019 | 27 min

748 - Your Language Affects Your Perception of Time. 'Star Wars' Languages.

12 december 2019 | 15 min

747 - You Don't Have to Get Up on Stage for Improv to Boost Your Creativity

9 december 2019 | 33 min

746 - How to Make Family Names Plural. How Come We Ask 'How Come?'

5 december 2019 | 13 min

745 - 'More Than' Versus 'Over.' Is a Hamburger a Sandwich?

2 december 2019 | 16 min

744 - Cold Turkey, Talk Turkey, and More. The Weird Origin of the Cornucopia.

28 november 2019 | 11 min

743 - How to Get Your Characters Right (Especially When They Aren't Like You)

25 november 2019 | 30 min

742 - Famous Quotations. Silent Letters.

21 november 2019 | 14 min

741 - Behind the Scenes in Publishing.

18 november 2019 | 19 min

740 - Do You Know When to Use Quotation Marks? Also, How to Create a House Style.

15 november 2019 | 14 min

739 - The Problem with Sarcasm. Filthy Lucre.

11 november 2019 | 13 min

738 - Can a Boy Raised by Wolves Learn to Speak Human Language? It Depends.

7 november 2019 | 13 min

737 - Curtis Chen: Using NaNoWriMo to Kickstart Your Novel

4 november 2019 | 34 min

736 - Ghastly Words for Ghosts. Quid pro Quo.

31 oktober 2019 | 16 min

735 - Dave Itzkoff on Writing a Biography of Robin Williams

28 oktober 2019 | 34 min

734 - Ghost Words

24 oktober 2019 | 12 min

733 - Why People Hate Words Like 'Moist'

21 oktober 2019 | 23 min

732 - How to Write a Conclusion. ‘Rebut’ or ‘Refute’?

17 oktober 2019 | 10 min

731 - Compound Possession. 'Friday' or 'On Friday'?

14 oktober 2019 | 12 min

730 - Turning a Podcast into a Novel: 'The Bright Sessions' to 'The Infinite Noise'

10 oktober 2019 | 31 min

729 - Making Words That End in Y Plural.'Primer' Pronunciation.

7 oktober 2019 | 11 min

728 - How English Words Came Into French After World War II

3 oktober 2019 | 16 min

727 - The Quirky Australian 'Crime' Tense. 'Hopefully.'

30 september 2019 | 15 min

726 - A Cup of Joe. ‘Smokey’ and ‘Smoky.’

26 september 2019 | 12 min

725 - Interviewing, Story Structure, and Writing Tools with Jonathan Small

23 september 2019 | 35 min

724 - Why Esperanto Is an Amazing Language. 'Fall' or 'Autumn'?

19 september 2019 | 11 min

723 - Grammar Girl #723. Tips for Fact Checking. Why We Use the Term 'Watershed Moment.'

16 september 2019 | 11 min

722 - 'Math' or 'Maths'? Irregular Verbs.

12 september 2019 | 15 min

721 - Verbing Nouns. 'It Is I' or 'It Is Me'?

9 september 2019 | 12 min

720 - Getting Your Tricky Conditionals Right. Wheelhouse.

5 september 2019 | 14 min

719 - Why 'Literally' Doesn't Mean 'Literally' Anymore. Video Games for Language Learning.

2 september 2019 | 16 min

718 - Writing Scripts and Speeches. Ask and Aks.

29 augusti 2019 | 14 min

717 - Words that Sound Funny

26 augusti 2019 | 11 min

716 - What's Up With Words That Are Spelled the Same but Sound Different?

23 augusti 2019 | 12 min

715 - POV. Plus 'Tinderella,' 'phubbing,' and more words at the intersection of relationships and technology.

19 augusti 2019 | 14 min

714 - Eponyms: Cardigan, Dunce, Quisling, and More.

16 augusti 2019 | 16 min

713 - More Apostrophe Mayhem. Dyslexia Writing Tips

12 augusti 2019 | 17 min

712 - Apostrophe Catastrophe. What (or Who) Is a Cipher?

8 augusti 2019 | 14 min

711 - Misheard Song Lyrics and Eggcorns. The Ampersand.

5 augusti 2019 | 22 min

710 - Vacay. Why Some People Call Green Peppers 'Mangoes'

1 augusti 2019 | 11 min

709 - Surprise! The History of Semicolons Is Exciting.

29 juli 2019 | 29 min

708 - Why Alcohol Is 'Hard.' 'Phenomena' or 'Phenomenon'?

25 juli 2019 | 11 min

707 - How and Why the Internet Is Changing Language

22 juli 2019 | 30 min

706 - Sometimes It's Not a Bad Idea to Dumb Down Your Language.

18 juli 2019 | 11 min

705 - 'Blue Collar,' 'Bluestocking,' and 'the Blue Hair Brigade.' 'Oral' Versus 'Verbal.'

16 juli 2019 | 12 min

704 - Present Tense When Writing About Fiction. The Poop Emoji and Eggcorns.

11 juli 2019 | 9 min

703 - Why There Are 9 Different Ways to Pronounce the Letter T

8 juli 2019 | 22 min

702 - ‘All of a Sudden’ or ‘All of the Sudden’? ‘Baited’ or ‘Bated’ Breath?

4 juli 2019 | 10 min

701 - ‘Biweekly’ or ‘Semiweekly’? ‘Foward' and ‘Forward.’

1 juli 2019 | 10 min

700 - When to Capitalize 'Google.' Why Zero is 'Love' in Tennis.

27 juni 2019 | 10 min

699 - When to Capitalize Computer Terms. StetWalk

24 juni 2019 | 8 min

698 - 'Subpoena.' When To Capitalize 'The' in Titles.

20 juni 2019 | 7 min

697 - What Anyone Can Learn From the College Essay Process

17 juni 2019 | 26 min

696 - Hyphens in Ages. The Emphatic 'This.'

13 juni 2019 | 8 min

695 - 'Armageddon' or 'Apocalypse'? Numbers in Dialogue.

10 juni 2019 | 12 min

694 - Country Names and “The”: The Ukraine or Ukraine. Theater Idioms.

6 juni 2019 | 13 min

693 - What's Wrong with Saying Something Is 'Very Unique'?

4 juni 2019 | 16 min

692 - Godzilla, Cryptids, and Dilemma Comments.

30 maj 2019 | 10 min

691 - BONUS: Introducing Science Rules! with Bill Nye

27 maj 2019 | 3 min

690 - The Spelling Bee Kids

23 maj 2019 | 22 min

689 - More or most? Majority or plurality? The many (how many?) ways to describe amounts.

20 maj 2019 | 8 min

688 - Dangling Participles

16 maj 2019 | 9 min

687 - What It's Like to Be a Book Editor and Translator

13 maj 2019 | 16 min

686 - The 'Dilemma' Dilemma. 'Big Bang Theory" Words and Language.

9 maj 2019 | 14 min

685 - How to Find Work as a Freelance Writer. Adventure.

6 maj 2019 | 16 min

684 - ‘Unquote’ or ‘End Quote’? Cinco de Mayo. Horse Idioms.

2 maj 2019 | 13 min

683 - ‘So’ and ‘So That’: What Type of Conjunction Are They?

29 april 2019 | 21 min

682 - Do You Drop Your T's? 'Sneaked' and 'Snuck.'

25 april 2019 | 15 min

681 - 'The Dictionary of Difficult Words,' an Interview with Jane Solomon

22 april 2019 | 32 min

680 - Wakandan, Groot, and Other Languages of the Marvel Universe. Easter and Passover.

18 april 2019 | 14 min

679 - Brussels sprouts? Scotch eggs? Swedish meatballs? Which food names can you trust?

15 april 2019 | 15 min

678 - Moolah, Clams, and Scratch. God, Godsend, and Godfather.

11 april 2019 | 15 min

676 - The Language of 'Game of Thrones'

4 april 2019 | 14 min

675 - Why Verbs Like 'Witness' Are Weird

1 april 2019 | 16 min

674 - How You Can Benefit Year-Round from NaNoWriMo

28 mars 2019 | 20 min

673 - Schwa-ify This! Scrabble Stories

25 mars 2019 | 15 min

672 - How a Semicolon Brought Two Writers Together

21 mars 2019 | 21 min

671 - Why We Have Both 'Color' and 'Colour'

18 mars 2019 | 8 min

670 - Equinox. Is Irish the Same as Gaelic?

14 mars 2019 | 14 min

669 - 'Red Tape,' 'Red Herring,' 'Paint the Town Red,' and More 'Red' Idioms.

11 mars 2019 | 11 min

668 - What's Wrong with 'These Ones'? Faith and Begorrah, We Have Irish Phrases for St. Patrick's Day!

7 mars 2019 | 13 min

667 - Why ducks say "quack-quack" in English but "ga-ga" in Japanese.

4 mars 2019 | 9 min

666 - Double Negatives.

28 februari 2019 | 11 min

665 - Language News Chat

25 februari 2019 | 35 min

664 - Benjamin Dreyer and His Unusual Pet Peeves

21 februari 2019 | 36 min

663 - D-Day. Why I Want a Salad-Salad.

18 februari 2019 | 13 min

662 - 'Racket' or 'Racquet'? Never Misspell 'Bureaucracy' Again.

14 februari 2019 | 16 min

661 - How Paula Brackston picks her characters’ names and uses language to set a tone.

11 februari 2019 | 23 min

660 - 'Irregardless' or 'Regardless'? Crime Words.

7 februari 2019 | 16 min

659 - Normans, Ralls, and Voicemail

4 februari 2019 | 4 min

658 - 'Wage,' 'Wager,' and 'Wed'

31 januari 2019 | 13 min

657 - 'Tip of the Hat" or 'Tip Your Hand'? 'Yeah No.'

24 januari 2019 | 17 min

656 - ‘Relapse’ or ‘Recur’? 'Kneeled' or 'Knelt.' ’Methinks.’

17 januari 2019 | 10 min

655 - ‘Myriad’ or ‘Myriad Of’? What Is a Run-On Sentence?

10 januari 2019 | 10 min

654 - 'Stint' or 'Stent'? How to Pronounce 'Coyote.'

3 januari 2019 | 14 min

653 - How to Use an Asterisk. Journaling.

27 december 2018 | 12 min

652 - ‘Purposely' or 'Purposefully'? Yule.

20 december 2018 | 10 min

651 - 'Capitulate' or 'Recapitulate'? Colons.

13 december 2018 | 11 min

650 - 'Wreaked' or 'Wrought'? 'Crescendo.' Could We Understand Aliens?

6 december 2018 | 13 min

649 - 'Ado' or 'Adieu'? Pronouns and Antecedents

29 november 2018 | 13 min

648 - Does Your Language Influence How You Think?

22 november 2018 | 23 min

647 - Pronoun Order. ‘Flier’ or ‘Flyer.’ The Plural of ‘Mouse.’

15 november 2018 | 11 min

646 - 'Blond' or 'Blonde'? How 'Trolloping' Became a Word.

8 november 2018 | 14 min

645 - Interview with New York Times bestselling author Courtney Summers

1 november 2018 | 15 min

644 - 'Sit' or 'Set'? Monster Names.

25 oktober 2018 | 9 min

643 - ‘In the Limelight.’ ‘A’ or ‘An’?

18 oktober 2018 | 12 min

642 - 'Regard' Versus 'Regards.' Languages Without Numbers.

11 oktober 2018 | 12 min

641 - 'Myself.' ‘Get the Skinny.’

4 oktober 2018 | 16 min

640 - Can a Screw Screw Itself into a Board? (Middle Voice)

27 september 2018 | 17 min

639 - Great Paragraphs. Falling off the Turnip Truck.

20 september 2018 | 9 min

638 - 'None.' How Pirates Talked.

13 september 2018 | 11 min

637 - ‘MacGyver.’ ‘Semicolons.’

6 september 2018 | 9 min

636 - 'To Boot.' Duck Tape. 'Can' and 'May.' Pronouns.

30 augusti 2018 | 15 min

635 - 'Quick and Dirty.' 'Momentarily.' Short Subjects.

24 augusti 2018 | 12 min

634 - 'Rack' or 'Wrack'? How to Eliminate Adverbs.

16 augusti 2018 | 8 min

BONUS: Words for Color

14 augusti 2018 | 11 min

633 - Is That Comment Facetious, Sarcastic, or Sardonic? Cleft Sentences.

9 augusti 2018 | 15 min

632 - 'Ask' as a Noun. Ships as 'She.'

2 augusti 2018 | 12 min

631 - Anniversaries. Conversate.

26 juli 2018 | 14 min

630 - Who Wrote the ABC Song? Shark Idioms!

19 juli 2018 | 12 min

629 - 'Gourmet' or 'Gourmand'? Why July 14 Is Called Bastille Day.

12 juli 2018 | 12 min

628 - Why 'Bag' and 'Beg' Sound the same to some people? Does 'Texas' Mean 'Crazy'?

5 juli 2018 | 12 min

627 - How to Write a Great Cover Letter. 'Kinda' and 'Wanna': Real Words or Not?

28 juni 2018 | 12 min

626 - ‘Aggravate’ Versus ‘Irritate’ What Is a Functional Shift?

21 juni 2018 | 9 min

625 - ‘Dinner’ or ‘Supper’? How to Write a Thank-You Note

14 juni 2018 | 13 min

624 - ‘Trooper’ and ‘Trouper.” Why Is It Called a Spelling Bee?

7 juni 2018 | 10 min

623 - 'Calvary' or 'Cavalry'? Spelling Bee Interview.

31 maj 2018 | 18 min

622 - Is a Troop One Person or a Group? Repetition

24 maj 2018 | 14 min

621 - ‘Council’ or ‘Counsel’? Direct and Indirect Quotations. Oxymorons.

17 maj 2018 | 10 min

620 - When to Capitalize 'Mom.' In the Doldrums.

10 maj 2018 | 15 min

619 - Co-worker. Barefaced and Baldfaced Lies. Mixed Metaphors.

3 maj 2018 | 11 min

618 - Jazz and Thunder. Say Your Piece (or Peace)?

26 april 2018 | 12 min

617 - 'Lay' and 'Lie.' 'Grill' and 'Grille.' 'Warsh.'

19 april 2018 | 10 min

616 - The Prodigal Tongue. Odoriferous. Battle Royale.

12 april 2018 | 18 min

615 - Humor with Adverbs. Noisome. Receipts. Case Quarters.

5 april 2018 | 16 min

614 - Illeism. Named For or After? Misinformation and Disinformation.

29 mars 2018 | 14 min

613 - Dictionary.com Starts Defining Emoji (an interview with Jane Solomon)

22 mars 2018 | 27 min

612 - The Pin/Pen Merger. American. 'Half-Staff' or 'Half-Mast'?

16 mars 2018 | 18 min

611 - Pudding. "There Are" Sentences. Winning Limerick

8 mars 2018 | 12 min

610 - Top 10 Grammar Myths. How 13 Dog Breeds Got Their Names.

2 mars 2018 | 12 min

609 - Pull Idioms. Surprising Food Names. Dillydally.

22 februari 2018 | 12 min

608 - Dilly Dilly. How Many Prepositions Can You Put in a Row?

15 februari 2018 | 14 min

607 - Brainstorming. Call Out Sick? Synesis.

8 februari 2018 | 13 min

606 - Levidromes, Tom Swifty Jokes, and new OED Words.

1 februari 2018 | 12 min

605 - A Homophone Error at the SAG Awards. Lectern or Podium? Capitalizing Award Names

25 januari 2018 | 12 min

BONUS: Introducing Launch

22 januari 2018 | 15 min

604 - Origin of 'Gerrymandering.' Is 'Data' Singular or Plural?

18 januari 2018 | 9 min

603 - Words of the Year, Why You Shouldn't Use 'Eskimo,' 'Canon' or 'Cannon'?

11 januari 2018 | 13 min

601 - 'Based In' or 'Based Out Of.' Omitting 'That'

28 december 2017 | 15 min

600 - How to Pronounce 'Caramel.' Sports Idioms

21 december 2017 | 9 min

599 - Delicious English Words (Chocolate, Guacamole) with Aztec Roots

14 december 2017 | 10 min

598 - Gifting and Regifting. Take a Decision.

8 december 2017 | 9 min

597 - Eskimo Words for Snow. Write a Book!

30 november 2017 | 16 min

595 - 'Side' Words. What Is a Bailiwick?

16 november 2017 | 11 min

594 - The Plural of 'Batman.' Why Smart People Struggle with Shakespeare Too.

9 november 2017 | 17 min

593 - The Origin of English: Proto-Indo-European.

2 november 2017 | 17 min

592 - "Sofa" or "Couch"? "Skeleton" Idioms.

26 oktober 2017 | 14 min

591 - 'Cannot' or 'Can Not'? 'Dead' Idioms.

19 oktober 2017 | 12 min

590 - How to Write an Apology

12 oktober 2017 | 10 min

589 - The "Ruth's Chris" Apostrophe. Thingamajigs.

5 oktober 2017 | 11 min

588 - Why People Mimic Accents. Why People "Have Your Six."

28 september 2017 | 11 min

587 - More British & American Differences. Quotation Marks with Periods and Commas

21 september 2017 | 12 min

586 - UK and US English. 'Bad' or 'Badly'?

15 september 2017 | 16 min

585 GG. Rainy Idioms. "Because," "Due To," "Since," and "As"

7 september 2017 | 13 min

584 GG. Pipe Dream. Comma Before a Quotation.

1 september 2017 | 12 min

583 GG Important or Importantly? Time Traveler Words

25 augusti 2017 | 7 min

582 GG. How to Use Quotations. Stop Calling Yourself a Grammar Nazi

17 augusti 2017 | 12 min

581 GG. Riffle and Rifle. Worcestershire Sauce.

10 augusti 2017 | 9 min

580 GG. Introductory Paragraphs. One of The...

3 augusti 2017 | 13 min

579 GG Language Games. Jerry-Built. And Female Juniors

27 juli 2017 | 8 min

578 GG Words from Obsolete Technology

20 juli 2017 | 9 min

577 GG The Trump Jr. Punctuation Kerfuffle. Generation Names.

13 juli 2017 | 11 min

576 GG Critique or Criticize? Games Like Pig Latin

6 juli 2017 | 11 min

575 GG Gestures. Elbow Grease. Capitalizing Directions.

29 juni 2017 | 14 min

574 GG Commas with Transition Words. Double Whammy.

22 juni 2017 | 7 min

573 GG Until, Till, and 'Til. Dad Jokes.

15 juni 2017 | 13 min

572 GG Themself. Comma Splices.

8 juni 2017 | 12 min

571 GG Lego or Legos? Why English Spelling Reform Is Doomed.

1 juni 2017 | 24 min

570 GG Burned or Burnt? Why English Spelling Is a Mess.

26 maj 2017 | 12 min

569 GG. Explain vs. Explanation. How to Outline.

18 maj 2017 | 10 min

568 GG. In or Among. Weird Words.

12 maj 2017 | 10 min

567 Is Pig Latin a Real Language?

4 maj 2017 | 11 min

566 GG. Off Your Feed. Animal Language.

27 april 2017 | 19 min

565 GG. Solving Crimes with Language. Apple, Podcasts, and Prepositions.

20 april 2017 | 10 min

564 GG. Preposition or Adverb?

13 april 2017 | 16 min

563 GG Singular 'They'

7 april 2017 | 12 min

562 GG AP Style and Chicago Manual of Style Updates

31 mars 2017 | 14 min

561 GG $10 Million Comma. Ambiguous Sentences. Tribute to Bill Walsh

23 mars 2017 | 12 min

560 GG Devil's Advocate. 3 Tips for Creating Sentences with Punch

16 mars 2017 | 11 min

559 GG. Abbreviations. And Then the Murders Began. Runcible. Haiku.

10 mars 2017 | 10 min

558 GG How to Write Good Survey Questions

3 mars 2017 | 13 min

557 GG Double Dactyl Poetry

23 februari 2017 | 13 min

556 GG Tumult. Bull in a China Shop. Always, Never, Usually, Often, Most, and More

16 februari 2017 | 9 min

555 GG. Toe/Tow the Line. Pled or Pleaded. Animal Idioms.

9 februari 2017 | 10 min

554 GG 'Reticent' or 'Reluctant.' Which' or 'That.'

2 februari 2017 | 9 min

553 GG Not Only, But Also. Leave in the Lurch. Month Names.

27 januari 2017 | 11 min

551 Capital vs Capitol. Citing Podcasts and Websites

19 januari 2017 | 13 min

551 GG. Words of the Year. Writing Tips.

12 januari 2017 | 13 min

550 GG Enormity or Enormousness? Badminton

5 januari 2017 | 6 min

549 GG Hone/Home In. Apostrophes.

29 december 2016 | 9 min

548 GG. What Makes Good Stories.

22 december 2016 | 9 min

547 GG 'A While' or 'Awhile'? Writing Dialogue

15 december 2016 | 9 min

546 GG Anxious/Eager. If Not.

8 december 2016 | 14 min

545 GG Read the Riot Act. The Changing English Language.

1 december 2016 | 12 min

544 GG. Pilgrim Names. Pronouncing Foreign Words

24 november 2016 | 19 min

543 GG. By the Wayside. How to Pronounce 'Biopic'

17 november 2016 | 10 min

542 GG. 'Aloud' or "Out Loud'? Strong Voice

11 november 2016 | 8 min

541 GG Before or Prior To? Foreign Language Syndrome

3 november 2016 | 8 min

540 GG. Cemetery or Graveyard? Peer Editing. To Calendar.

27 oktober 2016 | 11 min

539 GG Capitalizing Job Titles. I.e. Versus E.g. Sentence Diagramming

20 oktober 2016 | 14 min

538 Alumni. Words from Bookmaking. Beyond the Pale

14 oktober 2016 | 15 min

537 GG "Further" Versus "Farther." Horse's Mouth

7 oktober 2016 | 11 min

536 GG Hit the Bestseller List: How to Style Your Words Like a Bestselling Author

29 september 2016 | 13 min

535 GG Anyways or Anyway? Topic Sentences

22 september 2016 | 11 min

534 GG. Bridget Jones. Pay Dirt. Dashes.

15 september 2016 | 17 min

533 GG. Etc. Short Shrift. Prepositions

8 september 2016 | 18 min

532 GG Loose or Lose. You Wazzock.

1 september 2016 | 21 min

531 GG Writing Dual POVs. Space Operas and Soap Operas.

25 augusti 2016 | 10 min

530 GG Whom. Preorder. Badger, Weasel, Ferret.

18 augusti 2016 | 13 min

529 GG Latin Words. Batten Down the Hatches

11 augusti 2016 | 10 min

528 GG Adjectives. Logical Fallacies

4 augusti 2016 | 11 min

527 GG 'Lit' or 'Lighted.' Why Some Words Become Homophones

29 juli 2016 | 16 min

526 GG Types of Third Person Point of View. Flammable and Inflammable

22 juli 2016 | 9 min

525 GG Food Idioms. 'Affective' or 'Effective'

15 juli 2016 | 13 min

524 - Affect Versus Effect. How to Pronounce The

7 juli 2016 | 13 min

523 GG Sightseeing. On Accident Versus by Accident

30 juni 2016 | 11 min

522 GG Hearty or Hardy? How English Became English. Jury-Rigged.

23 juni 2016 | 18 min

521 GG Is Funnest a Word? How to Pronounce Adirondack.

16 juni 2016 | 9 min

520 GG Band Names. Woman or Female?

10 juni 2016 | 7 min

519 GG RBIs. Principal and Principle. Run of the Mill

2 juni 2016 | 12 min

518 GG Are You Interurban? Vonnegut's Famous Semicolon Quotation Was Taken Out of Context. Off the Cuff.

26 maj 2016 | 11 min

517 GG Why Do We Call It Commencement? When to Delete "It"

19 maj 2016 | 8 min

516 GG Celsius Versus Centigrade. 'Between' Versus 'Among'

12 maj 2016 | 9 min

515 GG Home vs. Away? How to Make Product Names Plural

5 maj 2016 | 9 min

514 GG Brouhaha. New Words. One Fell Swoop.

29 april 2016 | 10 min

513 GG North or Northbound. Subjunctive Verbs.

21 april 2016 | 8 min

512 GG Titled or Entitled? AP Style Updates. Into Thin Air.

14 april 2016 | 10 min

511 GG Pronouncing Pulitzer. Navajo Codes in WWII

7 april 2016 | 12 min

509 GG Charlie Chaplin Grammar. S-Backing.

24 mars 2016 | 12 min

508 GG. Haiku Winners. Great Story Ideas

17 mars 2016 | 19 min

507 Patty or Paddy? Needs Washed

10 mars 2016 | 10 min

506 GG Subordinate Clause Examples

4 mars 2016 | 9 min

505 GG Maudlin. Vocabulary Words

25 februari 2016 | 10 min

504 GG Shined or Shone? Idioms About Tea

18 februari 2016 | 9 min

503 GG What Is a Canard?

11 februari 2016 | 9 min

502 GG. Straw Man. Wicked.

4 februari 2016 | 17 min

501 GG Word Families. Caucus

28 januari 2016 | 8 min

500 GG Redundancy. Letters of Recommendation.

21 januari 2016 | 14 min

499 GG Current or Currant? Singular They

14 januari 2016 | 11 min

498 GG A Joke About a Mongoose. Writing Dates.

7 januari 2016 | 8 min

497 GG Should You Capitalize 'the Force' from Star Wars?

31 december 2015 | 3 min

496 GG Plural of Hippopotamus

24 december 2015 | 2 min

495 GG Pair. Misusing “So” and “Very.” Even Keel

17 december 2015 | 10 min

494 GG Pair. Forensic Linguistics. In Cold Blood

10 december 2015 | 9 min

493 GG Hoofs or Hooves? Color Phrases

3 december 2015 | 12 min

492. GG. Blue. Kith and Kin

27 november 2015 | 12 min

490 GG Formatting URLs in Text

12 november 2015 | 9 min

489 GG Dialogue Tags. Writing Fight Scenes. NaNoWriMo

5 november 2015 | 13 min

488 GG Hallowe'en. Apostrophes. The Garden Path

29 oktober 2015 | 12 min

487 GG Wolf or Woof. Interrobang. Riding Roughshod

22 oktober 2015 | 10 min

486 - Suffragette. Ginormous

15 oktober 2015 | 12 min

485 GG Firstly. Exclamation Points. Leeway.

8 oktober 2015 | 12 min

484 GG Mantel or Mantle? Bulleted Lists

1 oktober 2015 | 9 min

483 GG Sort, Kind, or Type? Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms

24 september 2015 | 6 min

482 GG Amused or Bemused. Being Bilingual. Positive Anymore.

17 september 2015 | 18 min

481 GG And/Or. That Should Be a Word.

10 september 2015 | 7 min

480 GG Matriculate. Diminutives. Crocodile or Alligator?

3 september 2015 | 13 min

479 GG Scrabble in Different Parts of the World

28 augusti 2015 | 14 min

478 GG Why English Has Silent Letters

20 augusti 2015 | 20 min

477 GG Scrabble Extravaganza

13 augusti 2015 | 16 min

476 GG Zero Percent, Prefixes and Suffixes, Malapropisms

6 augusti 2015 | 15 min

281 How Do Words Get in the Dictionary?

31 juli 2015 | 6 min

475 GG How a Comma Can Get You out of a Parking Ticket

23 juli 2015 | 13 min

474 GG Flesh Out. Last Names. Hat Trick.

16 juli 2015 | 14 min

473 GG How Understanding Toy Story Can Help You Get into College

9 juli 2015 | 13 min

472 GG Citizen or Resident? Let's and Let Us. Newfangled.

23 juni 2015 | 15 min

471 GG Size versus Sized. When Is It OK to Be Redundant? Mind Your P’s and Q’s.

18 juni 2015 | 12 min

470 GG Prepositions in Shakespeare

12 juni 2015 | 12 min

469 GG Kudos. Crossword Puzzles. Squad Goals. June 4, 2015.

4 juni 2015 | 12 min

468 GG Congratulations. Food Names That Come From Countries…or Not. Tall Poppy Syndrome.

28 maj 2015 | 10 min

467 GG Deep Seeded or Deep Seated?, Lewis Carroll: He Loved to Play with Language, Japanese Words in English

21 maj 2015 | 14 min

466 GG Healthy Versus Healthful. The Best SAT Essay Ever. Fast and Loose

14 maj 2015 | 17 min

465 GG Two Spaces After a Period?

7 maj 2015 | 12 min

464 GG Weird Conditionals

30 april 2015 | 14 min

463 GG Most or Almost. Parallel Structure. Follow Suit

23 april 2015 | 11 min

462 GG Everyday. Ain't. Eponyms

16 april 2015 | 11 min

461 GG Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen

9 april 2015 | 10 min

105 Yoda Grammar (Reissue)

2 april 2015 | 6 min

460 GG Global English: Prepone, Do the Needful, and More

26 mars 2015 | 9 min

459 GG Subject-Verb Agreement

19 mars 2015 | 11 min

458 GG Can You Process These Tricky, but Grammatical, Sentences?

13 mars 2015 | 14 min

456 GG Is Starting a Sentence With So Condescending?

26 februari 2015 | 15 min

Announcement

20 februari 2015 | 1 min

455 GG Why Do We Drive on Parkways and Park on Driveways?

12 februari 2015 | 11 min

454 GG Splitting Infinitives

5 februari 2015 | 12 min

453 GG Less Versus Fewer

29 januari 2015 | 13 min

452 GG Why People Misuse Prepositions

22 januari 2015 | 18 min

451 GG Impossible Participals

15 januari 2015 | 14 min

450 GG Is Sign Language Universal?

8 januari 2015 | 32 min

449 GG Double Possessives

1 januari 2015 | 10 min

448 GG How Our Brains Process Hyperbole

25 december 2014 | 12 min

446 GG Why Don't People Say "Thou" Anymore

11 december 2014 | 10 min

445 GG Why Do People Say "Like" All the Time?

4 december 2014 | 15 min

444 GG Between You and Me

27 november 2014 | 11 min

442 GG Make Me a Sandwich

13 november 2014 | 12 min

441 GG Mic or Mike? Simple or Simplistic? Uppercase and Lowercase

6 november 2014 | 12 min

440 GG How to Plan a Novel

30 oktober 2014 | 12 min

439 GG Texting, Coffins, and Death

23 oktober 2014 | 12 min

438 GG Why Do People Say Punctuation Out Loud?

16 oktober 2014 | 22 min

437 GG What’s the difference between England, Great Britain, and the UK?

9 oktober 2014 | 8 min

436 GG Why People Have Always Been Confused About Apostrophes

2 oktober 2014 | 13 min

435 GG We Might Could Harvest the Corn

25 september 2014 | 14 min

434 GG Ya Shank: The Made-Up Swear Words of 'The Maze Runner'

18 september 2014 | 10 min

433 GG Why People Mix Up the Pronouns "Me" and "I"

11 september 2014 | 14 min

431 GG Words That Aren't Words

28 augusti 2014 | 12 min

430 GG The Plural of Money. This Is Your Brain on Writing. Egregious

21 augusti 2014 | 13 min

429 GG How to Use the Conjunction “Nor”

14 augusti 2014 | 16 min

428 GG Crash Blossoms

7 augusti 2014 | 11 min

427 GG 7 French Food-Related Words That Became English

31 juli 2014 | 14 min

426 GG A Language Lover's Trip to England

24 juli 2014 | 11 min

425 GG Why Weird Al's Word Crimes Video Made Me Want to Quit

17 juli 2014 | 9 min

424GG There's Something Weird About "For," "Yet," and "So"

10 juli 2014 | 9 min

423 GG Is the Semicolon in TL;DR Ironic?

3 juli 2014 | 3 min

422GG Manipulating Words to Make Things Funny

26 juni 2014 | 6 min

421 - Part II: Why Do People Say 'A-Whole-Nother'?

19 juni 2014 | 11 min

420 - Why 'A-Whole-Nother' Isn’t Like 'Ala-Frickin’-Bama' and 'Hizzouse'

12 juni 2014 | 7 min

419 - Using Stick Figures to Understand First, Second, and Third Person

5 juni 2014 | 6 min

417 - An Unparalleled Letdown

22 maj 2014 | 4 min

416GG How to Kick Your Annoying Preposition Habit

15 maj 2014 | 6 min

415 - Commas Are Like People on the Subway

8 maj 2014 | 7 min

414 - Luisa Zissman's Missing Apostrophe

1 maj 2014 | 8 min

413 - Words Invented by Shakespeare

24 april 2014 | 6 min

412 - Can I Help Who's Next?

18 april 2014 | 7 min

411 - Addictive Versus Addicting

10 april 2014 | 6 min

410GG Just Because

30 mars 2014 | 7 min

408 - Why We Don't End Sentences With "You're"

21 mars 2014 | 7 min

407GG Why Canadians Don't Really Say "Aboot"

13 mars 2014 | 8 min

406GG Begging the Question

7 mars 2014 | 5 min

405 - Is Cash Money a Regional Expression?

28 februari 2014 | 7 min

404 - Why "Substitute" Is Weird

27 februari 2014 | 9 min

403 - Preventative and Orientate

22 februari 2014 | 5 min

402 - Little Bunny Foo Foo

21 februari 2014 | 9 min

401 - How Clipping Creates New Words

14 februari 2014 | 5 min

400 - How Reading Tickles Your Neurons

9 februari 2014 | 5 min

399 - Your Brain on Fiction

7 februari 2014 | 6 min

071 Units Of Measure

30 januari 2014 | 5 min

398GG Why Some Band Names Take "The" and Some Don't

24 januari 2014 | 9 min

397 - Secrets of Bestselling Novels

16 januari 2014 | 7 min

396 GG Tenterhooks or Tenderhooks?

10 januari 2014 | 4 min

192 Do I Hate Your Singing or You Singing?

2 januari 2014 | 6 min

395 GG How to Use Quotation Marks

24 december 2013 | 8 min

394GG Hashtag Rap

17 december 2013 | 8 min

393 GG Nonsense Syllables

13 december 2013 | 7 min

392 GG Orangehead

6 december 2013 | 6 min

251 - What Is a Gerund?

28 november 2013 | 7 min

391 GG Scrabble Words

22 november 2013 | 6 min

390 - Passive Voice

15 november 2013 | 5 min

389 GG English Plurals: Wugs and Blicks

7 november 2013 | 7 min

388 GG Style Sheets

23 oktober 2013 | 6 min

387 GG "Because" as a Preposition

14 oktober 2013 | 11 min

386 - Negation in Night Vale

10 oktober 2013 | 10 min

117 - Biweekly Versus Semiweekly

3 oktober 2013 | 4 min

385 - Irony

27 september 2013 | 8 min

384 - Homophones

19 september 2013 | 7 min

383 GG Could Care Less

12 september 2013 | 10 min

50 GG Like Versus As

5 september 2013 | 7 min

381 GG Prepositions

30 augusti 2013 | 7 min

380 GG Participles and Gerunds

22 augusti 2013 | 9 min

379 GG Apostrophes in Science Fiction and Fantasy Names

15 augusti 2013 | 6 min

378 GG Apostrophes and Plurals

9 augusti 2013 | 7 min

377 GG Royal "We"

2 augusti 2013 | 6 min

376 GG Why Do We Have Both A and An?

19 juli 2013 | 8 min

375 GG What Is It Called When You Mishear Song Lyrics?

11 juli 2013 | 10 min

374 GG Rebracketing

5 juli 2013 | 7 min

372 GG Retronyms

21 juni 2013 | 6 min

371 GG Commma Splice

14 juni 2013 | 10 min

370 GG Why Isn't "Gruntled" A Word?

7 juni 2013 | 7 min

369 GG Why Does "I" Take Plural Verbs?

31 maj 2013 | 8 min

368 GG Hyphens

24 maj 2013 | 9 min

367 GG The Old Editor Says

17 maj 2013 | 9 min

366 GG How Texting Is Changing English

10 maj 2013 | 9 min

285 GG "Moot" Versus "Mute"

3 maj 2013 | 4 min

365 GG The Language of Crime

26 april 2013 | 5 min

364 GG Why Would Anyone Use "The Chicago Manual of Style"?

19 april 2013 | 5 min

363 GG Writing Flashbacks

12 april 2013 | 9 min

362 GG Why Are Some Portmanteaus So Awful?

5 april 2013 | 6 min

361 GG Is That a Wool Sweater or a Woolen Sweater?

29 mars 2013 | 6 min

051 GG I'm Good

22 mars 2013 | 5 min

359 GG Do You Tell People to Pound Sand or Pound Salt?

8 mars 2013 | 5 min

358 GG "Only": The Most Insidious Misplaced Modifier

1 mars 2013 | 7 min

357 GG Why the Plural of "Die" Is "Dice," not "Douse."

22 februari 2013 | 8 min

356 GG Where Do I Use Commas?

15 februari 2013 | 7 min

355 GG Subject Object

8 februari 2013 | 6 min

353 GG Can Apple Get Away with "Funness"?

25 januari 2013 | 8 min

352 GG How to Create and Use Figures of Speech Pt.1

18 januari 2013 | 8 min

351 GG Pronouns: Is a Company a "Who" or a "That"?

11 januari 2013 | 5 min

350 GG "Who" Versus "That"

4 januari 2013 | 6 min

349 GG A Word Lover's Highlights of 2012

28 december 2012 | 8 min

348 GG How Webster's Screwed Up

21 december 2012 | 7 min

347 GG How to Use a Hyphen

14 december 2012 | 10 min

346 GG Tuxedo Verbs

7 december 2012 | 8 min

342 GG Writing for Dyslexic Readers

9 november 2012 | 7 min

341 GG Google Ngram and "Impact" as a Verb

2 november 2012 | 6 min

151 GG Just Say No to Drugs

12 oktober 2012 | 3 min

142 GG When Are Double Words OK?

28 september 2012 | 6 min

334 GG Using Present Tense in a Story About the Past

31 augusti 2012 | 7 min

333 GG When Is W a Vowel

24 augusti 2012 | 8 min

332 GG How Do You Tell If Something Is True?

10 augusti 2012 | 12 min

331 GG "Pet" or "Petted"? Troublesome Past Tenses

3 augusti 2012 | 7 min

330 GG The Rules of Story

27 juli 2012 | 9 min

329 GG "Versus"

20 juli 2012 | 7 min

328 GG "Decimate" and "All Right"

13 juli 2012 | 6 min

327 GG "Dilemma" and "Gone Missing"

6 juli 2012 | 5 min

326 GG "Jealousy" Versus "Envy"

29 juni 2012 | 3 min

325 GG So You Think You Can Edit?

22 juni 2012 | 6 min

324 GG When Bad Grammar Means Good Fiction

8 juni 2012 | 6 min

323 GG How to Write Numbers

1 juni 2012 | 7 min

320 GG You Have No Idea How Weird "Do" Is

4 maj 2012 | 7 min

318 GG Dashes, Colons, and Commas

20 april 2012 | 5 min

317 GG What Does "Proper English" Mean?

13 april 2012 | 9 min

316 GG Sentence Fragments

6 april 2012 | 5 min

315 GG Possessives

30 mars 2012 | 7 min

314 GG Mary Sue

23 mars 2012 | 5 min

312 GG This NGD story is "all right."

2 mars 2012 | 5 min

309 GG Why Do Kids Say "Versing"?

17 februari 2012 | 7 min

308 GG Should We Abandon Standard Spelling?

10 februari 2012 | 7 min

310 GG Stationary, Stationery, Complement, and Compliment

3 februari 2012 | 3 min

111 GG Everybody Wants Some

27 januari 2012 | 6 min

306 GG "The Night Circus": Well Done Second Person Narrative

13 januari 2012 | 7 min

305 GG Where Did the @ Symbol Come From?

6 januari 2012 | 5 min

304 GG Should You Point Out Errors?

30 december 2011 | 6 min

030 GG Sentence Fragments

23 december 2011 | 5 min

200 "Who" Versus "Whom," Advanced

11 december 2011 | 5 min

302 GG Passive Voice

9 december 2011 | 5 min

301 GG Active Voice

2 december 2011 | 8 min

300 GG Christmas Carol Grammar

25 november 2011 | 6 min

299 GG Ten Tips to Banish Typos

18 november 2011 | 7 min

298 GG Color Your Readers' Imagination with Words

4 november 2011 | 7 min

297 GG How to Search a Corpus

28 oktober 2011 | 8 min

029 GG "They" as a Singular Pronoun

21 oktober 2011 | 8 min

294 GG Do You Resent Your Editor?

7 oktober 2011 | 8 min

293 When to Capitalize Seasons

29 september 2011 | 5 min

292 Overcoming Writer’s Block

23 september 2011 | 6 min

288 Compound Nouns

8 augusti 2011 | 6 min

284 Who Says “Fun” Can’t Be an Adjective?

14 juli 2011 | 4 min

283 Did Oxford Drop the Oxford Comma?

8 juli 2011 | 5 min

282 "Each Other" Versus "One Another"

1 juli 2011 | 7 min

280 Whoever or Whomever?

16 juni 2011 | 7 min

279 Capitalizing Titles

9 juni 2011 | 8 min

275 Camel Case

12 maj 2011 | 6 min

274 Double Subjects

5 maj 2011 | 6 min

273 "A Hold" or "Ahold"?

28 april 2011 | 6 min

272 Do You Capitalize “God”?

21 april 2011 | 7 min

270 Commas With Participial Phrases

7 april 2011 | 6 min

268 Mixing Verb Tenses

24 mars 2011 | 6 min

267 How to Speak English Like the Irish

17 mars 2011 | 7 min

263 How to Write Grammatically Correct Photo Captions

17 februari 2011 | 5 min

260 Contractions

27 januari 2011 | 6 min

259 First, Second, and Third Person

20 januari 2011 | 8 min

258 How to Write Dialogue

13 januari 2011 | 6 min

257 Should You Ever Put a Space Before a Period?

13 januari 2011 | 6 min

252 What Is Plagiarism?

2 december 2010 | 8 min

250 "Foreword" Versus "Forward"

19 november 2010 | 6 min

248 How to Write a Better Resume

4 november 2010 | 4 min

246 Show, Don’t Tell

28 oktober 2010 | 5 min

245 "Talk With" versus "Talk To"

22 oktober 2010 | 6 min

243 "Think Different" or "Think Differently"

7 oktober 2010 | 7 min

242 "Like" Versus "Such As"

30 september 2010 | 7 min

240 Do All Adverbs End in "-Ly"?

16 september 2010 | 8 min

239 Capitalizing Proper Nouns

9 september 2010 | 7 min

238 Is It OK to Switch Verb Tenses?

2 september 2010 | 8 min

235 Swearing

12 augusti 2010 | 7 min

234 Does "Until" Include the Date?

5 augusti 2010 | 7 min

232 Active Voice Versus Passive Voice

22 juli 2010 | 8 min

231 How to Write Clear Sentences

15 juli 2010 | 6 min

230 When to Use Female Nouns

8 juli 2010 | 7 min

229 Understanding Voice and Tone in Writing

1 juli 2010 | 8 min

228 Comma Splice

25 juni 2010 | 7 min

226 How to Use Transition Words

17 juni 2010 | 6 min

224 When to Use Articles Before Nouns

4 juni 2010 | 7 min

222 Dashes, Parentheses, and Commas

21 maj 2010 | 8 min

219 "Bad" Versus "Badly"

30 april 2010 | 6 min

220 How to Eliminate Adverbs

29 april 2010 | 5 min

217 What Is Poetic License?

15 april 2010 | 5 min

215 Hey, That's Not Grammar Girl!

1 april 2010 | 5 min

213 Stacked Modifiers

18 mars 2010 | 6 min

209 Does the Olympic Theme Song “I Believe” Have a Grammar Error?

19 februari 2010 | 6 min

206 Is "I'm Loving It" Proper Grammar?

29 januari 2010 | 7 min

205 Readers Share Their Funny Errors

21 januari 2010 | 6 min

203 How Do You Pronounce 2010?

18 januari 2010 | 7 min

204 Is "Got" Proper English?

14 januari 2010 | 6 min

201 Is “Ain't” a Word?

25 december 2009 | 6 min

199 "Alternate" Versus "Alternative"

5 december 2009 | 5 min

197 "Where" Versus "In Which"

19 november 2009 | 4 min

196 Adverbs Ending in -ly

13 november 2009 | 6 min

193 "Diffuse" Versus "Defuse"

16 oktober 2009 | 4 min

191 How to Write a Complaint Letter

2 oktober 2009 | 6 min

190 Ellipses Spurned

25 september 2009 | 5 min

188 "Comprise" Versus "Compose"

18 september 2009 | 5 min

187 Should Writers Keep a Journal?

11 september 2009 | 5 min

186 Funny Misplaced Modifiers

4 september 2009 | 5 min

185 When Should You Capitalize Titles?

28 augusti 2009 | 7 min

183 Verbs Sandwiched Between Singular and Plural Nouns

14 augusti 2009 | 4 min

184 When Should You Capitalize Words?

1 augusti 2009 | 7 min

181 How Many Spaces After A Period?

30 juli 2009 | 4 min

176 What Is Subject-Complement Agreement?

26 juli 2009 | 7 min

180 How to Use Parallel Construction Correctly

24 juli 2009 | 3 min

119 "Shall" Versus "Will"

22 juli 2009 | 4 min

179 Can You Start a Sentence with “Which”?

17 juli 2009 | 5 min

178 Do Rhetorical Questions Need a Question Mark?

10 juli 2009 | 4 min

174 "Myself"

12 juni 2009 | 5 min

172 "All Right" Versus "Alright"

29 maj 2009 | 4 min

170 Swear Words in Text

15 maj 2009 | 6 min

169 Using “For” to Mean “Because”

9 maj 2009 | 5 min

168 Troublesome Contractions (e.g., I'd've)

1 maj 2009 | 5 min

167 Dashes Versus Colons

23 april 2009 | 4 min

166 Strunk and White

17 april 2009 | 5 min

182 Are You Annoyingly Redundant?

7 april 2009 | 6 min

164 "One" Versus "You"

3 april 2009 | 5 min

177 Why Are British English and American English Different?

3 april 2009 | 6 min

162 How to Write a Great Blog Comment

20 mars 2009 | 7 min

161 "Use" Versus "Utilize"

13 mars 2009 | 5 min

158 "Flammable" Versus "Inflammable"

20 februari 2009 | 5 min

157 GG When to Use a Comma with “Too”

13 februari 2009 | 4 min

156 What is the plural of scissors

6 februari 2009 | 4 min

155 What to Call People With Disabilities.

30 januari 2009 | 4 min

150 How to Podcast a Book

26 december 2008 | 8 min

148 How to Write Your First Novel

12 december 2008 | 7 min

012 Wordiness And Idioms

21 november 2008 | 4 min

146 Mixed Metaphors

13 november 2008 | 6 min

144 Concrete Versus Cement

7 november 2008 | 4 min

141 Appositives

17 oktober 2008 | 6 min

140 Modifying Phrases at the Beginning of Sentences

10 oktober 2008 | 4 min

139 Is "Data" Singular or Plural?

3 oktober 2008 | 6 min

136 Complex-Compound Sentences

19 september 2008 | 6 min

131 Collective Nouns

2 september 2008 | 6 min

129 Assure Versus Ensure Versus Insure

25 augusti 2008 | 5 min

127 Begs the Question

19 augusti 2008 | 4 min

126 - Through, Threw, and Thru

14 augusti 2008 | 4 min

125 Comparatives Versus Superlatives

12 augusti 2008 | 5 min

124 Better Versus Best

8 augusti 2008 | 6 min

122 Is "Have Got" Acceptable English?

1 augusti 2008 | 3 min

120 He Said, She Said

25 juli 2008 | 3 min

118 Writing Accents and Dialects

18 juli 2008 | 6 min

123 How to Avoid Clichés

15 juli 2008 | 5 min

116 "Than I" Versus "Than Me"

10 juli 2008 | 7 min

114 Phrasal Verbs

4 juli 2008 | 6 min

113 Writing with Slang

27 juni 2008 | 5 min

110 When to Leave Out "That"

6 juni 2008 | 6 min

108 Whose for Inanimate Objects

23 maj 2008 | 5 min

107 Graduated versus Graduated From

15 maj 2008 | 5 min

100 How to Write Numbers

28 mars 2008 | 4 min

007 Which Versus That

21 mars 2008 | 4 min

098 Who Versus Whom--Advanced

7 mars 2008 | 4 min

096 May Versus Might

21 februari 2008 | 4 min

095 Zeroscape Versus Xeriscape

15 februari 2008 | 2 min

093 Hyphens

31 januari 2008 | 5 min

091 Yo as a Pronoun

10 januari 2008 | 5 min

090 Went Missing

4 januari 2008 | 5 min

087 Used to Versus Use to, and Other Listener Questions

7 december 2007 | 4 min

084 People Versus Entities

16 november 2007 | 6 min

083 Interviewing Tips

9 november 2007 | 6 min

082 Daylight-Saving Time

9 november 2007 | 4 min

078 Formatting Hyperlinks

5 oktober 2007 | 5 min

077 Verbification of a Noun

28 september 2007 | 6 min

076 Starting a Sentence With "Hopefully"

21 september 2007 | 5 min

073 Simplify Your Writing

30 augusti 2007 | 6 min

072 The The -- The Double The

23 augusti 2007 | 5 min

070 The Asterisk (Trust Me About Grammar, Not About Baseball)

10 augusti 2007 | 4 min

068 Unlawful Versus Illegal

20 juli 2007 | 4 min

067 Your Versus You're

20 juli 2007 | 7 min

065 Regionalisms

29 juni 2007 | 8 min

064 Between You and Me

26 juni 2007 | 5 min

056 Generating Story Ideas and Overcoming Writer's Block

22 maj 2007 | 9 min

055 Misplaced Modifiers

18 maj 2007 | 6 min

048 April Fools' Day Episode

1 april 2007 | 4 min

266 When Should You Capitalize Cocktail and Food Names?

11 mars 2007 | 4 min

042 Semicolons

21 februari 2007 | 6 min

036 Grammar Manners

12 januari 2007 | 4 min

031 The Lord Is Come?

15 december 2006 | 4 min

024 Who Versus That

4 november 2006 | 4 min

021 Proofreading Tips

20 oktober 2006 | 7 min

165 Abbreviations, Acronyms, And Initialisms

10 oktober 2006 | 4 min

Excessive Redundant Redundancies

8 oktober 2006 | 6 min

015 Title Capitalization Rules

24 september 2006 | 6 min

11 Grammar Style Issues

7 september 2006 | 4 min

454 GG Splitting Infinitives

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'Heat wave' vs. 'cold snap.' Why reading stories makes you smarter. Rogering.

Why plain English matters in science (and everywhere else), with Anne Greene

'Y' plurals. Bill Labov's linguistic legacy. Choo-choo

How 'algospeak' is changing language, with Adam Aleksic

Pop, soda, or coke? When Q stands alone. Pizza bones.

Metaphors and your brain. How figurative language works, with Dr. Vicky Lai

Can you have a million bacons? Martha's Vineyard's unique sound.

The surprising history (and politics) of emoji, with Keith Houston

Is ‘sick’...good? What we think of posh language and class. Misunderseed

The language of children’s storytelling, with Doug Fraser

Why we drop sounds. ChatGPT is changing how people talk. Kombi

What your accent says about you (and your identity), with Rob Drummond

Are em dashes really a sign of AI writing? 'Caretaker' vs. 'caregiver'

What your hands are saying (even when you’re not thinking about it), with Lauren Gawne

‘Further’ vs. ‘farther.’ Why designers use fake Latin. Blondie hot

What AI means for writers and editors, with Daniel Heuman

'The' rules you never learned. Why did Latin die?

​​The publishing world is changing. Jane Friedman tells us how.

Why 'plz' might be pushing people away. How to write better thank-you notes. Studaloo

Why simplified spelling nearly took over America (and why it didn't), with Gabe Henry

Why 'wake' is so confusing. The playful language of vacations.

Ambrose Bierce, from ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ to disappearing in Mexico, with Jim Norrena

Why 'epitome' is confusing. Quirky stories behind baby animal names. Alice doors

How YouTubers' voices evolve, with Andrew Cheng

What dictionary labels tell us about words. Why we say 'mama'. DU, STU, and LO.

The secret to writing ‘the same but different,’ with Mary Robinette Kowal

'Lit' vs. 'lighted.' The mysteries of the dollar sign. Redd up.

Ghostwriters, book deals, and AI: What you didn’t know about publishing, with Dan Gerstein

'I.e.' versus 'e.g.' What Shakespeare actually added to English. Four schnitzels.

AI and the future of dictionaries, with Erin McKean

Better paragraph breaks. The story behind 'mad money' and 'pin money.' Bruce bad.

The future of editing jobs in the age of AI, with Samantha Enslen

How to write photo captions. The real difference between ‘immigrate’ and ‘emigrate.’ Ko Pha-ngan'd

The hidden techniques behind well-paced fiction, with Joshua Essoe

Why don't we say the L in 'walk'? Never use 'always.' PABST

Exploring slang, AI ghost words, and language change, with Heddwen Newton

What’s wrong with "'til"? Why tiny words control conversations. How many cookies?

The best punctuation book, period, with June Casagrande

Why we say ‘OK.’ How tea shaped English slang. Poetry winner

Behind the scenes of Wikipedia: editing, accuracy, and notability, with Jonathan Rick

How did our holidays become so 'corny'? Why do some words have accent marks in English? Cubby hole

Why kids can't read (and what we can do about it), with Kate Crist

The mystery of ‘it’ in English. The most dramatic moments in grammar history. Ghost Town Mad, the song

From 'Parasite' to 'Emilia Pérez': How movies shape language, with Andrew Cheng

Why Americans write 'canceled' but still write 'cancellation.' How printing history gave us 'fine print.' Fluff.

Writing Motivation Hacks, with Mary Robinette Kowal

Why we misuse ‘literally.’ How ham radio got its name. District

How to be a ghostwriter, with Dan Gerstein

Why some holidays have apostrophes. Why Californians say ‘the 405.’ MIGD

Word games and the joy of playing every day, with Lex Friedman

'Toeing' the line. Metonymy versus synecdoche. Ghost town mad

Wordplay and cartoons: Inside the making of 'AB@C,' with Rob Meyerson and Dan Misdea

Does 'book-book' make sense? Fun words for jigsaw lovers. Chilly chickens.

The secret to writing a good memoir, with Wendy Dale

Quotation marks in 1906. Starting stories in the middle. Road trip words.

'Rebel with a Clause,' the movie, with Ellen Jovin and Brandt Johnson

From "august" to "August." Why the union is always "strong." Nee nee

The psychology of fandom, with Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Does 'Wicked' have a grammar error? What is the 'neck of the woods'? To be Frances

The case of the mystery dialect, with Natalie Schilling

2024 words of the year, with John Kelly

Twee pop, bumbershoot, amongst, and more, with Ben Yagoda

'Home' for the holidays. False friends. Hello, Dentist.

Struggling with AI: Job loss, energy use, and more, with Christopher Penn

Why people say 'I mean ...' Missing pronouns. Cat-tracted.

Why the new CMOS is yellow. Pandemic collectors editions. And more

Positive 'anymore.' 'Wreaked' or 'wrought'? Seat of your pants. Pecan pie.

Making your own dictionary, with Erin McKean

Good first sentences. The language of 'Gladiator II.' Bear barber.

How to write about trademarks. Why we say 'thank you.'

Why one creative agency changed its stance on AI

Why children learn languages faster than adults. Are band names singular or plural?

'Beer' words in the OED, with Fiona McPherson

'Hanged' versus 'Hung.' Is 'pair' singular or plural? Fossilized phrases.

The psychology of writing bestsellers, with Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Are you "pantless" or "pantsless"? Who (or what) is Beetlejuice?

How linguists solve crimes, with Natalie Schilling

The publishing world is changing. Jane Friedman tells us how.