Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for English

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

"Father" as a word shows how we humans love to extend our metaphors. Did you know it was only...

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

Are people from Liverpool really called "Liverpudlians"? Where does the name "Tar Heel" come...

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Are Wisdom Teeth Smart? Capitalizing Degree Names. Sussies 2

This week, we look at what makes wisdom teeth so smart, how to properly write the name of your...

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Whatever Happened to "Thou"?

In an age when eels were sometimes used as currency and castles pierced the sky, “thou” was all...

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How Spellers Tackle the 'Dreaded Schwa'

You'll never view spellers in the bee asking questions the same way again after you learn about...

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

When you say "Go get 'em!" you think that's short for "Go get them," but you're wrong! We look at...

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

With her book "Children of Blood and Bone" spending 120 weeks on the New York Times bestseller...

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

Today, we'll talk about some weird nouns that are always plural, and then we'll go...

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If earth looks like a blue marble, why is Earth Day associated with the color green? Also, 'funnest.'

The famous NASA "blue marble" image could have influenced people to make blue the color of...

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

It's "listener question extravaganza" time, so I have some quick hits on discourse markers such...

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

We look at the linguistic difference between lying and misleading, and then because people often...

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How Aphasia Causes Difficulty Speaking. Chairdrobe.

Prodded by Bruce Willis's family's announcement that he is leaving acting after being diagnosed...

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

A few months ago, I started to notice people talking about spoons in a weird way, so I...

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

"Barracking," "sheilas" and "shouts": How the Irish influenced Australian English. Plus, what...

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

Have you ever wondered why it's called the "Oxford comma"? We have the answer to that and many...

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

A listener wondered about the word "materiel." What's its deal (and is it related to...

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

"Sticks and stones." "Bride and groom." "Heads or tails." Some word pairs almost always appear in...

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

The idea of a square meal goes back to the 1800s and possibly mining towns, but the word "square"...

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

How the "Witch of Wall Street" relates to the word "commiserate." Plus, the interesting origin of...

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

People often tell me they hear others say they'll be absent from work in a different way than...

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