What you learned in English class will help you with syntax about as much as what you learned in driving lessons will help you with mechanics—you get by fine until one day you find yourself stopped in the middle of a sentence with smoke coming out from under the hood. In this webinar, we're going … Continue reading Webinar: A linguist’s guide to grammar
Category: words
Nitpicker’s Nook: March “it’s almost spring” edition
The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. Irish editor and “swivel-chair linguist” Stan Carey blogs about how usage snuck/sneaked into The Simpsons. Writer and teacher John Kelly dishes up some fresh hell on … Continue reading Nitpicker’s Nook: March “it’s almost spring” edition
The Nitpicker’s Nook: February edition
The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Carol Harrison Does the current state of world affairs leave you without words? Thankfully Planet Word, the soon-to-be museum of linguistics in Washington, DC, won’t … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: February edition
The Nitpicker’s Nook: January edition
The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Carol Harrison Forgive me if this is a couple of months old, but it’s funny! Don’t fart in the House. What you should read before … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: January edition
The Nitpicker’s Nook: January’s linguistic links roundup
The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts from around the web. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Savanna Scott Leslie For many of us, this January will stand out as the month when the world lost David Bowie and Alan … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: January’s linguistic links roundup
The Nitpicker’s Nook: October’s linguistic links roundup
The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts from around the Web. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Robin Marwick There’s a widespread misconception among writers that editors don’t really add much to their work and, indeed, often change … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: October’s linguistic links roundup
Wordplay: When intransitives go transitive
Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. We’ve all learned that there are two kinds of verbs: transitive and intransitive. Transitives take a direct object—“I fry an egg”—and intransitives don’t—“My stomach aches.” But that’s not the whole story. In fact, … Continue reading Wordplay: When intransitives go transitive
Wordplay: Tittle-ating jottings from the Bible
Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. The King James Version of the Bible gives us two English words that usually travel together: jot and tittle. We find them in Matthew 5:18: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven … Continue reading Wordplay: Tittle-ating jottings from the Bible
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