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: December’s linguistic links roundup

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 ’Tis the season for giving or gifting?: The Atlantic’s Megan Garber argues against gifting. Hey, girl! The analytics website FiveThirtyEight crunches the numbers … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: December’s linguistic links roundup →

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 →

The Nitpicker’s Nook: July’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 Too much work, too little focus? Cartoonist Katie McKissick found herself battling burnout and came up with some novel … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: July’s linguistic links roundup →

The Nitpicker’s Nook: June’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 If you’re a Toronto editor who didn’t go to Editing Goes Global on the weekend of June 12 to … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: June’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 →