Word wars: When the pen was more powerful than the sword

Posted on 06/22/2019 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Next time you hear someone dismiss a language debate with “oh, semantics,” consider showing them a recent ar...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Just for fun, Language, The Guardian

Rescue your dangling participles

Posted on 06/05/2019 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Even if you don’t know what it means, chances are good you’ve heard someone toss around the phrase “da...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Grammar Girl, Language

The Scripps National Spelling Bee has 8 winners -- really!

Posted on 05/31/2019 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The New York Times headline, which we wish we’d written on our own, was “at a loss for words.” The sto...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Just for fun, Language

Merriam-Webster: Podiums and lecterns are the same thing

Posted on 05/30/2019 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

View post titled Merriam-Webster: Podiums and lecterns are the same thing

Grammar geeks and word nerds have new fuel for their righteous fires. Merriam-Webster Dictionary has stated, for the rec...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Just for fun, Language

When to add an adverb

Posted on 06/03/2019 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Louise Hornby isn’t a fan of a blanket no-adverb rule (which we’ve certainly heard of). That said, she also...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Language, Writing advice

How this newer word snuck -- or sneaked -- into language

Posted on 05/11/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Whether you should use “snuck” or “sneaked” depends on a few factors, according to Grammar Girl....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Grammar Girl, Language

Grammar Girl: "So" and "so that" aren't always the same

Posted on 05/03/2019 at 02:42 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Word nerds, rejoice: Grammar Girl is going deep into the weeds. An English teacher had sought Mignon Fogarty’s exp...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Grammar Girl, Language

The etymology of “spoiler”

Posted on 05/05/2019 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Once upon a time, a spoiler alert was truly something to heed, according to the Guardian. The word, after all, used to r...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Just for fun, Language, The Guardian

The grammar gods have spoken

Posted on 05/04/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Two grammar gurus — or gods, really — released books on language this year, providing the perfect opportunit...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Language, Literary Hub

Scrabble updates its official international competition dictionary

Posted on 05/02/2019 at 02:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Yowza — nearly 3,000 words have joined the Official Scrabble Words book. The book, released by Collins Dictionary...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Just for fun, Language