It was the woman's voice. Mellifluous. It made a small thrill run down my spine. She sounded like a college professor, accustomed to speaking to a roomful of students, or perhaps a good doctor, well educated and compassionate, or maybe even a newsreader, clear, calm and unflustered. Continue reading...

Wendalyn Nichols, editor of the Copyediting newsletter, offers useful tips to copy editors and anyone else who prizes clear and orderly writing. Here she takes aim at "corporate speak" at its most infuriating. Continue reading...

We welcome back University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron, who reflects on some disturbing news that emerged recently about Amazon.com's e-book reader, the Kindle.

In a move worthy of George Orwell's Big Brother, Amazon.com sent its thought police into Kindles everywhere to erase copies of 1984 and Animal Farm. Continue reading...

Reports of the demise of the crossword puzzle have been greatly exaggerated, says Visual Thesaurus puzzlemaster Brendan Emmett Quigley. Brendan — whose puzzles appear regularly in the New York Times, Paste, and The Onion, as well as on his own blog — responds to the latest doom and gloom about the future of crosswords with a note of optimism. Far from being a crossword-killer, Brendan argues, the Web is attracting bigger audiences to puzzle-solving than ever before. Continue reading...

Once upon a time, a man who now is a naturalist at the Grand Canyon was a nine-year-old boy. He was fascinated by bugs and rocks but not too interested in sports. His parents, however, had been schooled by his older, athletic brother and therefore insisted that the awkward, recalcitrant boy join the local baseball team. Continue reading...

My husband has a great voice and he loves to sing. Loves it. He's performed in an auditioned community choir called Jubilate since our triplets were age 2. And, yes, I'd appreciate a drum-roll for me — for the essential backup job of looking after three high-maintenance toddlers (now teenagers), alone, one night a week! Continue reading...

I recently met with a client — the CEO of a non-profit organization — who announced that he wanted a communications plan. Having been around the block a few times I knew enough to ask a tough, penetrating question: "What exactly do you mean?" Continue reading...