We asked David Crystal, author of Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, to suggest a reading list about new forms of electronic communication and how they're shaping our language. Here are his recommendations.  Continue reading...

Yesterday we heard from contributor Julia Rubiner about a pattern she identifies as an "epidemic": using the word myself in place of a plain old personal pronoun like I or me. She was disheartened to see Merriam-Webster's treatment of this use of myself as no big deal, writing, "Don't you hate it when something you were so sure was absolutely wrong is reduced to the status of pet peeve?" I wanted to flesh out the myself story, since it's been a point of contention for generations of grammarians and usage mavens.  Continue reading...

Storytelling and blogging have become kindred spirits. Masters of the art of the story are shaping their voices in a new online medium.

Voice--A Storyteller's Lifestyle

Professional Storyteller

Storytelling Notes

A Storied Career

Have you noticed people saying myself when, as far as you're concerned, they really should be saying me? It seems to have become an epidemic.  Continue reading...

VT subscriber Kcecelia of San Francisco, CA writes in about yesterday's Visual Thesaurus Word of the Day: dude. She observes that the word's current usage has little to do with its more historical sense, "a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance":

Last month a 20-something man in an Oregon gas station punctuated his conversation with me with references to me as dude. I am a 55-year-old woman. Also, people say duuuude as an exclamation or interjection. I sometimes say dude myself in a more joking manner to people I am with who are sprinkling it liberally into their conversation. I do not mean that they are a fop or a dandy.

Especially now that Todd Palin, husband of Gov. Sarah Palin, is in the news as Alaska's "First Dude," this is a good time to reflect on the peculiar history of this all-American word.  Continue reading...

David Crystal is one of the most well-respected writers on language and communication, having published an impressive array of books from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language to The Fight for English. His latest, Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, tackles the facts and fictions of text messaging. In the first of our three-part interview, he explains how persistent myths about the dangers of texting, particularly in his native Great Britain, compelled him to write a book laying out the empirical realities of this novel form of communication.  Continue reading...

David Foster Wallace left a lasting impact on his fellow writers. Edward Champion's Reluctant Habits and McSweeney's Internet Tendency have collected scores of touching tributes.