The word "even" has been undergoing some interesting changes recently. What's the new thing going on with "even"? It has to do with questions. But posing questions that contain "even," it turns out, can be tricky business.  Continue reading...

In my recent reading I've gone on a major Mark Twain kick, and with every page I read, my admiration for Twain's writing grows. William Dean Howells, a contemporary and friend, called Twain "the Lincoln of our literature," and the title rings true, both for the plainspoken American vernacular that the two mastered, and for the boldness with which they faced our democracy's ugliest stain, the enslaving of African-Americans by European-Americans.  Continue reading...

Did you know today is National Punctuation Day? Celebrate with some of our punctuation-related articles from the past...

· Exclamation Nation

· Learning to Love the Semicolon

· "Punctuation Hero" or Vandal?

· What's Your Favorite Punctuation Mark?

· Throwing Light on Shady Characters

· The Problem with Punctuation: Some Classroom Findings

In the latest installment of the Slate podcast Lexicon Valley, I take on a word that every child knows, orange, and reveal its hidden history. It's a remarkably well-traveled word, and its travels tell us a great deal about the cultural history of many of the world's great civilizations.  Continue reading...

In every walk of life, there are things that fail to achieve what we're expecting them to. The love letter you thought was swoon-worthy falls flat. The greatest motivational technique ever is met with blank stares. Just as much as the successes though, we can learn from things that don't work. In fact, some people would say that you learn more from your missteps than from the things with a positive outcome.  Continue reading...

Here is the latest in our series of quick tips on usage and style shared by Mignon Fogarty, better known as Grammar Girl. This time she answers the question, is it copy editor or copyeditor?  Continue reading...