Boston Globe language columnist Jan Freeman has launched a new blog, "Throw Grammar from the Train" (subtitled "Notes from a Recovering Nitpicker"). It's a great title for what's sure to be a great outlet for clear-headed thinking about English usage. Read it here. (And read our interview with Jan about her new book, Ambrose Bierce's Write it Right, here.)

Justice Antonin Scalia recently interrupted a lawyer during a Supreme Court oral argument to chastise him for using the word choate (the opposite of inchoate). What's Scalia's beef? Find out in the latest New York Times Magazine "On Language" column by Visual Thesaurus editor Ben Zimmer, now online here.

What is "shtick lit"? Visual Thesaurus contributor Nancy Friedman defines it as "books perpetrated by people who undertook an unusual project with the express purpose of writing about it." Read all about the history of the gimmicky term at Nancy's entertaining blog, Fritinancy.

Just in time for the holidays, Visual Thesaurus contributor Mark Peters has rounded up a selection of gift-related words and phrases for his latest "Wordtastic" column in Good Magazine — covering everything from Seinfeldian "regifting" to "shopper's block." Read it here.

The early nominations have been posted for the American Dialect Society's Word of the Year selection. ADS members who specialize in following language trends, including Visual Thesaurus executive producer Ben Zimmer, have submitted their lists of nominees. Read all about it here.

Jack Lynch, author of The Lexicographer's Dilemma, has a new blog on the Psychology Today website entitled "Proper Words in Proper Places." His latest post explores how the rules of language, like the rules of dress, do not follow any official guidelines. Read it here.

Britain's Plain English Campaign has given out its annual Golden Bull Awards for "the worst examples of written tripe." The winners this year include American Airlines and Coca Cola. You can read the exquisite examples of official gobbledygook here.