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  1. Word Count

     How to Talk to Yourself as a Writer
    Wed Jan 27 00:00:00 EST 2016
    I adore open-area offices. When I started working in a newsroom 30 years ago — with a hundred reporters and editors, each with a phone and keyboard — I thought the noise and lack of privacy would drive me crazy. Instead, it invigorated me.

  2. Blog Excerpts

     Happy Thesaurus Day!
    Mon Jan 18 00:00:00 EST 2016
    January 18th is celebrated as Thesaurus Day to honor the birthday of the author of the first thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget. Get into the spirit by reading our two-part interview with Roget biographer Joshua Kendall here and here. Also check out an ode to the thesaurus penned by Franklin P. Adams here and Johnny Carson's hilarious "Funeral for a Thesaurus Editor" sketch here.

  3. Word Count

     The Power of Expressions
    Wed Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2016
    As a general rule, we think of writing as being built from words and words being built from letters. True enough: words and letters are writing's basic building blocks. Yet the more I read and write, the more I sense the power of expressions.

  4. Word Routes

     "They" Won! Gender-Neutral Pronoun is 2015 Word of the Year
    Sat Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2016
    Gathering in Washington D.C. for its annual meeting, the American Dialect Society has made its 26th annual selection for Word of the Year. And as predicted in this space last month, the winner is a lowly pronoun: they used as a gender-neutral alternative to he and she, with special attention paid to its use as an expression of "non-binary" gender identity.

  5. Word Routes

     Presenting the Nominees for 2015 Word of the Year
    Fri Jan 08 00:00:00 EST 2016
    Greetings from Washington, D.C., where the American Dialect Society is holding its annual conference. On Thursday, in my capacity as chair of the society's New Words Committee, I presided over the nominating session for various categories in our Word of the Year selection. Winners will be selected from the different categories on Friday evening, culminating in the vote for the overall Word of the Year. Here's the list of nominees.

  6. Language Lounge

     The Pulse(s) of the Nation(s)
    Thu Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2016
    The breathless anticipation is now at an end and the festivities can commence: it is 2016, the International Year of Pulses. If your main dialect of English is a North American one, you may begin by wondering whose pulses are included, since you probably think of pulse as designating the rhythmic contraction and expansion of the arteries with each beat of the heart. But there is the other pulse, familiar to speakers of other English dialects, that is more or less synonymous with legume.

  7. Evasive Maneuvers

     What's the Euphemism of the Year?
    Wed Jan 06 00:00:00 EST 2016
    It's hard to believe another year has left the building, leaving us all closer to singing with the angels, talking a dirt nap, or insert your euphemism for death here. Like any other year, 2015 was full of new words and old words newly prominent. While many of these terms were stalwart members of the lexicon, others were sneaky, sketchy, and suspect: there were euphemisms aplenty.

  8. Behind the Dictionary

     Is It "School Board" or "Board of Education"?
    Mon Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2015
    It's been a while since I've written a column for this space, and in large part the hiatus has been due to my (successful) campaign for a seat on my local school board. Or board of education. Which is it? Is there a difference?

  9. Word Routes

     The Year in Words 2015: One Pronoun to Rule Them All?
    Wed Dec 23 00:00:00 EST 2015
    As is the annual tradition, it is time once again to look back at the new and notable words of the past year. In 2015, could the most significant word have been a lowly pronoun?

  10. Candlepower

     Brand Names of the Year for 2015
    Tue Dec 22 00:00:00 EST 2015
    Coined names, dictionary-word names, an acronym, a surname: the year now ending was full of variety for anyone interested in branding trends. Here, in alphabetical order, are my top ten brand names for 2015.
33 34 35 36 37 Displaying 341-350 of 3488 Results