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Mark Twain: the Lincoln of American Literature
Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014
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.
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Blog Excerpts
Happy National Punctuation Day!
Wed Sep 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014
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Word Routes
The Peculiar Journey of "Orange"
Mon Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014
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.
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Word Count
You Don't Say! Things Native Speakers Never Say, and Why Linguists Care
Fri Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2014
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.
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Word Count
Is It "Copyeditor" or "Copy Editor"?
Wed Sep 17 00:00:00 EDT 2014
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?
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Candlepower
Going Medieval: The Revival of "Apothecary"
Mon Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Stroll through the hipper districts of any American city in 2014 and you may experience the sense of time being slightly out of joint. On shop signs and menus, words that last flourished a couple of centuries ago—or earlier—have been making a comeback. But no word from the distant past is as antique, or as popular in commerce in so many disparate ways, as apothecary.
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Word Count
How Writers Can Befriend Doubt
Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I have a new companion. Or, at least, I've newly recognized one.
Its name is doubt.
As doubt seems to have a particular interest in befriending writers, perhaps you know doubt, too.
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Word Count
Don't Use No Double Negatives
Mon Sep 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Double negatives are supposed to be a bad thing. Using two negatives in one clause is not only ungrammatical, it's illogical: it creates an unintended positive meaning. According to this thinking, if you say "Studying grammar rules won't do you no good," you're really saying, "Studying grammar rules will do you good."
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Word Count
Is "Shined" or "Shone" the Past Tense of "Shine"?
Thu Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2014
It's time for the latest in our series of quick tips on usage and style shared by Mignon Fogarty, better known as Grammar Girl. Here Mignon tackles the question of whether the past-tense form of shine should be shined or shone.
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Evasive Maneuvers
We Are All Technicians: An Evergreen, Always Silly Euphemism
Wed Sep 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I've spent 81.7% of my life watching Seinfeld, but I just realized I never mentioned a Seinfeldian euphemism in one of my columns. Bagel technician, meaning someone who makes bagels, is the preposterous title on Kramer's business card during "The Strike" episode, which is better known for launching the holiday Festivus.
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