State-of-the-art technology now allows the Loungeurs to detect usage infractions in real-time; this month we share recent findings with our visitors, along with tips that will help you slip your weasel word into the mainstream.  Continue reading...

If you love language, you must check out these book picks before your next read! We contacted language authority Erin McKean to ask her for her summer book suggestions. The editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary and the fantastic Dictionary Evangelist website, she graciously sent us this -- amazing -- reply:

I love recommending books about language to people -- even to people who haven't asked for any language book recommendations, and who have, in fact, asked me for something completely different, such as the time, or directions.

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Will Berger knows opera. The author of four acclaimed books on the subject, his most recent is Puccini Without Excuses. And when he's not writing about this grand musical tradition, he's talking about it on the radio as a voice of New York's hallowed Metropolitan Opera. So how does Will connect with his audience about a subject that can be, well, a tad intimidating? We had a fascinating conversation with him about language in the world of the opera:  Continue reading...

This month we open the kimono for lounge visitors and reveal why Samuel Johnson, all those many years ago, characterized lexicographers as harmless drudges.  Continue reading...

A couple of weeks ago we ran the first part of our fascinating conversation with Professor Anne Curzan of the University of Michigan, an expert in the history of English and a member of the American Heritage Dictionary's usage panel. Here is part two of our interview -- a jaw-dropper for anyone interested in language -- where we focus on gender, spelling and much more:  Continue reading...

We have bedizened the Lounge in old-fashioned language this month and invite visitors to behold.  Continue reading...