Here's an SAT-type question for you.

People who ask, "Where does the comma go?" do so because they are convinced that incorrect punctuation represents which of the following linguistic problems:

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Ever wonder why we say "ice" water and "ice" cream but "iced" tea? And should there be a "d" in "didn't use(d) to"? Merrill Perlman explains when the "d " is necessary.  Continue reading...

No one wants to be replaced in someone's heart or cubicle. Still, getting a pink slip at work or from a significant other is like a chocolate cupcake made of pizza compared to the sense of replacement I recently spotted in a New Yorker article by Elizabeth Kolbert.  Continue reading...

If you want to stir up interest in your blog post or online article, start a discussion about "corporate jargon we all hate" or "buzzwords to be banished." Your readers will oblige with a flood of submissions: "best practices," "value proposition," "change agent," "metrics," and so on. Eventually, and inevitably, someone will offer up a verb phrase that, to innocent ears, sounds like ordinary English: reach out. And the yelps of outraged affirmation will commence.  Continue reading...

A warm welcome to our newest regular contributor, Mike Pope. As a longtime technical writer and editor at Microsoft, Mike has developed some special know-how in that favorite techie shorthand, the acronym. Here Mike explains the ins and outs of acronyms and initialisms.  Continue reading...

Merrill Perlman explains why journalists should appreciate the special connotations of seemingly synonymous words.  Continue reading...