Grammar Girl Quick And Dirty Tips For Better Writing

I know all you European listeners think it’s ridiculous that Americans don’t know the difference between England and Britain, but a British friend told me that many of you don’t know the difference between Britain and the United Kingdom, and that this would be a good topic for a podcast even though people should already know. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1D7rupV Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An interview with Ammon Shea about the confusing history of apostrophes. Hanged Versus Hung. The story of the Victorian Great Exhibition, where Adolphe Sax displayed his invention: the saxophone.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes, you can start a sentence with "because." Here's how to do it.What are helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs), and why do people in some regions say things such as "might could" and "might should"?English writers didn't always use a dot over the letter "i." We'll talk about when and why they started. Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1phbhWH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Insults, swear words, and world-building for young adults: In an interview with James Dashner, I got the inside scoop on the language of "The Maze Runner." Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1poctaV Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I can tell you which pronouns to use, but it takes a linguist to explain WHY people get confused. Here, Gretchen McCulloch reveals the fascinating reason that people struggle with sentences such as "Billy and me went to the store." Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1vrTG2g Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, you get a Quick and Dirty Tip about where to put periods and commas relative to quotation marks, an excerpt from Ammon Shea's book "Bad English," and a tidbit about a 1921 poem called "Alphabet of Errors." Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1v0iNsF Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's podcast, Grammar Girl discusses the plural of money, how to use "egregious," and talks with Ellen Hendriksen from The Savvy Psychologist podcast about the findings from an experiment done by German researchers in Germany who studied people’s brains while they were actively writing. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1AUhYp5 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you use the conjunction "nor" and why is it so special it deserves a podcast of its own? Neil Whitman explains. Visit the website to read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/1oOCyOR Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why the Associated Press accidentally made people think another Malaysian airplane had crashed, and what it tells us about language. Visit the website to read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/1rs4BXJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Normans took over England in 1066, they brought their food and their language. We talk about seven interesting French words that made it into English, and guest Clever Cookstr shares some of her favorite related recipes. Read the full transcript: http://bit.ly/1octDLT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During a short but delightful trip to England, I saw the Rosetta Stone, the White Tower at the Tower of London, ancient alphabet tiles and wax seals, a stained glass window honoring William Caxton, and many more wonders. Hear about them all. Read the transcript on the website: http://bit.ly/1o02vuz Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Weird Al's Word Crimes Video Made Me Want to Quit. Visit the website to watch the video and comment: http://bit.ly/1qArtIJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FANBOYS are a myth and there's something weird about "for," "yet," and "so." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"TL;DR" means "too long; didn't read," but the semicolon is usually associated with long or complex sentences. What is it doing in this abbreviation? Note: This piece originally appeared as a Grammar Girl blog post January 22, 2014 and was rereleased as an audio podcast on July 3, 2014. Visit the website to read the full transcript and leave a comment: http://bit.ly/1g1PtiA Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why sentences like this are funny: A woman gives birth in the UK every 48 seconds. She must be exhausted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do people say "a-whole-nother"?It's the same reason we say "an apron" instead if "a napron." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While researching why people say "a-whole-nother," Syelle Graves discovered that even knowing what to call the phrase gets complicated (and interesting). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Using Stick Figures to Understand First, Second, and Third Person Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The authors of "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation" help us understand parallel structure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to Kick Your Annoying Preposition Habit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.