Grammar Girl Quick And Dirty Tips For Better Writing

Commas are like people on the subway: You think you know them, but they're awfully complex. This week, we'll dig deeper and get to know some of their jobs: separating items in a series (the Oxford comma), delineating appositives, and surrounding nonrestrictive phrases. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes companies leave apostrophes out of their names when it seems as if the name would need an apostrophe. Why do they do it, and is it wrong? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In honor of Shakespeare's 450th birthday, we'll look at Shakespeare's words, phrases, insults, and false friends. I bet you don't know them all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neal Whitman addresses some annoying phrases you hear in stores and restaurants, such as "Can I help who's next?" and "Did you want cream in your coffee?" Find out why people say such things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addictive Versus Addicting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's tricky to pick apart the grammar of a sentence such as "Just because you’re correct doesn’t mean you’re not annoying." Guest writer Neal Whitman explains why such sentences work and what they really mean. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some words have strong forms, weak forms, and even weaker forms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gretchen McCulloch from the All Things Linguistic explains why Canadians don't say "aboot" and why most Americans think they do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Language is changing but that doesn't mean you have to go with the flow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Cash Money a Regional Expression? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why it’s hard to talk about substituting one thing for another without confusing people. Guest Writer: Neal Whitman Sponsor: AudiblePodcast.com/GG Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we’re going to talk about two cases in which English has two words that mean the same thing and whether one choice is better than the other. Preventative and preventive, and orient and orientate. Sponsor: Grammar Girl’s Peeve Wars. Visits FundAnything.com/peevewars to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hoax Behind Little Bunny Foo Foo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great tales of English word evolution: From pantaloons to pants, caravan to van, and much more. Guest Writer: Bonnie Trenga Sponsor: http://FundAnything.com/peevewars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you read about a character, in some ways your brain acts as though it thinks you ARE the character. It's amazing. Grammar Girl and the Savvy Psychologist explain how. Subscribe to the Savvy Psychologist's show at iTunes. Get the card game Peeve Wars at http://FundAnything.com/peevewars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Literature Changes Your Brain for the Better. If you liked this podcast, check out our new show, The Savvy Psychologist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Units Of Measure: Feet, Ft., Lb., Degrees, and Percents Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why can we say "the Jefferson Airplane" but not "the Led Zeppelin"? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new study uncovered things that successful novels have in common. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What could this week’s topic be? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.