935. Ever been puzzled by the difference between "slow down" and "slow up"? Curious about how they can possibly mean the same thing (or do they)? We answer a burning listener question about why prepositions can be so darn tricky in English. Join us also as we delve into the fascinating world of minced oaths, examining intriguing words like "zounds" and "gadzooks." | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/slow-up-slow-down/transcript The "slow down" segment was written by Susan ...
Jul 04, 2023•17 min•Ep 935•Transcript available on Metacast 934. Ever wondered why "whyever" isn't as popular as "wherever," "however," or "whenever"? Join me as we delve into the world of "-ever" words and their curious usage. We explore the relationship between words like "forever" and "never," and reveal how the "-ever" suffix can intensify meaning. Plus, find out why watching British TV might lead you to use "whyever." But that's not all. This week, we tackle a burning listener question: how do you pronounce Latin abbreviations like "et al."? Should ...
Jun 27, 2023•13 min•Ep 934•Transcript available on Metacast 933. Have you ever looked at a word and it didn't seem like a real word anymore? It's a specific thing that happens in your brain called semantic satiation, and we have the fascinating ins and outs. Plus, we extol the merits of the full stop. The full stop segment was by Joe Moran , a professor of English and Cultural History, Liverpool John Moores University. It originally appeared on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simple...
Jun 20, 2023•17 min•Ep 933•Transcript available on Metacast 932. When I saw Amy Schneider's new book, The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction , I realized that I have never seen a book that specializes in editing just for fiction, and immediately saw that it fills a need. And upon reading it, I realized how well it filled that need, and I knew I had to talk with her. If you've ever thought it would be fun to be a fiction editor, you'll love this interview. Amy Schneider is a copy editor who specializes in fiction, has been copy editing for twenty-eight ...
Jun 13, 2023•30 min•Ep 932•Transcript available on Metacast 931. Darth Vader wasn't the best father (understatement!), but his name is a wonderful jumping off point to discuss the origin of the word "father." Plus, we explain why I said he wasn't the "best" father and not that he wasn't the "better" father. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/darth-vader-and-the-word-father/transcript | The "father" segment was written by Valerie Fridland. It is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original a...
Jun 06, 2023•18 min•Ep 931•Transcript available on Metacast 930. How YOU doin? Today we’re going to MacGyver up some fun memories and tips. And then we'll look at the rules about using "more" and "most" or "-er" and "-est." It'll be a yowlie howlie good time! | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/tv-language/transcript | The "TV language" segment was written by Susan K. Herman, a retired U.S. Government multidisciplined language analyst, analytic editor, and language instructor. | The "more or most" segment was written by Bonnie Mill...
May 30, 2023•16 min•Ep 930•Transcript available on Metacast 929. While we were looking into why we use the word "score" to mean "twenty," our minds were blown by how many languages still have remnants of a base-20 counting system. And then we learned the secret rules that explain why some plurals end with an "s" sound and others end with a "z" sound. It was quite a week! | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/score-dogz/transcript | The "score" segment was written by Susan K. Herman, a retired U.S. Government multidisciplined language...
May 23, 2023•18 min•Ep 929•Transcript available on Metacast 928. Listen to the interview that got me playing Wordle again. Lynne Murphy shared all sorts of things you probably didn't know about this game! Lynne Murphy is professor of linguistics at the University of Sussex in England, the author of the book " The Prodigal Tongue ," and the writer of the long-running Separated by a Common Language blog. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/wordle/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learn...
May 16, 2023•25 min•Ep 928•Transcript available on Metacast 927. Whether you're a bird brain or a wise old owl, you'll love this week's episode as we fight an uphill battle to understand a language filled with metaphors. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/uphill-animals/transcript | The "Uphill/Downhill" segment was written by Samantha Enslen, an award-winning writer who runs the writing and editing agency Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com . | The "Animal Idioms" segment was written by Valerie Fridlan...
May 09, 2023•15 min•Ep 927•Transcript available on Metacast 926. You may remember being told not to start sentences with "there are," but do you know why? We have the answer! Plus, for Cinco de Mayo, we have five fun facts about Spanish. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/expletives-spanish/transcript | The "Five Fun Facts About Spanish" segment was written by Susan Herman, a former linguist, analytic editor, and language instructor for the U.S. Government. | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Le...
May 02, 2023•18 min•Ep 926•Transcript available on Metacast 925. The existence of the manchineel tree does NOT beg the question of how many different ways a tree can actually hurt you. But it does show that you can't always use taste to tell whether something is safe to eat. Plus, Online, Remote, Distance, and Virtual. What Kind of Learning Do You Like? | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/begs-the-question/transcript | The "Online, Remote, Distance, and Virtual Learning" segment was written by Brenda Thomas, who has also worked as ...
Apr 25, 2023•19 min•Ep 925•Transcript available on Metacast 924. What if I told you that you actually should use "uh" and "um" when you're giving a talk? And what if I told you "dude" was originally an anti-masculine word? Those are just some of the surprising insights from Valerie Fridland's new book, "Like, Literally, Dude." | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/valerie-fridland/transcript | Get Valerie's book, "Like, Literally, Dude." | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses....
Apr 18, 2023•32 min•Ep 924•Transcript available on Metacast 923. America's writing coach, Roy Peter Clark, shares his wisdom about the five things every writer he's ever taught wants to learn. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/roy-peter-clark/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick a...
Apr 11, 2023•34 min•Ep 923•Transcript available on Metacast 922. "A dozen of eggs" sounds weird, but why? Rabbits performing violent acts are a common scene in medieval marginalia. But why are they there? Turns out—Monty Python was on to something! | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/dozen-bunnies/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi....
Apr 04, 2023•22 min•Ep 922•Transcript available on Metacast 921. Taxes, and the words for them, go back all the way to ancient Egypt. Plus, I have much more to tell you about the phrase "I am sufficiently suffoncified"! It's an especially fun week on the Grammar Girl podcast. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/taxes-suffonsified/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | WRITER: Mignon Fogarty ...
Mar 28, 2023•14 min•Ep 921•Transcript available on Metacast 920. Once you start thinking about it, it's weird that we have both "a" and "an." It gets even weirder from there! Plus, modern loneliness, and its solutions, are quite different from what they were when the word was first coined. We look at the history of this formerly rare word. The segment on "a" versus "an" was written by Neal Whitman, an independent writer and consultant specializing in language and grammar and a member of the Reynoldsburg, Ohio, school board. You can search for him by name...
Mar 21, 2023•17 min•Ep 920•Transcript available on Metacast 919. Rebracketing is a fascinating process that gives us more words than you might imagine, even words from French and Spanish! Also, I find a surprising answer to the question of which is correct: "ahold" or "a hold." | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/napron-ahold/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | WRITER: Mignon Fogarty | VO...
Mar 14, 2023•13 min•Ep 919•Transcript available on Metacast 918. Since "drop" can mean both "to release" and "to cancel," it can get confusing. We look at how this confusion came to be (and how to avoid it). Plus, we wade into the debate about whether there's a right or a wrong way to pronounce "often." | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/drop-often/transcript The "often" segment was written by Edwin Battistella and originally appeared on the OUP Blog. Read the original here . | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | W...
Mar 07, 2023•13 min•Ep 918•Transcript available on Metacast 917. For National Grammar Day, we answer one of the most common questions I get: How can I improve my grammar? Plus, I explain why parallelism is important, especially in resume writing. "How to improve you grammar" was written by Susan Herman , a retired U.S. government analytic editor, language analyst, and language instructor. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/improve-your-grammar/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learn...
Feb 28, 2023•18 min•Ep 917•Transcript available on Metacast 916. Grant Faulkner, author of "The Art of Brevity" and executive director of NaNoWriMo talks with us about how writing very short stories can improve all your writing. (And whether it's worth it to get an MFA these days.) | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/grant-faulkner/transcript | Grant's Website : https://grantfaulkner.com/ | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books ....
Feb 21, 2023•28 min•Ep 916•Transcript available on Metacast 913. Love is much more than romance, and different languages reveal universal truths about the different kinds of love. Plus, we look at whether you should write about wool sweaters or woolen sweaters, silk blouses or silken blouses, wood benches or wooden benches. Is it actually OK to use nouns as adjectives? | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/kinds-of-love/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peev...
Feb 14, 2023•12 min•Ep 915•Transcript available on Metacast 914. To mark the 50th anniversary of "Schoolhouse Rock," the Saturday morning cartoon that taught millions of children about grammar, math, and more, we have a special multi-interview podcast, including memories from George Newall, one of the creators of the show. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/schoolhouse-rock/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | ...
Feb 07, 2023•15 min•Ep 914•Transcript available on Metacast 913. This week brought us a silly kerfuffle in which the AP may have insulted France. Plus, we investigate the origin of the phrase "out over your skis" and why the apostrophe seems wrong in the company name Lands' End. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/the-french/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833...
Jan 31, 2023•16 min•Ep 913•Transcript available on Metacast 912. We look at who the Teddy is in "teddy bears" and reveal why the Brothers Grimm, from fairytales, were also massively important in linguistics. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/teddy-bears/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of ...
Jan 24, 2023•9 min•Ep 912•Transcript available on Metacast 911. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we cover a bunch of interesting things about labels such as "Jr.," "Sr.," and "III." Plus, we look at the origin of the names Carl's Jr. and Ruth's Chris Steak house. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/comma-before-jr/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-21...
Jan 17, 2023•15 min•Ep 911•Transcript available on Metacast 910. The final Grammar Girl word-of-the-year vote came down to "inflation" and "quiet quitting." We look at the interesting arguments voters made for both. Plus, we look at why some words that start with "un-" mean "not" and others mean "reversed"— and about the especially interesting words that can mean either (and why). | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/2022-woty/transcript "Un-" Words Segment Written by Edwin L. Battistella , author of " Dangerous, Crooked Scoundrels:...
Jan 10, 2023•15 min•Ep 910•Transcript available on Metacast 909. In honor of 2023, we’ll talk about writing dates. And then we talk about a fascinating study about how COVID has changed the way we think about certain words. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/writing-dates/transcript COVID Words Segment Written by Valerie Fridland . Reference: Kleinman D, Morgan AM, Ostrand R, Wittenberg E (2022) Lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on language processing. PLoS ONE 17(6): e0269242. | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular upda...
Jan 03, 2023•15 min•Ep 909•Transcript available on Metacast 908. You had word-related questions after watching the World Cup. We have answers! And for the holidays, we look at the origin of toasting with wine (and why it actually IS related to toasted bread). | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/world-cup-words/transcript | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wars card game . | Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or h...
Dec 27, 2022•15 min•Ep 908•Transcript available on Metacast 907. The fabulous Kory Stamper, author of "Word by Word," joins me this week to talk about words of the year: how they get chosen, what makes each one different, and what people yearn for in their words of the year. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/words-or-the-year/transcript My guest is Kory Stamper , author of " Word by Word, the Secret Life of Dictionaries ." | Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates . | Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. | Peeve Wa...
Dec 20, 2022•34 min•Ep 907•Transcript available on Metacast 906. A'wassailing. Noel. Mistletoe. Trolling the ancient Yuletide carol, and more. We look into the wonderful words of Christmas and their origins — as delightful as a Christmas cookie. You'll be shouting "drink-hail!" forevermore. | Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/wonderful-words-of-christmas/transcript The first segment was written by Kate Burridge and Howard Manns from Monash University. It appears here through a Creative Commons license. Read the original article . |...
Dec 13, 2022•16 min•Ep 906•Transcript available on Metacast 
