Fossil words, eponyms, and a miscellany of weird facts, with Jess Zafarris and Shannon Miller
1197. This week, guest host Valerie Fridland steps in for Mignon and talks to Jess Zafarris and Shannon Miller about their new book, "A Misc...
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Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
You'll get fun and friendly doses of writing advice in three short chunks: a Quick and Dirty Tip, a meaty middle, and a final tidbit. Grammar Girl covers everything from punctuation and gram...
Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing Podcast Guide
Listen to Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, a Education podcast by Mignon Fogarty, Inc.. Stream 1,037 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Why 'love' means 'zero' in tennis
1196. This week, we look at why "love" means "zero" in tennis, from egg-shaped zeros to playing for the love of the game, and how the sport'...
Tomi Adeyemi: The writing life
874. With her book "Children of Blood and Bone" spending 120 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, Tomi Adeyemi knows what it takes t...
The bouba-kiki effect in baby chicks, with Dr. Maria Loconsole
1195. This week, we talk to Dr. Maria Loconsole from the University of Padua about her research into the bouba-kiki effect, the near-univers...
The secret code of weather forecasts
1194. This week, we look at weather forecast terminology, including why "mostly sunny" and "partly cloudy" aren't the same thing, what "okta...
Randall Munroe of xkcd: Language chat and weird bee laws.
898. Randall Munroe joined me back in October 2022 to talk about his language-themed xkcd cartoons, his simple-language project Up Goer V, h...
What it really takes to translate Shakespeare, with Daniel Hahn
1193. Today, we talk to award-winning translator Daniel Hahn, author of "If This Be Magic," about what it really takes to translate Shakespe...
How to get started as a freelance writer
1192. How do you get your first writing jobs when you don’t have much experience? Grammar Girl shares stories from her own early career and...
The case for language clarity, with Iva Cheung
1191. This week, we talk to Iva Cheung, a plain language expert and editor who has helped shape Canada's accessibility standards. We look at...
Does Yoda speak 'real' English? Is it 'a real trouper' or 'a real trooper'?
1190. This week, we look at what makes Yoda's English special, and we look at the difference between “trooper” and “trouper,” including whet...
Everyone has a story to tell, and why your memoir matters, with Grant Faulkner
1189. This week, we talk to Grant Faulkner, co-founder of Memoir Nation and former executive director of NaNoWriMo, about what makes writing...
How ‘bee’s knees’ became high praise, and why do recipes sound so bossy?
1188. This week, we look at how “the bee's knees” went from meaning something tiny to the cheeriest slang of the 1920s — and why it outlaste...
Why your topic isn't a point (and how to fix it), with Joel Schwartzberg
1187. Today, we talk to workplace communications coach and author Joel Schwartzberg about how to clearly and effectively get to the point, a...
How many people is a 'troop'? Why spelling bees are called 'bees.'
1186. This week, we look at why the word "troops" is surprisingly ambiguous and what style guides say about using it to refer to individual...
The hidden logic of English spelling, with Colin Gorrie
1185. Today, we look at why English spelling is secretly optimized for readers. Colin Gorrie, linguist and creator of the Dead Language Soci...
How the Crusades gave us 'lingua franca.' 'That' or 'who' for animals? Doot doot doot
1184. This week, we look at the history of lingua francas, from the original mix of Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish used durin...
Meeting the new editor, with AP Stylebook's Anna Jo Bratton
1183. This week, we talk to Anna Jo Bratton about leading the committee that decides the rules for the "journalism bible." We look at how th...
Decoding the colon: AP vs. MLA style. Plus, words with no known origin.
1182. This week, we solve the mystery of the colon: when do you actually need to capitalize the next word? We compare AP, Chicago, and MLA s...
The hidden superpower of verbs, with Sarah L. Kaufman
1181. This week, we talk to Sarah L. Kaufman about verbs. We look at why English is a "manner verb" superpower and why babies often learn pr...
Why English creates so many words spelled the same. Why we say 'ye olde' instead of 'the old.'
1180. Why does "Ye Olde Shoppe" look old-fashioned? This week, we look at the vanished letters of English — thorn, eth, and yogh — and at wh...