Shark Week: 6 sayings from pop culture

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Jul 21, 20268:33Education

1204. This week, in honor of Shark Week, we look at six fun shark sayings from pop culture, including "jumping the shark," "voodoo shark," and more. The shark segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs Dragonfly Ed...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

Why do pirates say 'Arr'? Is it 'none is' or 'none are'?

Sep 15, 2026 - 12:37

1220. This week, in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, we look at the history of eight pirate words, and th...

Stray Russian words and made-up style rules, with Daniel Heuman and Chris Ryder

Sep 10, 2026 - 24:49

1219. This week, we talk to Daniel Heuman and Chris Ryder from Intelligent Editing about the errors hidin...

Who's a good boy? The science behind 'dog voice.' Is it 'bated breath' or 'baited breath'?

Sep 8, 2026 - 11:15

1218. This week, we look at "dog-directed speech" — the high-pitched, sing-songy register people love to...

How we got from no spaces between words to the interrobang, with Florence Hazrat

Sep 3, 2026 - 27:40

1217. This week, we talk to Florence Hazrat, author of "On the Mark," about how punctuation evolved over...

Why do so many last names sound like jobs?

Sep 1, 2026 - 9:51

1216. In honor of Labor Day, we look at occupational surnames — why Baker, Cooper, and Fletcher sound lik...

Explosions, chemistry, and dictionary 'spite,' with Kory Stamper

Aug 27, 2026 - 20:52

1215. This week, we talk to Kory Stamper about why color science is surprisingly dangerous. We look at th...

It's Greek to me: Why is the language of 'The Odyssey' shorthand for all that we don’t understand?

Aug 25, 2026 - 10:52

1214. This week, we look at why we say, "It's all Greek to me" when we don't understand something. We tra...

Sarah L. Kaufman on the shared rhythm of dance, critical writing, and finding better verbs

Aug 20, 2026 - 16:16

1213. Pulitzer-Prize-winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman goes deeper into her journey from the "Washing...