Post - Mignon Fogarty (@grammargirl)

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MF

Mignon Fogarty

@grammargirl

The podcaster better known as Grammar Girl

Grammar Girl. Podcaster. New York Times bestselling author. Quick and Dirty Tips founder. Bad skier. she/her Next week's Grammar Girl podcast LinkedIn Learning scripts The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen (Pepin)

67 Posts

  1. When is someone a namesake?

    A town with a fun name — Nowthen — leads us down the path of understanding when someone is and isn't a namesake. In this week's podcast, I also share my thoughts about a surprising new poll about the word "commentate." Enjoy it on your commute, while you go for a walk, or do some
  2. Portmanteau Words

    THE GRAMMAR DAILY is an update to THE GRAMMAR DEVOTIONAL, which came out in 2009. Part of the work was updating cultural references, and a funny thing was that in 2009, I used "Bennifer" as an example of a portmanteau for the hot couple at the time: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
  3. 'Shined' or 'Shone'?

    I'm shining light on "shine" versus "shone" today! This is just one of a year's worth of delights from THE GRAMMAR DAILY, coming out November 14. (Every time you preorder a book, an angel gets a taco: amzn.to/48R4T69)
  4. 🚨 Cool Internship Alert 🚨

    The Los Angeles Times is taking applications for the 2024 spring and summer 10-week paid internship programs, including the Multiplatform Editing internship in honor of beloved copy editor Henry Fuhrmann. Deadline: Nov. 15. Pass it on to students and recent graduates interested in
  5. We are in *uncharted* territory

    More words I'm seeing people struggle with right now are "uncharted" and "unchartered." We are in *uncharted* territory. It comes from the idea of a place that isn't on a map — not on the chart. https://web.archive.org/web/20210622191317/https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/
  6. Removing McCarthy would be historic. The U.S. House of Representatives has never successfully voted to remove the speaker before. If you're writing about it, don't confuse "historic" and "historical." Historic things are important. Historical things simply happened in the past.
  7. Chunk your writing for better results

    Do you want people to remember what you wrote? Matt Abrahams gave me some great advice on chunking your writing in a way that will help. The whole podcast was filled with practical tips like this. Check out the whole thing, and also check out his new book, "Think Faster, Talk Smart
  8. What's your favorite place to write? Listen to the rest of my interview with Matt Abrahams, author of "Think Faster, Talk Smarter," for a slew of practical tips that I promise will up your writing game. Podcast: Transcript :
  9. I'm revisiting the word "toast" this morning and was reminded of one of my favorite tidbits: Toasting someone with a drink comes from the ancient practice of putting a piece of toast in bad wine to reduce the acidity.
  10. This is a fascinating story about the foreign language effect, which finds that making decisions in a second language often leads to more logical choices. For example, when given the trolly problem, more people will kill one person to save many when considering the scenario in a s
  11. Up With Which I Will Not Put!

    That rule you learned in grade school about not ending a sentence with a preposition is actually a myth. For example, it's usually better to write "What did you step on?" than "On what did you step?" On the other hand, you shouldn't ignore this "rule" in every situation.
  12. 5 fun facts about Spanish

    You'll have to take care of the food and drinks, but in this week's Grammar Girl podcast, we have tasty tidbits of knowledge you can bring to your Cinco de Mayo parties! Impress your friends with five fun facts about Spanish. Read: Listen: Watch:
  13. Have you ever been confused or frustrated by the phrase "begs the question"? The sentence “It’s illegal to throw confetti at ducks because there are laws against such things,” begs the question in the traditional sense, but many people use the phrase differently these days. In this
  14. You don’t automatically put a comma before the word "because," but sometimes you need a comma to make sure your meaning is clear.
  15. Like, Literally, Dude

    It's time! You can now listen to my interview with Valerie Fridland and learn what you get wrong about "uh" and "um," the fascinating history of the word "dude," and more. Her new book, "Like, Literally, Dude," is chock full of fascinating tidbits you're going to love. Listen: Watc
  16. Like, Literally, Dude

    Happy launch day to Valerie Fridland. Her new book, "Like, Literally, Dude," made me say, "Wow!" multiple times. It's not often that a language books surprises me these days, but this one did. (And yes, that's my blurb on the cover that reads "Smart and funny—I loved it!") Get read
  17. Don't: A Manual of Mistakes and Improprieties

    I'm reading a usage guide from 1884 (as one does) and some of the entries are making me laugh: "Don’t say 'gents' for 'gentlemen,' nor 'pants' for 'pantaloons.' These are inexcusable vulgarisms. Don’t say 'vest' for 'waistcoat.'"
  18. Roy Peter Clark on Civic Clarity

    "America's Writing Teacher," Roy Peter Clark, joined me for a fabulous interview this week. If you'd like to hear the five things he says every writer wants to learn, check out the show. Podcast: Transcript: YouTube (Extended version):
  19. Expertise and Confidence

    I was on a podcast where kids asked two people questions to decide who was the fake and who was the real expert. The host said that early on, the kids chose the fake every time because the actors answered every question confidently and the experts would hedge or even sometimes sa
  20. Rare Books

    This early fourteenth century French book of hours has incredibly rare lace-like cutouts all around the margins. Curators don’t know whether the delicate patterns are original or were added later, but say, "Opening the book unfailingly brings gasps of surprise and delight from uns

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