Grammar Girl Quick And Dirty Tips For Better Writing

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/transcriptThe "slow down" segment was written by Susan Herman, a former U.S. government multidisciplined language analyst, analytic editor, and instructor.The "minced oath" segment was by Kirk Hazen, a professor of linguistics at West Virginia University. It was originally published on The Conversation and appears here under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.| 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-

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 you say the abbreviation or the full phrase? And what about other common Latin abbreviations such as "ibid" and "circa"? Tune in to learn the ins and outs of these tricky linguistic tidbits, and impress your friends with your newfound pronunciation prowess!| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/ever-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

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.simplecast.com/episodes/semantic-satiation/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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialis

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 years, has edited more than five hundred books and anthologies, and now has published this fabulous book.| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/chicago-guide-to-copy-editing-fiction/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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engi

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 article. Valerie is the author of the book “Like, Literally, Dude,” and you can find her at ValerieFridland.com.| The "comparisons" segment was written by Bonnie Mills who has been a copy editor since 1996.| 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer:

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 Mills who has been a copy editor since 1996.| 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Ho

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 analyst, analytic editor, and language instructor.| The "Cats and Dogz" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com| 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/gra

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 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Fa

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 Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com| 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Ada

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 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTo

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 an online educator and instructional designer of online courses.| 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital O

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.| 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram.

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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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 onto 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.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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 on Facebook, or find him on his blog at literalminded.wordpress.com.The segment on the word "loneliness" was written by by Amelia Worsley, an Assistant Professor of English, Amherst College. It was originally published in The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license.| Transcript:  https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/a-an-loneliness/transcript| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST

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| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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/transcriptThe "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.| 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media L

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 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 and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok.

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. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsIntern: Kamryn Lacy| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.