Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | 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 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.chat/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. | 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. | 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: 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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | 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/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. | 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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | 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. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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. | HOSTS: Mignon Fogarty & Holly Hutchings | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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 (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

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 the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Sources for the Teddy Bear segment Clay, M. “The History of the Teddy Bear.” "Teddy Bear & Friends website." 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20110723184018/http://www.teddybearandfriends.com/archive/articles/history.html (accessed January 23, 2023). Porterfield, W.R. “Here’s Where All Those Teddy Bears Came From,” "The Milwaukee Journal." Friday, May 21, 1971. Sorel, N. "Word People." American Heritage Press: New York. 1970. p. 281. “teddy bear.” "Merriam-Webster online dictionary." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teddy%20bear (accessed January 23, 2023). “teddy bear.” "Oxford English Dictionary online edition." https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/198513 (subscription required, accessed January 23, 2023). “Teddy Bears.” "America’s Story from America’s Library website." Library of Congress. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/roosevelt/aa_roosevelt_bears_2.html (accessed January 23, 2023).

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 (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. References for the "Jr." segment Garner, B. “Jr.; Sr.; III; Etc.” Garner’s Modern American Usage, 4th edition. Oxford University Press. 2016. p.613-5. “Holidays.” The Chicago Manual of Style Online, 17th edition. 8.89. The University of Chicago Press. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch08/psec089.html (subscription required. accessed January 15, 2023). “If John Smith Jr. asks for the period in Jr. to be omitted …” The Associated Press Stylebook, Ask the Editors. Sept. 06, 2018. https://www.apstylebook.com/ask_the_editors/35499 (accessed January 15, 2023). “Initials in personal names.” The Chicago Manual of Style Online, 17th edition. 10.12. The University of Chicago Press. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch10/psec012.html (subscription required. accessed January 15, 2023). “‘Jr.,’ ‘Sr.,’ and the like.” The Chicago Manual of Style Online, 17th edition. 6.43. The University of Chicago Press. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/book/ed17/part2/ch06/psec043.html (subscription required. accessed January 15, 2023). “Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” AP Stylebook Online. Associated Press_._ https://www.apstylebook.com/ap_stylebook/martin-luther-king-jr-day (subscription required. accessed January 15, 2023). “Names of holidays, etc.” U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual Online. 3.24. U.S. Government Printing Office. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2008/html/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2008-5.htm (accessed January 15, 2023).