Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Steve Kleinedler, former executive editor of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel, shares fascinating stories about the panel's influence on dictionary entries. Topics covered include the panel's composition, the importance of the dictionary's front matter, prescriptivism vs descriptivism, and changing language usage. Find out more about the guest and access show notes.

Susan Herman, a retired U.S. government multidisciplined language analyst, talks about the benefits of loose writing and varying sentence length for rhythm and clarity. The podcast also explores the meanings and differences between 'behead' and 'decapitate' and shares funny stories about misreading vanity license plates.

Join linguistics professor and author Valerie Fridland as she discusses the evolution of discourse markers in English from Beowulf's time to today. Discover how people's perceptions of using 'anxious' to mean 'eager' are changing and how this impacts your writing.

Explore the fascinating origins and meanings of the 'a-' prefix in English words. Learn how this prefix evolved from Latin and French and its role in creating new words like 'atypical'. Discover the difference between 'personal' and 'personnel' and get tips on spelling them correctly.

Learn about hilarious typos and tips to avoid them, including examples from the Bible. Discover the world of 'light verbs' and why we use 'take' and 'give' in certain phrases. Also, a heartwarming dog rescue story.

This podcast explores the concept of retronyms, focusing on the surprising ways 'acoustic' is used. It also provides tips for writing tight and concise, eliminating unnecessary words and phrases. A heartwarming family act story is shared and listener appreciation is shown.

939. When I say the word "tattoo," you probably think of body art, but "tattoo" has another meaning that's related to a famous Edinburgh festival that is happening this month. Plus, we look at why you should never stop writing (and reading).ding).The "tattoo" segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com.The "aging and writing" segment was written by Roger J. Kreuz, associate dean in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Memphis. Richard M. Roberts, a foreign service officer, also contributed. It originally appeared in The Conversation, and appears here through a Creative Commons license.| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/tattoo/transcript| For more on writing your novel later in life: An Interview with Bourne Morris.Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/753-take-heart-heres-why-you-still-have-time-to-write/id173429229?i=1000462060258Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5SXdTOhW9WSI22Ensfyq1I?si=SBf23qt3Rce67Vpyox1qPQYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LFGT1sWmU0| 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 SemesDirector of Podcasts: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing Associate: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

938. Love it or hate it, the exclamation point has been on the red carpet lately because we're using it more. But it also has a fascinating history: the man who invented it was trying to fix a problem that annoyed him. This interview with Florence Hazrat is bursting with fascinating tidbits.| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/exclamation-point/transcript| Get Florence Hazrat's book "An Admirable Point" and visit her website.| 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 SemesDirector of Podcasts: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing Associate: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this special bonus episode, I sat down with Laura Adams and Monica Reinagel, who host Money Girl and Nutrition Diva here on the Quick and Dirty Tips network, to celebrate their 15th anniversaries and discuss how much podcasting has changed in this decade and a half. Thanks to Laura and Monica for joining me — and if you're new to Quick and Dirty Tips, make sure you check out Money Girl and Nutrition Diva for the best financial and nutrition advice in audio!Transcript NewsletterLinkedIn Learning writing coursesPeeve Wars card gameBooksVOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirlHost & Creator: Mignon FogartyAudio Engineer: Nathan SemesDirector of Podcasts: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing Associate: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsTheme music by Catherine Rannus.Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

937. Today, we explore the traditional advice of using "fewer" for things you can count and "less" for things you can't, but you'll also learn about the idea of using "less" for singular nouns and "fewer" for plural nouns and how that solves the problem of common exceptions such as time, money, and distance. You'll also learn how to handle  the controversial phrases "one less" and "10 items or less." And have you ever wondered why our thumb is called a thumb? Or why the "rule of thumb" is so controversial? We look at the origins of these terms and more, and also touch on the many interesting names for fingers in various languages. Th "fingers" segment was written by Susan Herman, a retired multidisciplined language analyst, analytic editor, and instructor for the U.S. Government.| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/less-fewer/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 SemesDirector of Podcasts: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing Associate: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.