Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Read along on the website" Is "Boughten" a Word? http://j.mp/1tUEecu Did Valley Girls Invent "Like"? http://j.mp/12CCHlG Is German Chocolate Cake from Germany? http://j.mp/1w4pyyW Learn More About my December 12 Writing Webcast http://bitly.com/ggwebcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Read along on the website: Lightning versus Lightening http://bit.ly/121kVb0 Between You and Me http://bit.ly/1AnHpif How Teddy Bears Got Their Name http://bit.ly/1AnH8fc Sign up for my December 12 corporate webcast. http://bitly.com/ggwebcast Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Based on Versus Based off. Make Me a Sandwich: A Joke About Verbs. How to Pronounce Zero Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mic or Mike? Simple or Simplistic? Uppercase and Lowercase. Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1qEiW2m Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For NaNoWriMo: How to format a character's thoughts, how to plan a novel, and the surprising newness of the novel format. Visit the website: http://bit.ly/13DNlJ8 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today, with Halloween in mind, I have a Quick and Dirty tip about the difference between a casket and a coffin; and an excerpt from David Crystal’s new book, Words in Time and Place, that goes through the many words we have for death and dying. Finally, I saw something shocking in a formal document a few weeks ago, so I have a tidbit about text messaging and language. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1sXJDC5 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"Vaccine" Versus "Vaccination." Syelle Graves explains why people say things such as "We never leave any soldier behind. Period," and more generally, the relationship between speech and writing. A doozy of an eighteenth-century grammar rule: Don't use "who" to refer to children. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1Fc7Lrk Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I know all you European listeners think it’s ridiculous that Americans don’t know the difference between England and Britain, but a British friend told me that many of you don’t know the difference between Britain and the United Kingdom, and that this would be a good topic for a podcast even though people should already know. Read the transcript: http://bit.ly/1D7rupV Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An interview with Ammon Shea about the confusing history of apostrophes. Hanged Versus Hung. The story of the Victorian Great Exhibition, where Adolphe Sax displayed his invention: the saxophone.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Yes, you can start a sentence with "because." Here's how to do it. What are helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs), and why do people in some regions say things such as "might could" and "might should"? English writers didn't always use a dot over the letter "i." We'll talk about when and why they started. Visit the website: http://bit.ly/1phbhWH Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.