Commonly Misused Words: ALL RIGHT and (Slang) ALRIGHT

For more on ALL RIGHT, ALL READY and ALL TOGETHER, see Grammar Girl. The slang term “alright” is always slang. Similar:Yep, it's time to read student papers on Flannery O'Connor.AcademiaThe Toulmin model for analyzing arguments came up at a faculty pedagogy workshop today. I … AcademiaWhat Khan Academy's Fun, Free Learning Empire Has to Do…

Commonly Misused Words: THAN and THEN

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Commonly Misused Words: ITS and IT’S

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NPR.org » Going, Going, And Gone?: No, The Oxford Comma Is Safe … For Now

NPR.org » Going, Going, And Gone?: No, The Oxford Comma Is Safe … For Now. Similar:Without ComPUNction: Doing verbal battle at the O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships. “It doesn’t have to be good. It just ha…AestheticsPeter Thiel Just Got His Wish: Gawker Is Shutting DownAFTER A 14-YEAR run, Gawker.com is shutt…BusinessHere for the daughter.AcademiaAll of…

Punctuation – University of Oxford

Oxford University says, As a general rule, do not use the serial/Oxford comma: so write ‘a, b and c’ not ‘a, b, and c’. But when a comma would assist in the meaning of the sentence or helps to resolve ambiguity, it can be used – especially where one of the items in the list…

James’s blog – Lost, lost, lost in a sea of conjecture

But that’s not all. This vocative form has an extra flexibility that enables you to transform a word in another case into a vocative as well. Let’s take the example above, but change “Paris Hilton” into the vocative form: “@AlexisPetridis, I enjoyed your hilarious review of the @ParisHilton album.” Here, the original meaning is preserved,…

Overusing the Em Dash (Slate)

The problem with the dash—as you may have noticed!—is that it discourages truly efficient writing. It also—and this might be its worst sin—disrupts the flow of a sentence. Don’t you find it annoying—and you can tell me if you do, I won’t be hurt—when a writer inserts a thought into the midst of another one…

Motherload of usage errors

Dear internet, It’s not a “motherload of intelligence,” it’s a “mother lode of intelligence.” Dictionaries are fun! That is all. Similar:Storage Wars Sued By Its Star; Show Is Faked And Execs Were Confronted By Cast, Court Pape…”Reality TV” star is shocked — shocked …AmusingThe Best Halloween Costume Is a Robot Halloween Costume – Atlantic MobileAwesome…

On Language Nerds and Nags

The other day I was asked if a letter should read: “Staff members at the Local Planning Council, with whom we’ve worked for over ten years” or “Staff members at the Local Planning Council, which we have worked with for over ten years.” My response was something people don’t want to hear. I said that…