grammar
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The Power of the Ellipses
The Guardian presents a history of this tantalizing punctuation. They’re irresistible…
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Stephen Pinker, Deplorer of the Dangling Modifier
After having written 800 pages on torture, rape, world war, and genocide, it was time to take on some really controversial topics like fused participles, dangling modifiers, and the serial comma. Over at the Guardian, Steven Pinker defends his choice to…
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Strunk & White: The Grammar Police
It’s “whom,” motherfucker. William Strunk and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style is foundational reading for most aspiring writers. But you’ve never seen it like this. Go check out your new favorite unpublished screenplay, “Strunk & White: The Grammar Police.”
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When Actions No Longer Exist
Language is a great way to communicate, and an even better way to avoid it altogether. This “Interactive Guide to Ambiguous Grammar” ensures no one will ever decode what you’re really saying.
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The (Im)Purity of Language
At JSTOR Daily, linguist Chi Luu makes a case for emphasizing grammar rules that follow popular usage, rather than the pedantic standards set by centuries-dead classicists. Here are the plain facts: many of these pop grammar rules… were magically pulled…
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The Way You Write
Using the second person is a tricky but effective writing device, though its use is pretty uncommon. Over at the Ploughshares blog, E.V. De Cleyre offers some clever examples of writing in the second person.
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The Rumpus Interview with Jay Rubin
Author and translator Jay Rubin talks about his new novel, The Sun Gods, translating Haruki Murakami into English, and the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II.
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The Srs Bsns of Writing Wryly
Sarcasm on the Internet—you know it when you see it. But how? Without the conversational aids of our best deadpan voices or our fingers as scare quotes, we use all sorts of tricks and mechanics. At The Toast, a linguist…
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R.I.P. Formal Writing
Let’s consider that we are seeing a natural movement towards a society in which language is more oral—or in the case of texting, oral-style—where written prose occupies a much smaller space than it used to. As such—might we stop pretending…
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That Sounds About Right
The Internet loves correcting other people’s grammar. But you’re your grammar mistakes are often the result of how the brain functions rather than ignorance, cognitive scientists have learned. The Washington Post reports that the reason we often end up with…
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No, Totally
For The New Yorker, Kathryn Schulz delves into the history of that short, mysterious word that can function as five or more parts of speech, be its own sentence, and now even reverse its meaning: no.
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Taylor Swift: Grammar Crusader?
Proving that the quest for high scores on the SAT is as tragically unhip as ever, The Princeton Review is making headlines for setting off a grammar grudge match with pop sensation Taylor Swift. Swift’s lyrics are not only included…