Ever wonder why some names just *feel* right? It's called sound symbolism! Plato, Darwin, and modern science have all explored how sounds shape perception: For example, "oh" sounds bigger, and "ee" sounds smaller. What's in a name? More than you might think! APPLE: tinyurl.com/2c9gfl46

Understanding clauses can make you a better writer! The end of a sentence is the most powerful spot, but readers understand sentences better when the main clause comes first. Lead with your main clause for maximum clarity. Focus on the end for maximum effect. Listen: pod.link/grammargirl

Pat feeds the crows on our morning walks, so for Christmas I got him a book about crows, and he's been sharing the most amazing stories as he reads it! It turns out crows kept as pets can learn to talk, and there was once a crow in Montana that left its home and ended up on a college campus. 1/x

So delighted to talk in a normal voice about this topic! Thank you for having me on!

When you're a tech historian, you wonder about a lot of interesting things, and @glennf.com wondered about the history of "shouty caps." And of course, he found a surprising answer! This week, we talk about that and more. Check it out: APPLE: bit.ly/4aWLqnA SPOTIFY: bit.ly/4tL9v8n

Interesting. I haven't heard "farewell" used this way before. Is it common in Australia? "Surfer Funeral for Liberty" references the 'paddle out', a ritual in which surfers **farewell** the recently deceased by forming a circle beyond the breaking waves.

"A while" and "awhile" have different meanings. "A while" is a noun phrase and means “a period of time.” "Awhile" is an adverb, and it means “for a time.” Check out the podcast for helpful examples and memory tricks: pod.link/173429229

Media moguls don't have anything to do with ski moguls. At least not etymologically! On this week's Grammar Girl podcast, I'll load you up with fun "mogul" facts you can pull out to impress your friends while you're watching the Olympics. Listen: pod.link/173429229

This makes it sound like he tried to get up the stairs and kept tumbling back down.

I've been thinking a lot about an interview I did back in 2020 with Roy Peter Clark about the importance of "civic clarity." I think it's more important now than ever, so I re-edited the piece this week. I hope you'll listen. APPLE: apple.co/4tzACTF SPOTIFY: tinyurl.com/2ahmm5ym

Ever wonder why we say "Celsius" instead of "centigrade"? Anders Celsius proposed his scale in 1742 — but it was backward! Water *boiled* at 0 and *froze* at 100. Other scientists flipped it after he died. Listen to learn more: APPLE: tinyurl.com/25rltzyu SPOTIFY: tinyurl.com/242btrqw

The Olympics got me thinking about sporty snow words. 🏂 "Bobsled" is called "bobSLEIGH" in the Olympics, and it gets its name from riders "bobbing" back and forth to speed up on straightaways. Check out the podcast for fun details about "snurfing," "luge," and more!: pod.link/173429229

Bad Bunny's historical advisor is an assistant professor at UW-Madison. Hell of a flex for your tenure file.

This is why I moved off Substack to Ghost. The Nazis will migrate to any big platform but when a platform actively promotes them, that is a choice

I do this too! When I'm writing a book, I have three songs I listen to on repeat, depending on my mood: 1. Out of my Head (the main one, Fastball) 2. Blue Skies (Willie Nelson) 3. I Don't Wanna Stop (Ozzy) Instrumentals don't work for me. h/t @mashedradish.bsky.social

This is the switchboard for Congress. An automated voice will ask you which senator or representative you want to reach and will transfer you to that person's line. If you call today, you'll get voicemail but will usually be able to leave a message: (202) 224-3121.

Did you know ChatGPT's earlier versions barely used em dashes at all? This week, I talked with Sean Goedecke, a software engineer who's looked at *why* AI models went em-dash wild.The shift may have happened when companies started digitizing public domain books from years when em dash use peaked.

National Grammar Day is one month from today: March 4!

Have you heard of playing "the dozens"? It's an African American game where two people trade increasingly inventive insults, usually in front of an audience. I look at the competing origin stories in today's podcast. Listen: pod.link/173429229

A short field report about youth slang in the K-8 school where I teach: - CITY BOY is on the rise as a brain-rot expression - W (short for "win") has currency as a term for "excellent, high quality, cool" - AI is variously used to call out something as fake or too good to be true 1/3

Love it!

THE SLOPPER BOWL! What wonderful wordplay. I wish this would have come out a day sooner because I was on WOSU just yesterday talking about the word "slop" and how one thing that makes it special is the way people play with it to make other words like "slopaganda."

Ever confidently use a word your whole life, only to discover you're wrong? F-O-R-T-E is TWO different words. One from French (your strong point), and one from Italian (loud in music). And wow, do people ever struggle with the pronunciation! Listen: pod.link/grammargirl

'Icicle' doesn't mean "little ice." It's "ice ickle." And an 'ickle'? That's an old word for 'icicle.' So, 'icicle' is literally, redundantly, delightfully "ice icicle."

I'm going to be on All Sides with AmyJuravich on WOSU in Ohio tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern talking about familects, misheard song lyrics, and eggcorns like "windshield factor" for "windchill factor." Get your story ready and call in! www.wosu.org/show/all-sides 614-292-8513

Grammar Girl #podcast: Scrabble strategy and tournament culture, with John Chew

It. Has. Not. Stopped. The Australian National Dictionary's #WotY2025 is social media ban reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/...

With all the snow in the northern hemisphere right now, it's a great time to ask whether the Inuit really have more words for snow — and I did just that in this week's interview with linguist Charles Kemp. We also talked about words for rain, dance, and even chocolate. Listen: pod.link/173429229

I'm ASTONISHED by how many people say they write an ellipsis with no space on the left and a space on the right! I feel like I've never seen it until recently, but clearly, I'm mistaken. I definitely defend your right to have a "house style," but AP & Chicago both call for a space on both sides.

What's with people writing ellipses like this lately... with a space on only one side? I suspect it's an AI thing because I've never seen it before, and suddenly, it's everywhere — so much so that I doubted myself and just checked AP & Chicago. But nope, they still do a space on both sides.

January links! Credits: @mashedradish.bsky.social @marthabarnette.bsky.social @paperairplane.pub @stancarey.bsky.social @stronglang.bsky.social @grammargirl.bsky.social & more! fritinancy.substack.com/p/january-li...

and-wīg, n.n: resistance. (OND-WEE / ˈand-ˌwiːj) #OldEnglish #WOTD

You may not have noticed, but "scarecrow" is a grammatical outlaw — it describes what the object does, not what it is. Linguists call these "exocentric compounds." They're also called "cutthroat compounds" because they have a surprising history as medieval insults. Listen: pod.link/173429229

New eggcorn alert! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn

This is the switchboard for Congress. An automated voice will ask you which senator or representative you want to reach and will transfer you to that person's line. If you call today, you'll get voicemail but will usually be able to leave a message: (202) 224-3121.

I needed some books this morning, so I bought them from @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social in Minneapolis. You could too! Just pick them as your bookstore at bookshop.org.

I had a lot of fun chatting again (after ten years) with @grammargirl.bsky.social for her Grammar Girl podcast about competitive Scrabble, and on her subscription-only (but now would be a good time to try the 14-day free trial option) Grammarpalooza about the Canadian English Dictionary.

Ever wonder why Scrabble feels like a word game *and* a strategy game? In today's podcast, I find out with John Chew, a mathematician and a big name in competitive Scrabble. 1/3 WATCH: youtu.be/tlPBkn86CAA READ: grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/105... LISTEN: pod.link/173429229

Another secret! Book reviews don't have to be extensive and thoughtful and deep. You can give a book 5 stars and say nothing, or you can say, "Really enjoyed it!" or "Lovely worldbuilding!" or "One of my favorite authors!" No one expects a thesis. Every review helps.

Yesterday, I interviewed a tech guy who told me something too important for me to wait until the podcast comes out for you to hear it: Many free AI detectors have especially high false positive rates because they make money selling software that "humanizes" writing. 1/2

Nice little structural ambiguity for the #linguistics feed

I ask my podcast guests for book recommendations, and I just interviewed someone who recommended two books they read every year. That surprised me! I don't often reread books, so I'm curious how common it is. How often do you reread books for pleasure?

Ever wonder why a “baker’s dozen” means 13, not 12? It comes from medieval fear! Bakers who sold underweight bread risked fines, flogging, or even the pillory, so they tossed in an extra loaf to be safe. Learn about other "dozen" idioms in today's podcast too. 🎧 Listen now: pod.link/173429229

Calling my senators while I charge my car. I am a multitasking machine!

Why does grave mean both “serious” and “a burial place”? Is news really just “new things”? And what happens to word history in the age of AI? This week, I’m talking with Doug Harper of Etymonline about how language actually grows, twists, and survives. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Etymonline's Doug Harper sat down recently with Grammar Girl's Mignon Fogarty and we nerdified about words. See what you think! "Grammar" is top of the etymonline trending list today. Take it as a sign. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Is "impact" really a "bad" verb? And why did "empathy" quietly replace "sympathy" everywhere except sympathy cards? On this week's podcast, I look at the history, the data, and what our word choices say about how we relate to each other. 🎧 Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

The 2025 Word of the Year is "slop," both as a noun for low-quality AI-generated content and as a combining form for anything of little value. Read the full press release. #WOTY2025 #ADS2026 #LSA2026 americandialect.org/2025-word-of...

Samuel Johnson—the man, the Dictionary, and the rare books that shaped his legacy. @GrammarGirl.bsky.social talks with Harvard curator John Overholt about Johnson's eclectic life and why even 'unremarkable' items deserve to be preserved. youtu.be/-ot4tHoUmnQ?...

If you know a high school student interested in language and/or puzzles, tell 'em about the linguistics olympiads, there are lots of national versions in many countries plus an international competition!