Don’t be sad it’s over. Be glad it happened. This post is about eggnog.

If you're traveling this weekend, download this interview with @bgzimmer to listen to on your trip! He has DELIGHTFUL stories about: — The origin of "hella" — Run DMC and "drop" — 1960s slang from cots in military barracks — Stephen Colbert & "truthiness" I promise […] [Original post on zirk.us]

I have a new episode out today about the origin of X as the unknown in algebra and why we say "how come" to mean "why," but if you haven't already listened to my episode about the origin of words for tableware, you should really listen to that instead because it's filled with anecdotes that […]

Well, this was an exciting thing to wake up to! I'm on a list of the best podcasts from women over 50 — alongside amazing women like Amy Poehler, Katie Couric, Michelle Obama, Kara Swisher, Gretchen Rubin, Mel Robbins, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and more! I'm also […] [Original post on zirk.us]

A chatbot on a website just answered my question and solved my problem. It's a Christmas Miracle! (It was a super easy question. I had missed something obvious. Still ...)

Getting together with family is a GREAT time to talk about familects — the words and phrases you use just with your family that nobody else would understand. Ask your elders! Why does our family say "we're on Edgar" when the gas tank is low? Why do we say something is "blondie hot" when it's […]

Put a screenshot of my Apple Podcasts library into a colorblindness simulator for a project I'm working on, and I'm fascinated. It looks a lot like the grayscale conversions people use to make the internet less addictive. Everything is essentially some shade of brown. It's much less visually […]

Getting together with family is a GREAT time to talk about familects — the words and phrases you use just with your family that nobody else would understand. Ask your elders! Why does our family say "we're on Edgar" when the gas tank is low? Why do we say something is "blondie hot" when it's […]

Writing Christmas cards and feeling inadequate because I'm not doing anything personal or creative, but it's come down to "a plain card is better than nothing" time, and at least people will know I was thinking of them.

It's word-of-the-year season! This week, I got together with Jess Zafarris and Danny Hieber to talk about all the 2025 picks. Some favorites: — Six seven (Danny made a spirited defense.) — Rage bait (Will knowing the term helps people recognize it and calm down?) — […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Grammarpaloozians on Patreon and Subtext: Don't miss today's mini-crossword that goes with yesterday's podcast! To join and get crosswords, ad-free podcasts, and fun tidbits, use these links for one month free at Patreon: — Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level) […] [Original post on zirk.us]

I'm relieved Merriam-Webster chose "slop" as the word of the year! I recorded a WOTY episode Friday with Jess Zafarris and Danny Hieber, and M-W hadn't made its choice yet. But The Economist & Macquarie Dictionary had already chosen "slop," so it's in the show. It's an obvious and fitting […]

Check out Samuel Johnson's handwriting on this digitized piece from Houghton Library. It's swooshier than I would have expected! https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/ids:425326212?buttons=y

Listening to Pink Floyd while drinking tea and reading about rare books. 🥰

Have you noticed how many ads are stretching grammar lately? "Spread the happy," "Let's movie," "It feels good to Geico"? @Byagoda tracked down 60+ examples of ads using anthimeria — words shifting to different parts of speech. These could be a fun way to teach […] [Original post on zirk.us]

This email I got from Simon & Schuster yesterday feels like acknowledgement of a turning point for podcasts. I used to have to explain what podcasts are to people. I haven't had to do that for a while, but still ... a publisher using love of podcasts to try to lure […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Martha Barnette's book "Friends With Words" is packed with tidbits for word lovers, and in today's podcast we dig into some of my favorites: Why South Carolinians paint porches "haint blue" (to ward off ghosts), what a "quidnunc" is (a nosy neighbor), and the oddly […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Wow, I will pass 50K YouTube subscribers today! 😱 🎉 If you want to be among them, you can find me here: https:youtube.com/grammargirl I post quite a few Shorts there that I don't post anywhere else. (Why you might ask ... it's a workflow + perception thing. My […] [Original post on zirk.us]

If you have 45 seconds, could you listen to this audio and let me know which of the three clips you think sounds best? (First, second, or third? They're each about 15 seconds.) I'm fiddling with my audio editing, and I've listened to them so many times I've lost all perspective.

Did you know people who stammer can often sing without any difficulty? Or that bilingual friends might switch to English when they're being funny but use their native language when discussing politics? In today's episode, I talked with Rob Drummond, author of […] [Original post on zirk.us]

After today's show, you'll be the most interesting guest at dinner with *fascinating* tidbits about the history of tableware. For example, the fork was originally viewed as sinful, but then pasta got involved. 😈 And the butter knife comes from a manners scandal […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Merriam-Webster just released the first new print edition of its Collegiate Dictionary in 22 years — and it weighs five pounds! So of course, I had questions. :) In today's podcast, I talk with Peter Sokolowski about why print still matters. Watch […] [Original post on zirk.us]

This week, I talked with the always delightful @bgzimmer about the linguistic detective work of antedating words — finding earlier usages than those published in dictionaries. Learn about the surprising origins of "Ms.," "scallywag," and the baseball history of […] [Original post on zirk.us]

I’ve been to a lot of protests in Reno, and this is far bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen “Believe Square” full plus the bridge and the street beyond it filled with people.

Danny Bate is full of fascinating alphabet facts from his book "Why Q Needs U" in this week's Grammar Girl podcast! Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6r9mTl48f0 Read: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/danny-bate/transcript Listen: pod.link/173429229 #grammargirl #podcast

Listen to my chat with Danny Bate and dazzle your friends with alphabet trivia this weekend. :) Here's a teaser: The word "alphabet" literally means "ox house." It comes from the ancient letter names — "alp" (ox) and "bet" (house) — that come from the hieroglyphs […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Jane Friedman and I talked about the Anthropic book settlement a few days ago. She explained why you need to check the new settlement database and not rely on the old Atlantic database, and she explained why people outside the US are generally getting screwed and why authors in the U.S. have to […]

Think you know AP style? Join me Nov. 18 to put your skills to the test with live quizzes. Plus, we'll have a Q&A at the end. Use the code MACMIL for $50 off. https://www.ragan.com/raganstore/grammar-girls-guide-to-beginner-and-intermediate-ap-style/

If you love dictionaries, you'll love my chat this week with Stefan Fatsis about his new book "Unabridged." He spent years at Merriam-Webster learning how everything works, even writing definitions that made it into the dictionary. We talked about all kinds of […] [Original post on zirk.us]

I love Old English compounds. From today's @OEWordhord sand-land, n.n: the sea-shore. (SAWND-LAWND / ˈsand-ˌland)

Jess Zafarris explains how the name Pakistan was created by Muslim students at Cambridge in the 1930s who combined the names of the regions that ended up forming the country. Listen to the whole interview →https://pod.link/173429229 Get the book, "Useless […] [Original post on zirk.us]

You'll probably be as surprised as I was to learn that "outrage" doesn't actually come from "out" + "rage." Jess Zafarris explains what the heck is going on! If you find this as fascinating as I do, listen to the whole interview and get her new book, "Useless […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Dazzle your friends this weekend with fabulous tidbits from Jess Zafarris! This week, we ran through some of our favorite stories from her new book, "Useless Etymology." — “Debunk” comes from Buncombe County in North Carolina, where a politician gave a famously […] [Original post on zirk.us]

I'm hearing the judge just approved the Anthropic copyright settlement, which means the $1.5 billion payout is likely back on. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/25/judge-anthropic-case-preliminary-ok-to-1point5b-settlement-with-authors.html A detail from Publishers […] [Original post on zirk.us]

This week, I talk with illustrator and cartoonist K. Woodman Maynard about her new graphic novel adaptation of "Tuck Everlasting." She shares how she adapted this beloved book, including how she used visual elements like speech bubbles, color, and panel frames to […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Top story in the Reno Gazette-Journal this morning. I'm glad I'm in California now, but I worry for my friends and family in NV. It's all so stupid. https://www.rgj.com/story/news/health/2025/09/04/cvs-walgreens-block-covid-vaccine-appointments-in-nevada/85962833007/

Have you heard the Vonnegut quote about not using semicolons? That using one does nothing but show you've been to college? That statement has always bugged me, so I looked into it and found a lot more in the article where it appears. For example, he used a […] [Original post on zirk.us]

I'm going to go on a rant here, so please bear with me ... Yesterday, I tried to got a COVID shot and couldn't. I called four pharmacies and the Health Department and nobody has it. I knew it's already a "supplies are limited" situation in the U.S., so I wasn't surprised, but I was upset, so I […]

A couple of days ago I saw something go by my feed along the lines that the best definition of using a chatbot is trying to get the LLM to write what you already know the answer should be. I didn't save it, but now I want it and can't find it. Does that ring any bells for anyone? Can you point […]

If you've been putting off starting a newsletter (or have one and want to up your game), you'll love this week's episode because it is PACKED with author newsletter tips from the wonderful @janefriedman.com! Watch: https://youtu.be/ZLDR6tiA2H8 Listen […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Hey! June Casagrande quoted me in her LA Times piece about the "chatGPT hyphen" — in other words, the marvelous em dash, which I will continue to use along with an occasional emoji and emoticon. :) […]

My bush-sized romaine plants have bolted. I actually had to — gasp — BUY lettuce last week. But I still have a few small assorted greens to add to my salads. Left to right: baby kale, mint, dock, parsley. 🥬 #gardening #winteriscoming

English doesn’t have a handy word for “how manyth” — but Dutch and a bunch of other languages do. In Dutch you can ask, “How manyth time were you late this week?” and the answer can be simply “the third.” In this week’s #GrammarGirl episode, translator Heddwen […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Wow, Blue Apron was a huge podcast advertiser for years. I hope this strategy change means they buy a slew of ads again to get the message out. 😀 nomnom https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Food/blue-aprons-relaunch-subscription-new-menus/story?id=124143666

This week, we look at double possessives, such as "a friend of Mignon's" and whether they are grammatically correct. Then, we look at words that do double duty, including "scuttlebutt" and "beetle." Watch: https://youtu.be/V--ySsNyMaU Listen […] [Original post on zirk.us]

Emily and Kyle are amazing librarians who host the Butter No Parsnips and kindly had me on to talk about catachresis, which I had never heard of before. I learned a lot and also laughed my head off — they're a blast. Check it out! https://pod.link/1641358361

Love waking up to see that I have accidentally sent out the newsletter I worked on all weekend with part of it in 162 point font. LOVE IT <insert all the distressed emoji>

I love learning about new words! And Fiona McPherson of the Oxford English Dictionary had all kinds of delightful information about new words and words from World English in our recent conversation. Here she explains what "Rolex" has to do with eggs. Check out the […] [Original post on zirk.us]

This week, we look at how the pronouns you use can reveal your psychological state — for example, how using "I" versus "we" can signal how you are coping with a breakup or a tragic event. Then, we look at where our alphabet started, from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs […] [Original post on zirk.us]

My new favorite word is "ruelle," and I learned it from Martha Barnette, author of the fabulous new book "Friends with Words." Check out our interview in the Grammar Girl podcast to learn more words you can drop into conversations to delight your friends! Watch […] [Original post on zirk.us]