My latest article for TheWeek.com is in their Sports section. It’s about figure skating jumps – why they’re named what they are, and what the difference is between them:
Keep it handy while you’re watching the Olympic women’s figure skating.
There are some words that have two pronunciations, but most people prefer one or the other, sometimes quite vehemently. It’s sort of like whether you have your toilet paper roll over the top or down the back. These words – and where the pronunciation difference comes from – are the subject of my latest article for TheWeek.com:
Posted in The Week
Tagged address, adult, almond, amen, arctic, aunt, banal, Caribbean, diabetes, either, English pronunciation, envelope, harassment, herb, homage, mayonnaise, neither, niche, nuclear, pajama, potato, produce (as in produce department), pronunciation, schedule, The Week, toilet-paper-roll words, tomato, Uranus
My latest article for TheWeek.com is about something some people get quite bent out of shape about: use of myself for purposes other than the reflexive. See what I have to say, and why:
Posted in The Week
Tagged emphasis, English grammar, grammar, myself, reflexives, The Week
My latest article for TheWeek.com is about the similarities between the typical Californian accent and the typical Canadian one:
For fun, Google some news or weather videos from Canadian TV stations and from Californian ones. Give them a listen, and you may be surprised just how similar they can be.
Posted in The Week
Tagged accents, California, Californian accent, Canada, Canadian accent, dialects, linguistics, The Week
My latest article for TheWeek.com is a quiz. It’s a really hard quiz (but also fun):
But after the quiz I explain just why it’s so hard to tell them apart. So do it… and live long and fill that prescription!
Tagged brand names, drug names, drugs, fantasy, names, prescription drugs, sci-fi, science fiction, The Week
The Week has a section of podcasts – audio versions of some of its articles. We’ve made one of my most recent article, on wah-wah pedals and acoustic phonetics. Now you can hear me narrating it and listen to the examples mentioned all in one easy six-and-a-half-minute shot. It’s at theweek.com/article/index/254186/the-science-of-making-a-guitar-sound-like-a-human-voice or soundcloud.com/theweek/the-science-of-making-a-guitar.
Posted in The Week
Tagged acoustic phonetics, phonetics, podcast, The Week, wah-wah, wah-wah pedal
My latest article for TheWeek.com is really an introduction to acoustic phonetics. But it’s catchier to approach it from the Jimi Hendrix angle…
Posted in The Week
Tagged acoustic phonetics, The Week, vocal sounds, voice, wah-wah, wah-wah pedal
My latest article for TheWeek.com deals with a popular issue: pronouns in compound objects (the things in my title, above, that may have your teeth grinding). I talk about not just the rule but why so many people find it so hard to stick to it. The article is
In the past couple of days, I’ve also added a couple of longer posts on grammar. One of them tears to bits a web page of grammar advice: Why it’s best to leave grammar advice to experts. The other does a detailed dismantling and analysis of a potentially confusing sentence from a recent award-winning book: A little Hellgoing sentence mechanical deconstruction.
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Tagged compound noun phrases, compound nouns, English grammar, English syntax, linguistics, The Week, you and I, you and me
My latest article for TheWeek.com is on capital letters, one of the great plagues of the average Anglophone. When do you and don’t you use them? And WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE THEM? These Questions Will Be Answered… in
Posted in The Week
Tagged capital letters, capitals, half-uncials, lower case, The Week, uncials, upper case
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You can also get them on Amazon.com. Please note that I make less than half as much per book if you buy them there, however.
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