One word that gets some people in a lather is anyways with an s. It’s illogical! Senseless! Illiterate! Etc. But none of them ever seem to bother looking up its origins and history. So, for those who want to know, I’ve given the details in my latest article for TheWeek.com:
My latest article for The Week is on the spelling alright: why so many people hate it – and why you should ignore them:
Every so often, Lauren Hansen, the podcast producer for The Week, will email me and suggest we make one of my articles for TheWeek.com into a podcast – a brief audio segment (typically 5 to 6 minutes) based on the article, with some illustrative sound clips added. I never say no because why would I? She does up an abridged version of the article, I make any edits I feel are necessary, and I record my voice reading it in the comfort of my apartment. I send that to her and she edits it together with the other clips and makes the podcast.
This week’s is based on my article from a while back on the similarities between Canadian and Californian accents:
Posted in The Week
Tagged accents, Californian accent, Canadian accent, podcast, The Week
After a month off from writing for The Week – I was just too much otherwise occupied – I have published a new article, about dangling participles and other dangling modifiers and whether it’s ever OK to use them:
Posted in The Week
Tagged danglers, dangling modifiers, dangling participles, English grammar, sentence adverbs
Many people who like to give writing advice – or just pick at other people’s writing – like to hate on the passive voice. But quite a lot of those who do don’t actually know what they’re talking about. How about you? Try my latest salvo in The Week:
Posted in The Week
Tagged English grammar, grammar, passive voice, quiz, the passive, The Week
If you’re like many highly literate people, seeing alot is like chewing on aluminum foil. It doesn’t sit well with me either. But I am of the considered opinion that while it may not become the formal standard, it’s not going away either – because it makes a certain intuitive sense. Read the reasoning in my latest article for The Week:
I’ve done another podcast for The Week, this one based on my latest article on “I know, right?” Listen to it here. It may take a few moments to load. Click on the white > in the orange circle to make it play.
My latest piece for The Week is about a currently popular expression. It’s idiomatic, and when people hear it they understand it, but some people still insist it makes no sense. …I know, right? Read it here.
My article on words that are badly broken has been converted (in shortened form) to a podcast. Give it a listen if you want – it’s at theweek.com/article/index/264020/5-words-that-are-badly-broken.
Posted in The Week
Tagged English words, etymology, morphemes, morphology, pseudomorphemes, The Week, words
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