Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

If you've ever been nervous before interviewing someone, struggled to write a good lede, or just want to get some tips on handy tools for writers, this interview with Jonathan Small is for...

Created on purpose and easy to learn, Esperanto will amaze you. Once you learn the origin of "fall," you'll look at trees in a whole new way.
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Learn from our fact checking tips that come from years of experience. Also, we answer a listener question about why we call something a "watershed moment."
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Have you ever wondered why the British say "maths" and "in hospital" and Americans say "math" and "in the hospital"? We have some answers. Also, we look at why the most common verbs tend to be...

Alan wonders what to think about his co-workers "solutioning" problems. Also, we investigate whether you should tell people "It is I" or "It is me."
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We think there are better ways to talk about conditionals (such as "If Squiggly knew the answer...") than to use the vague terms first, second, and third conditionals. Also we look at why people...

If you hate how people misuse words like "literally" and "awesome," at least you can learn that there's a name for that kind of misuse: semantic bleaching. Also, have you ever considered using...

Writing for speech is different from writing for print. The "aks" pronunciation for "ask" has a nearly 1000-year history.
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Use these tricks to get a laugh.
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SUS-pect and sus-PECT. IN-valid and in-VALID. English is filled with words that are spelled the same but sound different. We dug in and found a few interesting reasons.
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We rock. You rock. They rock. Understanding point of view in fiction. "Tinderella," "phubbing," and more words at the intersection of relationships and technology.
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Some words get their names from people, and when they do, the stories are usually fascinating.
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One of the most common questions I get is how to make a word like "Kansas" possessive. There isn't a right or wrong answer, but I can help you decide which is best for you. Also, we have tips on...

It's not your fault apostrophes are confusing. We have help. Also, I called someone a "cipher," and my husband didn't know what that meant.
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When you mishear song lyrics, the resulting (often funny) error is called a mondegreen. We have the story about why and the run-down on similar funny errors. Also, did you know the ampersand used...

It's time to take off, and we have 10 words to describe it. Also, we dig in to an interesting mystery: Why some people call green peppers "mangoes."
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I talked with Cecelia Watson, author of the new book "Semicolon" about how grammar writers in the 1800s became fabulously wealthy, struggled to create rules, and had vicious arguments; and we...

A listener asked why we call some kinds of alcohol hard drinks and spirits, so we found the answer! Also, I'll help you remember the difference between "phenomenon" and "phenomena."
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Gretchen McCulloch studies how people use language on the internet, and today we talked about her new book, "Because Internet." I bet you'll recognize yourself or your friends in her insights. I...

Why sometimes it's not a bad idea to dumb down your language.
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