Rebel with a Clause

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it.

I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette.

Ellen Joven is a self-described grammar nerd. She’s taught English and communication skills for years. She’s fluent in six languages and has studied more than 20 others.

In fact, she’s such a grammar nerd that four years ago, she stepped out of her New York apartment and set up a folding table near the 72nd Street subway station. She put out a big sign that said, Grammar Table, and invited people to just come up and talk with her about grammar.

And in less than a minute, a couple had already come up to her to ask her to resolve a dispute about apostrophes. And she had so much fun that day talking with random strangers about grammar that she did it again.

And then she moved to a different subway station, and, well, four years later, Jovan has now set up her table in 49 states and had hundreds and hundreds of conversations with passersby. And she’s compiled those adventures in a new book that’s called Rebel with a Claws, Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian.

Now, much of this book is a travel memoir, but along the way, she offers easy-to-understand advice about grammar, about adverbs and prepositions, and whether to put one or two spaces after a period. And Grant, you’ll be pleased to know that for the record, she says two spaces after a period is the mom genes of punctuation.

Oh, I see. I know you agree with that. Anyway, it’s a grammar book with a heart. You know, she makes sure that people know that grammar doesn’t have to be intimidating. You can just relax and take a deep breath and think of grammar as your friend, that it’s there for clarity of communication.

And she also makes the point that you really shouldn’t judge people for their grammar because you just may be wrong yourself. And I was reading this book, Grant, and I just thought, why? What possesses somebody to stick a table out in public and invite people to come and ask questions? And then I thought, wait a minute, that’s what we do without the frequent flyer miles.

Right, right. Without the people brushing by headed for the subway, you’re like, no time, no time. Oh, it sounds like a fun book. And I always like a travelogue. I’m throwing a little grammar in there, too. That sounds like a good read.

Yeah. You can find Ellen Joven, that’s J-O-V-I-N, on the internet. Her Twitter handle is atgrammartable. And the book again, Martha?

Rebel with the Claws, Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian. We’ll link to that on our website at waywordradio.org, where you can also find all of our past episodes. And you can find a dozen ways to communicate with us at waywordradio.org contact.