Do you know where your participle is dangling? Martha and Grant salute National Grammar Day. Also, when you’re scribbling on a piece of paper, do you find yourself expecting spellcheck to kick in and underline your misspellings with squiggly red...
Karen in Texas asks on behalf of her 12-year-old son about the origin of booby trap. The booby in that phrase is the old sense boob or booby, a fool, possibly from Spanish bobo, “fool,” and reinforced by the goofy reputation of the blue-footed booby...