Many so-called “rules” of grammar are actually just zombie rules. They’re ill-advised attempts by 17th-century grammarians to make English syntax fit the orderly rules of Latin. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Campaign once drew fire when applied to elections. Nineteenth-century usage writers Richard Grant White and C.W. Bardeen objected that a presidential campaign wrongly borrowed military language, preferring contest instead. White called it “inflamed...
Tom at UC San Diego missed a meeting after hearing next Thursday, a phrase that can point to the coming Thursday or the Thursday after that, depending on timing and context. In natural conversation, people usually renegotiate dates with a follow-up...
You know that grammatical “rule” about not ending a sentence with a preposition? Well, who ever decided finishing off a sentence like that is a bad thing? (Personally, we think it’s one of the silliest things anyone ever came up...
Is it ever okay to end a sentence with a preposition? Oh, is it ever! Martha and Grant do their best to bury this tired old proscription. It’s a baseless rule concocted by 17-century grammarians, and it’s errant nonsense up with which...