Guess what! Or would that be Guess what? A Honolulu listener asks about the right way to punctuate this interjection. Should you use an exclamation mark or a question mark? How about an interrobang or a pronequark? This is part of a complete episode...
Grant and Martha talk more about the challenges dictionary editors face when trying to define numbers and colors. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Defining Numbers and Colors” You’re listening to A Way with Words...
Gina from Dallas, Texas, asks about a family Scrabble dispute with her English-teacher sister: is the comparative form stupider, or should it be more stupid? Usage guides allow both forms, along with the superlative stupidest. Longer adjectives...
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...
Many of us learned the rule about using the preposition between when talking about two items, but among when talking about more than two. In reality, though, the rule is a little more complicated. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
A father looking for the best dictionary for his college-freshman son has practical options. Online, OneLook.com searches references such as American Heritage and Merriam-Webster, while the paid Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged runs about $30 a...
