An Omaha, Nebraska, woman reports that a customer emailed her after a sales presentation to correct her pronunciation of the word via, meaning “through” or “by means of.” In this case, the customer wasn’t right: via can...
A listener in Marquette, Michigan, says her daughters criticize her for saying where you at? They argue that the word at in this case is unnecessary. In many cases, this phrase is indeed a pleonasm, but Grant explains that in some contexts this use...
Megan in Monticello, Florida, is bothered by on tomorrow, as in We can do that on tomorrow, because on sounds redundant to her. Rather than being a simple grammatical error, the phrasing is a well-documented dialect feature in parts of the US South...
When it comes to job titles, the prepositions of and for can seem interchangeable and arbitrary, but they mean slightly different things. Of, as in a Dean of Student Conduct, is in charge of a particular area by themselves, whereas a Vice President...
It’s the business of business jargon. Say you’re in line at the drugstore. Does it bother you if the cashier says, “Next guest”? In department stores and coffeeshops, does the term “guest” suggest real...
It’s largely because of the way we feel while riding in a car or on a train that we use the prepositions in a car and on a train. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “In a Car vs. On a Train” Hello, you have A Way...