The parent of a highschooler in Madison, Wisconsin, says that at the beginning of each semester, when her daughter’s classmates introduce themselves and their preferred pronouns, gender-neutral students often say their pronouns are they and...
What is the plural of attorney general? Attorneys general or attorney generals? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Attorney General Plural” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi there. My name is Jake Danan. I’m...
Why, when writing out an abbreviated name like NATO for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, don’t we use periods between the letters to form the acronym or initialism? This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Periods in...
An attorney in El Centro, California, is bothered by the phrase a large amount of people, because the word amount is usually applied to mass nouns, not count nouns. There are exceptions, however. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
Scratch an itch is standard, and it’s much more widely accepted than using itch transitively, as in itch my back. Robin in Paris, Virginia, has a movie-night wager riding on the question because his wife insists that the hand does the scratching and...
Is it okay to say the person that did it, or should you say the person who did it? Both are fine, although who is probably preferable in that it acknowledges that person’s humanity. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “That...