Gerrymandering draws political boundaries to tip elections towards certain political parties. Originally, the word was pronounced “GARY-mandering” with a hard “g.” But why? And why did it change? • Mark Twain and Helen Keller...
Re: in an email subject line means “regarding” or “with reference to,” but it’s not an abbreviation for either one of those things. It comes from a form of the Latin word res meaning “matter” or “thing...
There’s been a lot of talk about the place of handwriting in the digital age. Grant has some great books to recommend on the subject: Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry, and Handwriting in America: A Cultural History by Tamara...
Grant follows up on his chickpea vs. garbanzo poll, and shares an email on the subject from the U.S. Dry Bean Council. This is part of a complete episode.
A police officer says that the prosecutor edits out the word “that” from the reports he submits, as in, “The subject stated that he met the co-defendant at a party.” Is the word “that” necessary here? Martha and...
Writing in the Guardian, Stuart Jeffries contends that our email boxes are being infested with exclamation marks, known as bangs or bangers (without mash) to some people. Jacob Rubin also wrote on the subject a couple of years ago in Slate. This is...