Regional grammar can be just as rich and diverse as regional vocabulary. The Yale Grammatical Diversity Project maps grammatical features that vary across American English, using research and survey data to show where they cluster. Examples include...
If someone’s in a swivet, they’re flustered, panicky, or too distracted to concentrate. You might be in a swivet because you’re late, swamped with work, or hurrying to get the house ready before guests arrive. This is part of a complete episode...
Remember those children’s classics, the Velveteen Rabbi and The Little Price? The Twitterverse is abound with these books with a letter missing. And it turns out there’s some pimping going on in our hospitals, but it’s not what...
What’s your choice for the 2011 word of the year? Grant shares some of his picks. Speaking of picks, why do football commentators seem to love the term pick-six? Also, great quotations from writers, the meaning of such Briticisms as cheeky and...
James, an art-supplies dealer in Dallas, shares street-art vocabulary from graffiti culture. A writer is someone who does graffiti, and bombing usually refers to doing illegal graffiti rather than a legal mural, with a finished piece sometimes...
When it comes to language, a listener from Dallas wants to know, as a fellow Texan might put it, “who’s the decider”? Grant explains that nobody makes the rules about language, and everybody does. For those seeking professional...
