Calling from the Greek island of Crete, a retired English teacher named Beth asks about using of amount of instead of number of when it comes to such phrases as the amount of people or the amount of eggs. The traditional distinction is that amount...
If you reeeeeeeeeally want to emphasize something in writing, you can engage in what linguists call expressive lengthening, or making a word longer by repeating letters. It’s an example of paralinguistic restitution, rendering in text cues such as...
Christy, an English teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and her boyfriend disagree over whether your copy of the The New Yorker can ever be right. Published usage, such as the magazine’s own contributor notes, keeps the title’s article but does...
There’s no definite rule for putting the apostrophe “s” after names like Liz or Alex when talking about Liz’s wedding or Alex’s school, but we know for certain that most people say, and write out, the possessive...
Every elementary school student is taught never to start a sentence with but. But why? Teachers of young students often warn against beginning with but or and simply as a way of avoiding a verbal crutch. All mature writers develop an instinct for...
The 19th Century French writer Adolphe de Lamartine said that written language is like a mirror, which it is necessary to have in order that man know himself and be sure that he exists. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
