Before her biography Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (Bookshop|Amazon), Katherine Rundell was better known as a writer of children’s books, including The Girl Savage (Bookshop|Amazon) and Rooftoppers (Bookshop|Amazon). The latter...
Is typing two spaces after a period “totally, completely, utterly, and inarguably wrong?” Also, is the language of the movie True Grit historically accurate? Also, shut your pie-hole, Southern grammar, oh my Lady Gaga, and a little town called...
A transplant from Zimbabwe finds the word irregardless annoying and ungrammatical. Grant explains that regardless of its status, “irregardless” is needlessly redundant. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Regardless vs. Irregardless”...
wovit n.— «Godwin provided plenty of colorful examples of the gradual disintegration of the farming system in Zimbabwe as the war vets or “wovits,” as they are called, grab land from the rightful owners.» —“Journalist recounts decimation of...
meter n.— «“Thirty meters. Take it or leave it!” said a vendor who gave his name only as Ephraim. In street parlance, a million Zimbabwe dollars is a meter.» —“Impoverished Mozambique becomes new shopping destination for shortage-hit...
fong kong n.—Gloss: in South Africa and Zimbabwe, a product from Asia, usually believed to be shoddy and cheap. Note: The expression seems to be used both as a count and noncount noun. A similar term is zhing zhong. «Several traders said that they...
