Why Academics Revel in Bad Writing
The profession’s taste for tortured verbiage comes from a desire to be taken seriously. But does it matter if no one actually reads their work?
Read MoreSarah Sweet
Barbarians at the Gates of Grammar
My Latinist father and I always disagreed about language. Then I got old
Read More Why Women Who Fish Are Still Fishermen
It’s clear when language is sexist—except when the people you’re talking about disagree
Read More Please Stop Sending Me the Oxford Comma Story
Copy editors have lives outside of punctuation—but also, I love commas
Read More Trump’s Typo Problem: Human Error, or Willful Ignorance?
The number of mistakes signals that important people don’t know what they’re doing—and couldn’t care less
Read More Can You Trust Your Dictionary?
The Canadian Oxford can be a writer’s best friend—if they understand its limitations
Read More ‘Alt-Right’ and the Danger of Euphemisms
The media should not help white nationalists rebrand bigotry
Read More Understanding Trump’s Grammar
It’s tempting to mock the way Trump speaks — but doing so plays right into his tiny hands
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Grammar’s Star Trek Rule
Resistance is futile—just split your infinitives, already
Read More Don’t Be a Grammar Troll
The web may be a pedant’s paradise, but there are good reasons to keep your asterisks to yourself
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