Monthly Archives: December 2011

A (snarky) Word Of The Year roundup

Posted on December 30, 2011 by

There is a narrow spectrum of occasions that really get word nerds excited. And one of them is the year-end lists of Words Of The Year (or WOTY as we like to call it, while we push the brims of … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, in the news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sabai dee pee mai! Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun! Happy New Year!

Posted on December 30, 2011 by

  Felix annus novus tibi sit! Or, for our English readers, Happy New Year. I’ve been wanting to study Latin for years. (If some super rich and friendly reader happens to want to sponsor my Latin classes, I’d, um, be … Continue reading →

Posted in foreign language | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Holiday hiatus

Posted on December 18, 2011 by

Dear Grammar Party readers, Sorry I haven’t posted much in the last couple weeks. It’s been a bit crazy trying to get projects (that actually pay me in real dollars versus sheer grammatical delight) done before I head home for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Like turkeys voting for an early Christmas

Posted on December 14, 2011 by

If you’re like me, you’ve been spending the last two weeks in a feverish race to finish end-of-the-year work projects, purchase Christmas presents, and get everything sorted so you can enjoy the most Martha Stewart-worthy holiday. The result: not enough … Continue reading →

Posted in in the news, semantics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Set your phasers to learning!

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

phase (noun): a particular appearance or state in a regularly recurring cycle of changes; a distinguishable part in a course, development, or cycle phase (verb): to adjust so as to be in a synchronized condition; to conduct or carry out … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, etymology, foreign language | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A case for “they”

Posted on December 7, 2011 by

Ed Griffin’s recent post on his blog Writers Write Daily tackled a touchy subject. When referring to a person of unknown gender, should you use he/his or they/their? I, not surprisingly, have my own opinion about this topic that I … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, etymology, style issues | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Office idioms

Posted on December 5, 2011 by

A couple of years ago, back when I tried to live a corporate life, a coworker and I were discussing how works slows down to a trickle in December. Basically, people are only thinking about the holidays, and it seems … Continue reading →

Posted in story time | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Making a list. Checking it twice (for colons, commas, and semicolons).

Posted on December 5, 2011 by

Lesson: Using colons, commas, and semicolons in lists It’s December. ‘Tis the season for list making. Kids are making lists of presents they want to receive. Cooking aficionados are making lists of ingredients they need to bake their amazing cookies. … Continue reading →

Posted in copy editing, punctuation | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The King James Bible gave English some awesome phrases

Posted on December 2, 2011 by

Regardless of your faith, or lack thereof, it is simply astonishing to learn the number of common English phrases that come from the King James Bible. “A drop in the bucket,” “the root of the matter,” “fight the good fight,” … Continue reading →

Posted in etymology, literature | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments