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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
While Googling some grammar questions the other day, I came across a goldmine: AskOxford’s Ask the Experts page. (This is the US version — there’s also a UK version.) This page has links to tons of English language trivia, and it answered some nagging questions I had.
Here are some of my favorites:
- What is the ‘Oxford comma’?
- Are there any words that rhyme with orange?
- What comes after once, twice, thrice?
- Is it acceptable to use they instead of he or she?
- When should I use ‘less’, and when should I use ‘fewer’?
There are so many answers on this site I’d love to link to, but I guess the list above is enough to get started. Go check out the rest (be sure to click on the category links, especially the Word Origins section).
Door hinge rhymes with orange.
posted by Willylumplump on 10-23-2007 at 11:33 am
I always felt that “porridge” comes pretty close to rhyming with “orange”.
posted by Kelly on 10-23-2007 at 11:34 am
This is particularly timely for me. My first grader has been struggling this week with “fewer.” My explanation to her was that we use “less” for things we measure and “fewer” for things we count. How’s that sound to you experts out there?
posted by Betsy on 10-23-2007 at 2:51 pm
Betsy - that’s the explanation I’ve always used. Then again for some reason the less/fewer thing just came to me naturally, so I’m not sure if it’s a quick enough trick to use on-the-fly.
Grammar Girl has some helpful stuff:
grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/less-versus-fewer.aspx
posted by Higgins on 10-23-2007 at 3:05 pm
Higgins - I’ve almost always been able to depend on “came to me naturally” too - until I had inquisitive kids to explain things to! For myself, I can use “it just doesn’t sound right.” For them, I have to do better (while keeping it on a first-grade level).
posted by Betsy on 10-23-2007 at 4:13 pm
This is such a great site! I’m probably going to read every word of it!
In college we referred to them as “serial commas” - I’m wholly in favor! I know that both are correct (depending on the preferred style) but irks me to see a missing comma!
posted by sd on 11-1-2007 at 8:29 am