grammar

List

7 Sentences That Sound Crazy But Are Still Grammatical

This Grammar Day, let's not look at grammar as a cold, harsh mistress. She can also be a fun, kooky aunt. Here are some tricks you can do to make crazy sounding sentences that are still grammatical. ... READ ON

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The Blogger Abides: Words and Phrases I've Misused

Good news, everyone! I wrote a book! It's called The Blogger Abides, and it's based on my experience writing for Mental Floss and other publications over the years. Longtime readers of this blog will recognize the book as a very Flossy affair: it includes a lengthy foreword by Ransom Riggs, and it was edited by Adrienne Crezo. Have you ever wondered what it's like to interview famous people who are intimidatingly awesome and/or rude? Have you asked yourself, "Do bloggers wear pants?" Have you... READ ON

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Hey, Grammar Nazis: Listen Up!

Many of you might recall the two-year long series of posts I wrote on this blog called "Weekend Word Wrap." We had a lot of fun poking fun at language, word puns, grammar Nazis, pretty much anything word-related. And while it's true that I occasionally blew off some steam, noting my annoyance with those who ignore the subjunctive, etc., it's also true that I poked fun at those who take it all a little too far, correcting other people in public, in comments (like on this blog), etc. Stephen Fry, actor,... READ ON

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Comics Grammar and Tradition

Nate Piekos designs fonts for comics. During his career "lettering" comics (writing and typesetting the dialogue and other text), Piekos has synthesized a set of rules and conventions of the trade. In his new article Comics Grammar & Tradition, Piekos shares what he's learned. Here are a few... READ ON

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Why Do We Capitalize the Word "I"?

Caroline Winter (sitting in for William Safire) tackles the issue of the English capitalized "I" in her column My, Myself and I in yesterday's Times Magazine. It's an interesting read (okay, and deliciously nerdy), touching on the use of personal pronouns in various languages, and tracing the peculiar history of this particular one-letter English word. (Also, big bonus points for using the word majuscule in the opening paragraph!) Here's a sample: "Graphically, single letters are a problem," says... READ ON

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Chomskybot: Almost Intelligible Gibberish

Chomskybot is a web-hosted program that generates text which appears similar to (and based on) the famously hard-to-follow linguistic work of Noam Chomsky. But unlike Chomsky's actual work, Chomskybot's text is devoid of meaning. Circling back on itself, piling modifiers on terms, and stretching the limits of human attention, Chomskybot generates a stream of text that's almost meaningful -- and by doing so, it's actually kind of fun to read...until it drives you nuts. For example, try to make sense of... READ ON

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Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

Believe it or not, this sentence is grammatically correct and has meaning: "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." First devised by professor William J. Rapaport in 1972, the sentence uses various meanings and parts of speech for the term "buffalo" (and its related proper noun "Buffalo") to make an extremely hard-to-parse sentence. Although most people know "buffalo" as both a singular and plural term for bison, and "Buffalo" as a city in New York, "buffalo" is also a verb... READ ON

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AskOxford's Ask The Experts

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... READ ON

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The LOLCat Bible Translation Project

We've covered LOLCats before (including Miss C.'s hit LOLCat of Death post), but now things have gotten a little out of hand. The phenomenon of LOLCat Grammar has now matured enough to support a translation of the Bible into LOLCat language. Seriously. Check it out: LOLCat Bible Translation Project. The site is just getting started, but there's already plenty of material on there. And if you're into LOLCats (or Biblical translation), you can create an account and help with the translation! Note... READ ON

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Yet More "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

June brought us the classic Gallery of "Misused" Quotation Marks, September was full of More "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, and now "unnecessary" quotation marks are going "Web 2.0" with Flickr, in the "Quotation Mark" Abuse pool. Finally, you can get in on the action! Here are a few favorites from the Flickr... READ ON