Today’s quiz is about word choice. Choose the better word in these five sentences. You might find a couple of… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Old Triangle Grammar Guide
National Grammar Day is coming! Take a quiz
March 4 is National Grammar Day. Two smart women with grammar obsessions are promoting the day — Martha Brockenbrough of… Read more »
Why "an historic" is wrong
I ran across a story that used "an historic" and gathered other evidence to show how pervasive this error is… Read more »
The Grammar Guide Quiz returns! And it's supersized!
At last, I have a new Triangle Grammar Guide quiz for you to try. This one has 10(!) multiple-choice questions,… Read more »
Word of the year lists
I This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co.; is posted… Read more »
Word watch: Dilemma
A colleague pointed out some loose usage in this passage: Your house may soon be overrun by holiday weekend houseguests…. Read more »
Book review: "I Laid an Egg on Aunt Ruth's Head"
Joel Schnoor, who lives in Apex, sent me a copy of his book, "I Laid an Egg on Aunt Ruth’s… Read more »
Every time a cliche rings, a copy editor gets her wings
An editor urged copy editors at The News & Observer to avoid seasonal cliches such as "’Tis the season" and… Read more »
A phrase that might sound dirty but isn't
One copy editor duty is to keep vulgar words and phrases out of the newspaper — or at least, to… Read more »
Word of the year: Unfriend
Oxford University Press, publisher of the New Oxford American Dictionary, has chosen "unfriend" as the word of the year for… Read more »
Copy editors will think this is funny
We used to have a saying on the copy desk: Don’t follow the stylebook out the window. In other words,… Read more »
Word search: How a copy editor thinks
We work very fast these days with diminished resources, and sometimes my word nerd proclivities have to wait until I… Read more »
The plain language of death
I wrote a post a few years ago about the language of death. As a regular reader of the paid… Read more »
Book review: "My Dog Bites the English Teacher"
Marian Anders tells the truth when she writes, "Unless you want to be an English teacher, you only need to… Read more »
Word watch: town hall meeting
A reader has an interesting point to make about a phrase that is all over the news these days: "It… Read more »
Punctuation mystery: Why a comma?
Staff photojournalist Shawn Rocco and staff writer Martha Quillin reported this week on Cary homeowner David Bowden’s very large message… Read more »
Mechanics: Plural possessive of a family name
The New York Times report of a well-known British conductor’s assisted suicide alongside his wife has a passage that illustrates… Read more »
Word news: Don't take a staycation with your frenemy
The editors of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary have added about 100 words for the 2009 edition and to the dictionary online…. Read more »
Words we like: antebellum
The latest installment in The N&O’s Old North State series, Warrenton fights to regain lost glory, allows us a chance… Read more »
Modify your misplaced and dangling modifiers
Misplaced and dangling modifiers can sneak in when writers and editors aren’t paying attention. A couple of readers found such… Read more »
Say it like a native: place name pronunciation
Staff writer Martha Quillin’s story about the pronunciation of Lejeune reminds me of the peculiarities of place name pronunciation. Even… Read more »
What the Grammar Guide is about
A slogan I’ve seen from time to time comes to mind today: Christians aren’t perfect — just forgiven. This article… Read more »
Confusing pairs: gel and jell
When we speak of a group or a team coming together to form a cohesive whole or when we write… Read more »
Errors in unexpected places
Sometimes, an error in a public sign surprises me because of the context. I visited Washington late in May and… Read more »
Word watch: reform
Reform has been in the news, both foreign and domestic. In reports about the Iranian election and its violent aftermath,… Read more »