I wrote a provocative headline on this post. In fact, I am developing a tolerant attitude toward my fellow English… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Old Triangle Grammar Guide
Word choice: Choose not to pick a fight
A reader sent this note recently to our editors: Where I grew up we picked cotton, peaches, beans and noses…. Read more »
A matter of distance: farther and further
I am working on a project in a small, somewhat isolated office at the N&O. We’re helping to set up… Read more »
Try a Grammar Guide quiz on lay and lie
Need some practice on lay and lie? Lots of people mix up these verbs, and the best way to learn… Read more »
Broach the subject of a brooch
A brooch is a piece of jewelry. It has a pin and a clasp so that it can be attached… Read more »
Word watch: the verb "vet"
As President-elect Barack Obama and his staff prepare for the new administration, the word "vet" has come up often in… Read more »
Word watch: doorstep as a verb
I ran across the word "doorstepped" in a story about a British journalist today. I didn’t understand what it meant… Read more »
Try a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz
The latest Grammar Guide quiz focuses on word choice. You will be asked to choose the better of two words… Read more »
Top 10 irritating phrases
Oxford University researchers have released a top 10 list of irritating phrases. The link is to a British newspaper story… Read more »
Clever writers on language
I wrote about Sarah Palin’s language and about Roy Blount Jr.’s language book. Now here are two pieces from the… Read more »
Comic distraction: bring vs. take
Sunday’s "Rhymes With Orange" reminded me of the problems people have with "bring" and "take." The comic strip carries the… Read more »
We respectfully disagree: stamp vs. stomp
A lead on a story from a few days ago with the construction "stamped to death" made me stop. I… Read more »
Get a sip of "Alphabet Juice"
Roy Blount Jr. was on NPR’s "Talk of the Nation" today to promote his word book, "Alphabet Juice." If you… Read more »
Book review: "Alphabet Juice"
"Alphabet Juice: The Energies, Gists and Spirits of Letters, Words and Combinations Thereof; Their Roots, Bones, Innards, Piths, Pips and… Read more »
The man who wrote the dictionary
We have this man to thank when we spell the word color instead of colour. Yale University will celebrate Noah… Read more »
Funny and beautiful words
Do the words hornswoggle, mollycoddle and whippersnapper make you giggle? They are among the 100 Funniest Words in English, according… Read more »
More on Sarah Palin's fascinating rhythm
My earlier post about Sarah Palin’s speech This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary… Read more »
It's, like, totally awesome
What’s the most overused word in today’s English? I nominate awesome. Everyone from the president to the most inane pop… Read more »
Just for fun: What accent do you have?
Here is a quiz to help you figure out which American accent you have. Mine is Southern. This article was… Read more »
Sarah Palin's fascinating rhythm
This year’s presidential campaign is filled with interesting word choices and rhetorical devices. Like many members of the news media,… Read more »
Try a Triangle Grammar Guide quiz
Today’s quiz was inspired and aided by John Bremner’s "Words on Words." The five sentences on the quiz involve word… Read more »
Found treasure
I happened across a copy of John B. Bremner’s "Words on Words" on a bookshelf in The N&O’s computer training… Read more »
Book review: "The Secret Life of Words"
"The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English" by Henry Hitchings. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 448 pages, September 2008…. Read more »
Candidates and their rhetoric
Speeches in this year’s presidential campaign are awash in a rhetorical device called antimetabole, according to an article in Slate…. Read more »
Word watch: Anonymize
A discussion on the radio show "On The Media" about Google’s data gathering used this word: anonymize. You can click… Read more »