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Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
On Account of My Peeve
Everybody has a language pet peeve. Erin Brenner's is "on account of."
Recently I was writing a tweet and typed "on account of." Something about it seemed wrong to me, but I couldn't say what. I rewrote my tweet, determined to look into the troubling phrase when I had a moment.
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Behind the DictionaryLexicographers Talk About Language
You Be "-Illion"!
Million, billion, trillion, zillion: how we form names for big numbers.
Earlier this month, the Earth's population passed seven billion. During the summer, the United States' national debt (at least the official debt as calculated by the U.S. Treasury) hit $14 trillion. And in a joke that's been going around for about a decade, various people, including blondes, Texas Aggies, violinists, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, have learned of the death of several Brazilian skydivers (or Brazilian soldiers in Iraq) and wondered, "How many is a Brazilian?"
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Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
Grammar Bite: Making Media Agree
It can be tricky trying to decide whether "media" is singular or plural.
When media is used to refer to "means of mass communication," should it be considered a singular or plural noun? According to Erin Brenner, founder of Right Touch Editing, the answer depends on whom you ask.
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Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
Setting a Few Parameters
Some words often get confused, like "parameter" and "perimeter."
Though I became an editor partly because I enjoy finding fault in the work of others, I have on occasion tried to help my fellow man and woman right some of the more popular wrongs perpetrated against the language.
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Language LoungeA Monthly Column for Word Lovers
Lexical Apostasy
A word like "shtick" can end up diverging from its original meaning.
Words step outside of their borders all the time; and once they are in new territory, they rarely follow the rules that bound them in their original context. As time passes, they can become complete strangers to their original users, and may even be seen as betraying them.
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CandlepowerAd and marketing creatives
Mass-Market Artisans
Everything's going artisanal these days, from pizza to dog treats.
In September, Domino's Pizza -- the second-largest pizza chain in the United States, with annual revenue approaching $1.5 billion -- introduced "Artisan Pizzas" to its 5,000 stores nationwide. Are you picturing skilled workers up to their elbows in whole-grain flour and locally sourced tomatoes, lovingly patting each pie into a charmingly irregular shape? Well, forget about it.
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Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
Occupying Word Street
The Occupy Wall Street movement has developed its own lexicon, starting with "occupy" itself.
The public protest over economic inequalities known as "Occupy Wall Street" has been going on nearly a month now, with the original demonstration in Manhattan's Financial District spreading to cities around the world. Thanks to the success of the movement, the lingo of the protesters has spread quickly, with the verb occupy in particular becoming a kind of rallying cry.
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