Why is Black Friday black? The NATO alphabet. Byeloveyou.
955. This week, we're looking at the curious origins and histories behind common idioms and expressions that use "black," like "Black Friday," "black sheep," "in-the-black," and more. Then we switch gears to explore what happens when phonetic alphabets go delightfully rogue, like in comedy bits and songs.The Black Friday segment was written by Julia DiGeronimo, a recent graduate and a freelance writer from Northern New Jersey.| Jack Parr phonetic alphabet comedy skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfLaY-R9kaU| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/black-friday/transcript| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio Engineer: Nathan SemesDirector of Podcast: Brannan GoetschiusAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
21 Nov 202317min
The science of the plot twist. Irregardless. Spug.
954. Uh-oh, "irregardless" isn’t going away anytime soon. Take a deep breath while we dig into this hated word’s history, from its first appearance in 1795 to today. And then, do you love a good plot twist? In honor of National Novel Writing Month, we look at the psychology of surprises in fiction.The "irregardless" segment was written by Susan Herman, a retired U.S. government multidisciplined language analyst, analytic editor, and instructor.The "plot twist" segment was written by Vera Tobin, an associate professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University. It originally appeared on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license.| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/irregardless/transcript| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio Engineer: Nathan SemesDirector of Podcast: Brannan GoetschiusAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
14 Nov 202317min
Omnishambles! Military slang across the pond (interview with Ben Yagoda)
953. In honor of Veterans Day, Ben Yagoda tells us tales of military words that marched from the British lexicon to American English and influence the way we speak today. "Omnishambles," "gadget," "boffin" and more! We'll dispel some posh myths, and you'll be gobsmacked by the linguistic invasion..Find Ben at BenYagoda.com. His forthcoming book, "Gobsmacked! The British Invasion of American English," will come out in fall of 2024.| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/ben-yagoda/transcript| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio Engineer: Nathan SemesDirector of Podcasts: Brannan GoetschiusAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: Bluesky, Threads, YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
7 Nov 202332min
Cliches. Organic. Bully pulpit. Fimfy.
951. In honor of National Cliché day, we uncover why some overused phrases rub us the wrong way. What is the boundary between idioms, slang, and clichés—and should we give "adulting" a break? Then, we trace the 700-year history of "organic," from bodily organs to natural growth, and ask whether using a bully pulpit makes someone a bad person.The "cliche" segment was written by Kirk Hazen, a professor of linguistics at West Virginia University, and Jordan Lovejoy, a visiting assistant professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It first appeared on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license (BY-ND 4.0).| Transcript.| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly HutchingsMarketing Temp: Kamryn Lacey| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
31 Okt 202319min
The dark histories behind your favorite scary words, with Jess Zafarris
951. What's the difference between terror and horror? Why was the word for "bear" so scary that it is lost to history? Jess Zafarris, author of "Words from Hell," goes through these stories and more in a scary, spooky etymology romp to help us get ready for Halloween. "Words from Hell" https://amzn.to/3rZVxo0Find Jess Zafarris online: Useless Etymology, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram| Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/jess-zafarris/transcript| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
24 Okt 202335min
Namesake. Commentate. Sprigly
950. Nowthen, a town with an odd little name, helps us understand the word "namesake," and then I have some surprising poll results about the much-hated verb "commentate."The "namesake" segment is written by Brenda Thomas, a freelance writer who enjoys writing about a variety of topics in the humanities and education.| Transcript.| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Pebble. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
17 Okt 202313min
How to write great topic sentences. Fanilects. Throwawayable.
949. Topic sentences aren't just for students! This week, we have real-life, grown-up examples — and you'll finally understand why that concept your English teacher kept talking about will help you write better business proposals, blog posts, and more. Plus, we have fun looking at fanilects (you read that right, not familects) and weird words such as "unputdownable," "throwawayable," and "untalkaboutable."Cohesive paragraph example from the Indiana University Bloomington Writing Tutorial Services: https://wts.indiana.edu/writing-guides/paragraphs-and-topic-sentences.html| Transcript.| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
10 Okt 202315min
When 'nice' was bad and 'bully' was good. Is 'preorder' redundant? High-intensity transformer.
948. Think you know where words like "bully," "nice," and "bimbo" come from? Think again! Join me as we explore surprising origins of common words. We'll see how terms like "bully" and "nice" changed meaning over time, how "bimbo" switched genders, and where oddly violent words like "amok" and "berserk" originated. Plus, did you know "soon" once meant "immediately"? Learn these twists and turns in the curious histories of familiar words!Plus, we look at the publishing industry meaning of "preordering" books and how it helps authors get on bestseller lists, even though some find the term illogical. And explain why you should preorder books to support your author friends.| Transcript.| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.| Peeve Wars card game. | Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) or https://sayhi.chat/grammargirl| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.Audio engineer: Nathan SemesEditor: Adam CecilAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina TomlinDigital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
3 Okt 202316min
