A dash of punctuation

As a writer, I am always trying to improve my writing. As a Virgo, I have been told that I am slightly anal retentive. Regarding the latter, I think people are just using the stars to insult me. – Wait! I’ll be right back. The pencils on my desk aren’t properly aligned. – In any …

How many makes a plural?

This recent headline in the New York Times caught my eye. Trigger Warning: Fair citizens of Wilmington Delaware, before I continue, please allow the following clarification. The views of the New York Times regarding your city do not reflect my own. I have never been to Wilmington and have no opinion regarding your city’s degree …

WTF I need you to understand is…

Living languages constantly change. New words and phrases enter a language and old ones are forgotten. Often adaptations are gradual but occasionally a new phrase, like WTF (see the above Google NGram), quickly burst into a language and even infiltrate other languages. When observing the development of my first language – American English – I …