Mignon Fogarty

Thanks for the update. I've been wondering — a lot — about the legality of this.

Thanks, English.

STRAIT and STRAIGHT are *not* etymologically related.

STRAIT is from French for "tight, narrow," ultimately from a form of Latin STRINGERE (to bind, draw tight).

Think STRICT, CONSTRICT.

STRAIGHT is from a form of Old English STRECCAN (stretch). It's literally "stretched."

Promotional graphic with a black-and-gold awards-show background filled with sparkles and spotlights. Large text reads "Is Academy Awards Singular?" An orange banner across the lower left says "SINGULAR?" A shiny gold award statue stands near the center, and a smiling dark-haired woman fills the right side. A red circle in the upper left says "QDT," the upper right says "GRAMMAR GIRL," and the bottom shows the "macmillan podcasts" logo.

Have you ever seen people use "Academy Awards" as though it were singular?

Jim Norrena did and wondered whether it's always wrong. Hear what he found in today's Grammar Girl podcast!

🎧 APPLE: tinyurl.com/242349p4
🎧 SPOTIFY: tinyurl.com/2cgahekq

star trek themed doctors office that looks very like much the TNG/VOY era consoles. there is also a cardboard cutout of seven of nine!

one of the waiting chairs that looks like the bridge of the enterprise-D’s navigation console except that the chair is black.

im at the eye doctors. there is a doctor here who has a whole ass star trek themed setup

I read "biped" as verb. I think that's my sign to end my work day.

An amazing book about this is "Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker."

It's presumably about hacking, but it's mostly about social engineering.

I just learned what I'm sure is going to be a life-changing new Chrome keyboard command: Shift-Command-A

Search all tabs.

When You Should Use (and Avoid) Contractions Have you heard that you shouldn't use contractions in your writing? We have the real story.

March your tone to your audience. Casual and approachable? Contract away. Formal and authoritative? Spell it out.

Read more: www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/whe...

A young white woman with brown hair in a pony tail has her hand up in front of her face as though she's hiding or blocking something. The test to the left reads "do not or don't?"

Should you write "don't" or "do not"? It depends.

Contractions are the default in everyday writing such as emails, dialogue, and conversational prose. But they're almost always absent in scholarly papers, legal writing, formal business documents, and (surprisingly) newspaper journalism.

just heard a guy on youtube say "in the grand scream of things"

I'd call that a spatula too.

textual ambiguity Visit the post for more.

textual ambiguity wronghands1.com/2017/10/20/t...

Why the Bully Pulpit Isn't What You Think The phrase "bully pulpit" doesn't mean a place for bullies — it's from Teddy Roosevelt reveling in the "bully" platform the presidency gave him. Learn the forgotten friendly sense of "bully" behind…

Read more: www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/why...

A woman with a ponytail in a white blouse and brown skirt stands on a stage with her arms outstretched, facing a large, blurred audience under warm stage lights.

Think a "bully pulpit" is about bullying an audience? Nope! The phrase actually goes back to Theodore Roosevelt, who used "bully" to mean excellent or first-rate.

When he called the presidency a "bully pulpit," he meant it was a great platform for sharing ideas, not a place to push people around.

PSA for those in the U.S.

2026 Grammar Day Poetry Contest Winners

I'm behind on this, but the winners of the National Grammar Day Poetry Contest last week were all great. If you're looking for a quick, delightful diversion, check them out!

aceseditors.org/news/2026/20...

I have a post scheduled to come out this week on aphasia. (March is Brain Injury Awareness Month.)

Wow, congratulations!

The word “tattoo” has two distinct meanings, with two distinct etymologies.

The first, meaning skin art, comes from Polynesian. The second, meaning a military drumbeat, comes from the Dutch.

I know! It’s as early as it can possibly be this year because March 1 was on a Sunday.

AP style is all lowercase and "saving" (singular). Don't forget to move your clocks an hour forward before you go to bed tonight.

In the U.S., daylight saving time officially starts at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March.

Oh, yay! I'm glad to hear it. Thanks for letting me know. :)

🤣

Words That ONLY Exist In Specific Regions YouTube video by Grammar Girl

This is actually a particularly good episode to watch on YouTube because we talk about the DARE maps and why they're shaped so weird.

WATCH: youtu.be/F6dYztdHnG8?...

READ: grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/116...

LISTEN: pod.link/173429229

#GrammarGirl #podcast

(I call them both a spatula.)

Rubber or silicone spatula and slotted turner or flipper side by side under the heading “What Do You Call These?” with “VS” between them.

Some people call these the same thing, and other people have different names for them — and it can depend on where you live!

That's just one of the cool things you'll learn this week from my chat with Joan Hall, former editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English.

🎧 pod.link/173429229

:)

Sneaky

Amazing! What a great feeling that must have been.

a woman with red hair is giving a high five to someone in front of a microphone . Alt: a woman with red hair in braids who is excitedly rubbing her hands together in front of a microphone .

A company that gave me terrible customer service just sent me a survey.

I love it!