Letters “r” lies, or why English spelling is horrible
If you’re like me and have vivid memories of learning to read English, you probably remember being deeply frustrated. As far as four-year-old-Rachael was concerned, math was nice and simple: two and...
View ArticleAsk vs. Aks: Let me axe you a question
Do you know which one of these forms is the correct one? You sure about that? Four things are inevitable: death, taxes, the eventual heat-death of the universe, and language change. All (living)...
View ArticleMeme Grammar
So the goal of linguistics is to find and describe the systematic ways in which humans use language. And boy howdy do we humans love using language systematically. A great example of this is internet...
View ArticleGreat Ideas in Linguistics: Grammaticality Judgements
Today’s Great Idea in Linguistics comes to use from syntax. One interesting difference between syntax and other fields of linguistics is what is considered compelling evidence for a theory in syntax....
View ArticleThere, their and they’re: linguistics style!
The most frustrating homophone triplet in English is there, their and they’re, which are all said [ðɛr]. They’re a pain, and one that I’ve found that even really smart adults struggle with. And,...
View ArticleThe problem with the grammar police
I’ll admit it: I used to be a die-hard grammar corrector. I practically stalked around conversations with a red pen, ready to jump out and shout “gotcha!” if someone ended a sentence with a preposition...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....