http://www.grammarmatters.com/ Grammar Matters en Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:36:00 GMT Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:36:00 GMT info@grammarmatters.com info@grammarmatters.com http://www.grammarmatters.com/images/grammarmattersheader.jpg http://www.grammarmatters.com/ http://www.grammarmatters.com/threegrammarbooks/ I have quite a few books on writing and grammar, but these are the ones I call my favourites. The Chicago Manual of Style The University of Chicago Press has... http://www.grammarmatters.com/threegrammarbooks/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/threegrammarbooks/ Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:36:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/my-favourite-punctuation-marks/ Like most self-respecting word nerds, I have a few favourite punctuation marks: the em dash, parentheses, the semicolon, and the interrobang. The em dash - Not to be confused with... http://www.grammarmatters.com/my-favourite-punctuation-marks/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/my-favourite-punctuation-marks/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:31:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/using-less-versus-fewer/ The other day, I went to Starbucks and took a few napkins with my coffee. Here's a picture: I'm not sure if these napkins are new (I rarely go to... http://www.grammarmatters.com/using-less-versus-fewer/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/using-less-versus-fewer/ Mon, 19 May 2008 16:27:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/dont-these-people-employ-proofreaders/ When I was a little girl, I saw billboards advertising some kind of allergy medication all over the city. Its tagline was " let's you stay alert." Yes, it actually... http://www.grammarmatters.com/dont-these-people-employ-proofreaders/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/dont-these-people-employ-proofreaders/ Sat, 10 May 2008 15:49:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/bad-grammar-makes-me-sic/ Do you know what means? Most people glean its meaning from context, but they do not necessarily know the origin of the term. Sic is Latin for "thus" or "in... http://www.grammarmatters.com/bad-grammar-makes-me-sic/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/bad-grammar-makes-me-sic/ Tue, 06 May 2008 16:22:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/avoiding-the-comma-splice/ The comma splice is a common error. As I mentioned in a previous post, comma splices are acceptable, and even common, in literary writing (Jose Saramago comes to mind*). But... http://www.grammarmatters.com/avoiding-the-comma-splice/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/avoiding-the-comma-splice/ Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:18:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/when-to-use-eg-versus-ie/2/ The difference between "e.g." and "i.e." confounds many people. Since childhood, I'd thought they were interchangeable, and it was many years before I found out that they were not. It... http://www.grammarmatters.com/when-to-use-eg-versus-ie/2/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/when-to-use-eg-versus-ie/2/ Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:42:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/lake-superior-state-universitys-banished-words-list-for-2008/ Do you see anything wrong with this bag of greens? Apparently, Lake Superior State University does. Early this year, the university published its list of banished words for 2008. Why... http://www.grammarmatters.com/lake-superior-state-universitys-banished-words-list-for-2008/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/lake-superior-state-universitys-banished-words-list-for-2008/ Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:10:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/death-of-the-subjunctive/ Do you remember this song? (Warning! 90s pop flashback!) The title and refrain of that (in)famous song is "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover", which shows that whatever mood... http://www.grammarmatters.com/death-of-the-subjunctive/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/death-of-the-subjunctive/ Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:47:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/i-could-care-less/2/ "The dismissive 'I couldn't care less' is often used with the shortened 'not' mistakenly (and mysteriously) omitted: 'I could care less.' The error destroys the meaning of the sentence and... http://www.grammarmatters.com/i-could-care-less/2/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/i-could-care-less/2/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:38:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/explaining-my-intentional-grammatical-errors/2/ I'll go through each item briefly, because the more interesting ones are deserving of a full post. But for now, here are explanations for the errors in my welcome post... http://www.grammarmatters.com/explaining-my-intentional-grammatical-errors/2/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/explaining-my-intentional-grammatical-errors/2/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:06:00 GMT http://www.grammarmatters.com/welcome-to-grammar-matters/ I'm starting this blog so that I can have a record of all the things which irk me about the written word (or rather how its misused), I hope that... http://www.grammarmatters.com/welcome-to-grammar-matters/#comments http://www.grammarmatters.com/welcome-to-grammar-matters/ Sat, 12 Apr 2008 06:36:00 GMT