All Verbal Energy
Are you a cyclist or a person who cycles?An advocate's counsel on how to refer to people on wheels brings to mind the 'people-first language' used to refer to those with disabilities.
- Punctuating for the 'steady advance of meaning'
On National Punctuation Day, a reminder of the way commas, periods, and their brethren keep us on track as we read.
- Crowdsourcing 'Earl Grey'
Even the mighty Oxford English Dictionary makes use of 'volunteers' in its research, and has done so from the beginning.
Focused, perhaps, like a laserAn offhand comment by an Australian diplomat reminds the Monitor's language columnist that less is sometimes more in metaphors.
We are the dictionary, and dictionaries 'R' usThe speakers of a language have the final say on what goes into 'the dictionary.'
Eavesdropping on the busyness of childrenFor a young child to announce just how much she has on her mind may be a milestone in life – alas!
Politically correct, one syllable at a timeA TV reporter's faux pas raises the question: What do we do when a perfectly good word gets taken over by a hateful alternative meaning?
Mind the lexical gap, and the cranberry morpheme'Unpaired' words can be a source of fun, but these 'lonely negatives' have a real place in language.
- Casting out the wicked 'which,' and all that
Deciding the correct relative pronoun – "which" or "that" – can be a tricky business.
- Learning English at a snail's pace
A look at the BBC's efforts to help people learn English reminds the Monitor's language columnist how glad she is to be a native speaker.
- The editor gets her in-box to zero, or tries to
On her way out of town, the Monitor's language columnist considers just what Ben Bernanke means by 'tapering' and whether it's OK to use 'since' to mean 'because.'
- Defective verbs in our language of the possible
'Can' is a hardworking little word in our language, but there are some jobs it just can't do.
- Rules of English spelling – revealed!
Popular linguist David Crystal's new book, 'Spell It Out,' explains the rules of English spelling – but who knew there even were rules?
Build your vocabulary the novel wayResearch shows that the biggest vocabularies belong to those who read 'lots' of fiction; is it just a question of time?
Packing up our skill sets and going to workAs their world dissolves into zeros and ones, no wonder techies and think-tankers turn to the vocabulary of hands-on labor.
- Shooting our mouths off, as well as our guns
After yet another mass shooting, the Monitor's language columnist considers the role of gun metaphors in ordinary conversation.
- Collective nouns and the squiggly green line
Are the grammar bots scaring us away from a long-established space-saving usage?
- The companies we keep – singular and plural
English speakers have been wrestling with singulars and plurals for centuries – and the grammar rules don't always help.
- Tense time: historically present, timelessly now
Why do talking heads in the media keep using the present tense?
- Why 'spokesperson' still irks me
Not all gender-specific language is sexist.
