Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing – Details, episodes & analysis

1090. Your hands may be saying more than your words. Lauren Gawne explains how gestures shape communication, how they differ across cultures, and why removing gestures can make your speech less fluent.

Lauren Gawne → Superlinguo

🔗 Share your familect recording in a WhatsApp chat.

🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.

🔗 Take our advertising survey. 

🔗 Get the edited transcript.

🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. 

🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.

1089. Do you wonder when you should use "further" or "farther"? We have the answer (where there is one). Then, you’ve seen lorem ipsum everywhere, but what does it mean? And where did it come from?

The "lorem ipsum" segment was written by Jim Norrena, MFA, who has been writing and editing for more than thirty-five years. He’s the founder of TypoSuction.com, an independent editing/writing service. He's taught grammar and copyediting intensives and professional proofreading workshops at Media Alliance and served as events coordinator for Bay Area Editors’ Forum (BAEF). Visit Linkedin.com/in/jimnorrena/ for his complete work history and highlighted projects.

🔗 Share your familect recording in a WhatsApp chat.

🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.

🔗 Take our advertising survey. 

🔗 Get the edited transcript.

🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. 

🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.

1080. Linguist Andrew Cheng explains why people’s accents shift over time, especially when they move—and how YouTubers make perfect data subjects. If you've ever cringed at your old voice recordings, this one’s for you.

Andrew Cheng is a professor of linguistics at the University of Hawaii. You can find him on Bluesky at  LinguistAndrew.

NEW: Sign up for my AP Style webinar on June 12: bit.ly/4k1XmpI
Use the code MACMIL for $50 off.

🔗 Share your familect recording in a WhatsApp chat.

🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.

🔗 Take our advertising survey. 

🔗 Get the edited transcript.

🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. 

🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.

990. Have you ever wondered why English doesn't have gender like Spanish and French? Which languages are the hardest to learn (and why)? And why a Q is always followed by a U? We have the answers to those questions and more this week from Paul Anthony Jones, author of  "Why is this a question?"

| Find Paul Anthony Jones at https://www.paulanthonyjones.com/

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/jones/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

989. What is a word? Does "that's" count as one word or two? In this excerpt from Paul Anthony Jones' new book "Why Is This a Question," we look at how things like plurals, compound words, and contractions make defining the word "word" a tricky exercise.

| Find Paul Anthony Jones at https://www.paulanthonyjones.com/

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/what-is-a-word/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

988. Peter Sokolowski, an editor at Merriam-Webster, goes through the fascinating history of the Armed Services Editions, a series of books published during World War II for distribution among the troops. We look at the special problems of wartime publishing, the collaborative efforts among publishers, and the lasting influence of these books on the publishing landscape.

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/sokolowski-wwii/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

987. This week, we look at why people sometimes double their subjects, writing sentences such as "John, he bought a car," and when it's OK (and not OK) to do so. Plus, we talk about the medial S, a strange F-like letter that makes an S-sound and shows up in old documents. We look at how it came to be, its role in English typography, and what made it finally go away.

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/left-dislocation/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

986. Erin Brenner, author of "The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors," shares time-saving tips including the best practices for using Word, creating macros, and using automation tools like Zapier. You'll also learn about starting and growing a freelance business, including how to figure out what to charge, how to make ends meet at the beginning, and how to handle time management once your business starts to succeed. 

| Resources mentioned in the podcast:

Erin Brenner, Right Touch Editing: https://www.righttouchediting.com/

"The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors" by Erin Brenner: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo213434367.html

Adrienne Montgomerie's book, "Editing in Word 365" https://www.lulu.com/shop/adrienne-montgomerie/editing-in-word-365/ebook/product-p855r4.html

Rhonda Bracey, CyberText Consulting: https://www.cybertext.com.au/

Hilary Cadman, Cadman Editing Services: https://www.cadmanediting.com/

Erin Servais, AI for Editors: https://www.aiforeditors.com/

Jack Lyon, Editor's Toolkit (Word macros): https://www.editorium.com/index.htm

Paul Beverley, Archive Publications (Word macros): https://www.archivepub.co.uk/

Phrase Expander: https://www.phraseexpander.com/

Raycast: https://www.raycast.com/

Zapier: https://zapier.com/

Intelligent Editing: https://intelligentediting.com/

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/brenner/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

985. This week, we look at the world of whimsical words, including the origins and meanings of terms like "dinkus," "gadzook," "petrichor" and the phrase "whim-wham for a goose's bridle." Plus, I have a quick tip about when to capitalize "mom" and "dad."

The "weird words" segment was written by Michaela Dunn, a Wyoming-based editor and publisher for Everywhen Press. She specializes in magical realism, low fantasy, folklore, and fairy tales.

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/whim-wham/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.

984. This week, we talk about the subtle differences between words such as "stock" or "broth," "street" or "boulevard," "maze" or "labyrinth" and more with Eli Burnstein, author of "The Dictionary of Fine Distinctions." Confusion about colors got him started on this path, but along the way, he gained insights into language, culture, and the subtle differences that shape meanings.

| Find Eli at https://EliBurnstein.com

| Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: https://www.unionsquareandco.com/9781454952350/dictionary-of-fine-distinctions-by-eli-burnstein/

| Edited transcript with links: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/burnstein/transcript

| Please take our advertising survey. It helps! https://podsurvey.com/GRAMMAR

| Grammarpalooza (Get texts from Mignon!): https://joinsubtext.com/grammar or text "hello" to (917) 540-0876.

| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.

| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

| Peeve Wars card game. 

| Grammar Girl books. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Nathan Semes
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media Links: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon.