Grammar Girl

QuickAndDirtyTips.com
  • 4.5 (2.8K)
  • Education
  • Weekly

Five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing and feed your love of the English language. Whether English is your first language or your second language, these grammar, punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer. Grammar Girl is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  1. 1d ago

    Why English loves animals, from the bee’s knees to herding cats, with Jeremy Butterfield

    1237. This week, we talk to Jeremy Butterfield, former editor in chief at Collins Dictionaries and author of “The Metaphor Zoo,” about why English loves animals. We look at how conceptual metaphors like “human is animal” shape what we say, why “the bee’s knees” had so many ridiculous cousins in the 1920s, and how “herding cats” is much newer than you’d expect. Then we look at the Order of the Pug, how Hush Puppies got their name, and the animal eggcorns that sneak into idioms. Find Jeremy at jeremybutterfield.com. A hearty thank you to the Keepers of the Commas one mysterious Immortal on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry RosenblumMahala RussellGeorge WilsonLaurel PaulLinda CoxBirna Anna BjörnsdóttirKate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. 🔗 Find an edited transcript. 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan FeierabendDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Why English loves animals, from the bee’s knees to herding cats, with Jeremy Butterfield

  2. 1d ago ·  Bonus · Subscribers Only

    Pretentious French words, Alanis Morissette, and 100 years of Fowler’s, with Jeremy Butterfield

    Episode Notes In this week’s bonus, we talk to Jeremy Butterfield, editor of the 2015 edition of “Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage,” about the book’s 100th anniversary. We look at why Fowler’s once called French words pretentious and whether a usage guide can really change how people talk. Then we look at what it took to update such a long-standing book, from modern corpus examples to terms like “bipolar disorder” replacing “manic depression,” and how irony got tangled up with Alanis Morissette. Find Jeremy at jeremybutterfield.com. A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas and one mysterious Immortal on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry Rosenblum Mahala Russell George Wilson Laurel Paul Linda Cox Birna Anna Björnsdóttir Kate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in SpeakPipe or at 833-214-4475. - https://www.speakpipe.com/GrammarGirl 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. - https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/mignon-fogarty 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. - https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscribe 🔗 Get the edited transcript. - https://grammar-girl-grammarpaloozian-bonus-feed.simplecast.com/episodes/1237-bonus/transcript 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. - https://amzn.to/3LULzLb 🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Patreon, Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. - https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscription/ | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475). | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. - https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Business and Creative Partnerships: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian Podcast Associate: Maram Elnaagheeb | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. - https://catherinerannus.com/ | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@grammargirl TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@therealgrammargirl Facebook - http://facebook.com/grammargirl Threads - https://www.threads.net/@thegrammargirl Instagram - http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl Mastodon - https://mastodon.social/@grammargirl Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/grammargirl.bsky.social

  3. 3d ago

    The language of superstition: jinxes, the Scottish Play, and the hospital Q-word

    1236. In honor of Friday the 13th, we look at words about superstitions, including jinxes, theater curses, and the one phrase you don't say in a hospital. The superstition segment was by Karen Lunde. Find her on igofirst.org. A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas and one mysterious Immortal on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry RosenblumMahala RussellGeorge WilsonLaurel PaulLinda CoxBirna Anna BjörnsdóttirKate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. 🔗 Find an edited transcript. 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Castria CommunicationsDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The language of superstition: jinxes, the Scottish Play, and the hospital Q-word

  4. Nov 5

    Grammarpalooza! The 20th anniversary game show extravaganza

    1235. This week, we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the "Grammar Girl" podcast with something I've wanted to do for years: our first-ever live game show! We originally streamed Grammarpalooza live on YouTube back in September, and now we're bringing all the wordplay, laughs, and friendly competition to the podcast feed so everyone can play along. Two teams of our favorite language lovers and fellow word nerds went head-to-head: The Cruciverbal Crusaders: Ben Zimmer (lexicographer and Slate crossword constructor) alongside Emily Moyers and Kyle Imperatore (teen librarians and hosts of the "Butter No Parsnips" podcast).Team MC Grammar: Jess Zafarris (author of "A Miscellany of Weird and Wonderful Facts" and co-host of "Words Unravelled"), Gabe Henry (author of "Enuf Is Enough" and host of pub spelling bees), and sociolinguist Valerie Fridland (author of "Why We Talk Funny"). Here's what they tackled: Fake Definitions: Deliberating over obscure, historical terms like "galactopoton," "curglaff," "snollygoster," and the Old English "uhtceare" to separate the real definition from the fakes.Rhyming Definitions: A fast-paced speed round matching rhyming pairs (from "cheese and breeze" to "ponder and wander").Playing Against the Audience: The teams go up against the live chat to see who can find the most unique words hidden inside the letters of the word CELEBRATION.Foreign Idioms: Decoding colorful phrases from around the world, from Sweden's "having your beard in the mailbox" and Germany's "that's sausage to me" to Italy's "every death of a pope." A huge thank you to scorekeeper Holly Hutchings, game designer and marketer Rebekah Sebastian, audio maestro Nat Hoopes, gameshow veteran and producer Steven Schapansky, and all our wonderful Grammarpaloozian patrons who submitted questions and tuned in live. A hearty thank you to the Keepers of the Commas one mysterious Immortal on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry RosenblumMahala RussellGeorge WilsonLaurel PaulLinda CoxBirna Anna BjörnsdóttirKate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. 🔗 Find an edited transcript. 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Castria CommunicationsDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Grammarpalooza! The 20th anniversary game show extravaganza

  5. Nov 3

    4 tiny writing errors that caused huge problems on the ballot. What does 'batten down the hatches' mean?

    1234. This week, we look at how small writing errors in proposed laws have cost millions of dollars and knocked whole measures off the ballot. Then, we look at the nautical origin of "batten down the hatches." A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas and one mysterious Guardian of the Grammary on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry RosenblumMahala RussellGeorge WilsonLaurel PaulLinda CoxBirna Anna BjörnsdóttirKate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. 🔗 Find an edited transcript. 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Castria CommunicationsDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4 tiny writing errors that caused huge problems on the ballot. What does 'batten down the hatches' mean?

  6. Oct 29

    The ancient word for 'star' and the steppe nomads who spread it, with Laura Spinney

    1233. This week, we talk to Laura Spinney, author of "Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global." We look at how linguists reconstruct a language no one wrote down and why the ancient word for "wheel" is still debated. Then we look at how ancient DNA pointed to nomadic herders on the steppe and how feasting and storytelling may have helped their language spread. Find Laura at LauraSpinney.com. A hearty thank you to the Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry RosenblumMahala RussellGeorge WilsonLaurel PaulLinda CoxBirna Anna BjörnsdóttirKate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. 🔗 Find an edited transcript. 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan FeierabendDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The ancient word for 'star' and the steppe nomads who spread it, with Laura Spinney

  7. Oct 29 ·  Bonus · Subscribers Only

    The clues hidden in loanwords, river names, and even our bite, with Laura Spinney

    In this week’s bonus, we continue our conversation with Laura Spinney, author of “Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global.” We look at how Persian loanwords for honey, pear, and donkey help trace the Roma people’s long migration from India, and how river names like the Neckar hint at where the Celtic languages may have begun. Then we look at how climate change and disease shaped which languages thrived, and how softer food from farming may have changed our bite and made “f” and “v” sounds easier to say. A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas and one Immortal on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry Rosenblum Mahala Russell George Wilson Laurel Paul Linda Cox Birna Anna Björnsdóttir Kate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in SpeakPipe or at 833-214-4475. - https://www.speakpipe.com/GrammarGirl 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. - https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/mignon-fogarty 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. - https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscribe 🔗 Get the edited transcript. - https://grammar-girl-grammarpaloozian-bonus-feed.simplecast.com/episodes/1233-bonus/transcript 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. - https://amzn.to/3LULzLb 🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Patreon, Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. - https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/subscription/ | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475). | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. - https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Business and Creative Partnerships: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian Podcast Associate: Maram Elnaagheeb | Theme music by Catherine Rannus. - https://catherinerannus.com/ | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@grammargirl TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@therealgrammargirl Facebook - http://facebook.com/grammargirl Threads - https://www.threads.net/@thegrammargirl Instagram - http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl Mastodon - https://mastodon.social/@grammargirl Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/grammargirl.bsky.social

  8. Oct 27

    4 everyday words that started out as monsters. 'Graveyard' versus 'cemetery.' Which is which?

    1232. This week, we look at four ordinary words — "hippocampus," "chimera," "behemoth," and "gargantuan" — that all started as the names of monsters. Then, we look at where sailors got the phrase "graveyard watch" and at the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery. The monsters segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs DragonflyEditorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com. A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support! Larry RosenblumMahala RussellGeorge WilsonLaurel PaulLinda CoxBirna Anna BjörnsdóttirKate Wade 🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. 🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter. 🔗 Find an edited transcript. 🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Castria CommunicationsDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. | Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    4 everyday words that started out as monsters. 'Graveyard' versus 'cemetery.' Which is which?
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Hosts & Guests

4.5
out of 5
2,843 Ratings

About

Five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing and feed your love of the English language. Whether English is your first language or your second language, these grammar, punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer. Grammar Girl is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    QuickAndDirtyTips.com
  • Years Active
    2006 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.2K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Mignon Fogarty, Inc.
  • Show Website
    Grammar Girl
  • Provider
    Macmillan Publishing

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