Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

1146. This week, we look at the history of Braille, from the tragic accident that inspired Louis Braille's six-dot system to the "War of the Dots"—a decades-long conflict over competing reading standards in the U.S. Then, we look at the origin of the phrase "pitch black," revealing how the intensifier "pitch" refers to an ancient, dark wood tar and how the word traces its roots back to Old English.The braille segment was written by Karen Lunde, a longtime writer and editor turned web designer and marketing mentor. Solo service business owners come to her for websites where beautiful design meets authentic words that actually build connections. Find her at chanterellemarketingstudio.com.The pitch black segment was run by Samantha Enslen who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her online at dragonflyeditorial.com.Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels)Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0BGuardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7🔗 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.🔗 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| 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 Sebastian| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1145. In this bonus segment from October, I talk with Ben Zimmer about "hella" and how even yearbook messages can be digitized to help preserve the language record. Ben shares the full story of this slang term, and we also talk about the detective work that led to the OED using Run DMC's use of "drop" in “Spin Magazine” as a citation.Ben Zimmer's website: Benzimmer.comBen Zimmer's social media: Bluesky. Facebook. Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels)Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0BGuardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7🔗 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.🔗 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| 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 Sebastian| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1144. This week, we look at the origin of the letter X as the variable for the unknown in algebra. Then, we look at the phrase "how come," explaining why it's more informal than "why" and how its grammar subtly differs from other question words.That X segment was written by Peter Schumer, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Middlebury College, and it originally appeared on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license.Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels)Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0BGuardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7🔗 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.🔗 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| 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 Sebastian| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1143. This week, we look at the 2025 words of the year with Jess Zafarris and Danny Hieber. We look at viral slang like "six seven" and cultural terms like "rage bait" and "fatigued." We also look at the dramatic rise of "slop" to describe low-quality AI content and how words like "parasocial" are changing function.Find Jess Zafarris at UselessEtymology.com, or find her podcast Words Unravelled on YouTube.Find Danny Hieber at LingusiticDiscovery.com or on his Substack.Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels):Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0BGuardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7🔗 Share your familect recording via Speakpipe or by calling 833-214-4475🔗 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| 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| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1142. This week, we look at the history of the phrase "pride and prejudice," which was used frequently before Jane Austen’s 1813 novel. Then, we look at whether Parson Brown from “Winter Wonderland” was a real person, and why his name is sometimes replaced with a “circus clown.” Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels)Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0BGuardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7🔗 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.🔗 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| 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 Sebastian| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.