Search Content
Will Barbie Be a Nervous Nellie at the Oscars? Feb. 28, 2024
Why is the doll (and movie) called "Barbie"? Why is Nellie nervous, and why is a statuette named Osc... Read More
The Bridge Between Steel and Art Feb. 21, 2024
Three essential tools on every writer's workbench should be contrast, detail and imagery. Watch how ... Read More
Bumpkins Get Short End of the Sticks Feb. 14, 2024
"Stix Nix Hick Pix," proclaimed a 1935 headline in the entertainment newspaper Variety. Translation:... Read More
Share and Snare a 'Like' Feb. 07, 2024
Today, two meaty questions involving comparison ... Jeanette Lendl of Delmont, Pennsylvania, isn't s... Read More
A 'Soup'er Bowl Packed With Pigskin Palaver Jan. 31, 2024
The lingo of American football is a soup bowl bubbling with terms from almost every realm of life, f... Read More
Why the Letter 'B' Is Deeply in 'Debt' Jan. 24, 2024
Have you ever wondered why we don't pronounce the "b" in debt, the "c" in indict, the "p" in receipt... Read More
'Recouping' Gives Reader Paws Jan. 17, 2024
Today, some questions from readers ... Curt Guenther of Memphis asked me to vet this sentence descri... Read More
A January Jaunt With Blooper Snoopers Jan. 10, 2024
The Word Guy Blooper Patrol, which has plenty of cachet, has cashed in on a cache of errors. Can you... Read More
Why a 'Bass' Can Sing or Swim Jan. 03, 2024
An amusing compilation titled "Why English Is Hard To Learn" has been bouncing like a beach ball aro... Read More
My Teacher Imparted 'Vary' Good Advice Dec. 27, 2023
Until my junior year in high school, I thought my writing was pretty hot stuff. Teachers had always ... Read More
Editors, Here's Your 'Write' of Passage Dec. 20, 2023
Your the proofreader, er... You're the proofreader! Can you find 28 errors in this passage? Mistakes... Read More
Who Wants To Be a 'Spellionaire'? Dec. 13, 2023
Remember the old TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Here's a version of that high-stakes game ... Read More
The Story of 2023 in Its Own Words Dec. 06, 2023
'Twas the night before Twitter rebranded as "X," Not a "Swiftie" was stirring, not even by text. But... Read More
Do TV News 'Anchors' Sink or Swim? Nov. 29, 2023
I've always assumed the TV term "anchor," referring to the host of a newscast, was derived from "anc... Read More
I Hope You -- and This Column -- Read Well Nov. 15, 2023
"Citrucel absorbs readily." When Les Krumm, a retired pharmacist from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hea... Read More
This Fairy Tale Has a Happy Ending Nov. 08, 2023
Once upon a time (the early 1800s to be exact), a scholar named Jacob Grimm lived in Germany. In add... Read More
Will This Quiz Boost Your Self 'S' Teem? Nov. 01, 2023
Can you select the correct "s" word in each sentence? 1. By the time daylight (saving, savings) time... Read More
What Should We Do To 'Due To'? Oct. 25, 2023
Q: Is it acceptable to use "due to" for "because of"? — Helen Finnie, San Jose, California A: ... Read More
And Now for Some 'Clerical' Errors Oct. 18, 2023
Readers occasionally send me bloopers found in church bulletins. Some are probably authentic, and so... Read More
So THAT's Why Cynics Like To 'Mutt'er! Oct. 11, 2023
Cynics believe the world is going to the dogs. Linguistically speaking, that's appropriate, because ... Read More
