The Curious Engineer

Grammarphobia

2006–2009

1,280 posts

2010–2013 →

2009 395

December 2009

  1. Takeout menu
  2. Ye olde knickknack shoppe
  3. Is “off of” so awful?
  4. It’s a guys’ thing
  5. Can two syllablemongers both agree?
  6. It’s not an either-or situation
  7. Do we need a “pre” fix?
  8. Pit stop
  9. Wit craft
  10. How did the guinea pig get its name?
  11. A not so nutso usage
  12. Deflower child
  13. Trivial pursuit
  14. Halloween tricks
  15. See you in court
  16. The light and dark of language
  17. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  18. Trolling and Trawling
  19. Yakety yak (don’t talk back)
  20. “Disc” vs. “disk”
  21. Thunk piece
  22. Strong medicine
  23. What the Sam Hill!
  24. Blank check
  25. Goat couture
  26. Speech therapy
  27. Is your dress really katish?
  28. A crotchety question
  29. Captious reasoning
  30. The daughter of time
  31. In a manor of speaking
  32. The genuine article

November 2009

  1. Free thinking
  2. Pushing the etymology
  3. It’s like a marching band uniform
  4. A perfectly cromulent word
  5. Turkey Day
  6. Blind spot
  7. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  8. Everyone here is frightfully gay
  9. Don’t forget to write, y’all
  10. Now, mea culpa, I repent
  11. Hits and misses
  12. The daffydils of Broadway
  13. The exact same time
  14. Yes, we can
  15. Who caught the fish?
  16. Sound bites
  17. Time tested
  18. An inkling of medieval times
  19. A yenta at the complex
  20. Who put the egg in egg cream?
  21. Two thawful usages
  22. Slip sliding away
  23. The vegetable kingdom
  24. When nice wasn’t nice
  25. The light side and the dark
  26. Variations on a theme
  27. It’s about feeling clamorous
  28. The sun also sets
  29. A dogged question
  30. Hand me the wellies, Jeeves
  31. One-faced words

October 2009

  1. February House
  2. Of maidens, quails, roes, or larks
  3. Author! Author!
  4. Foreign affairs
  5. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  6. House cleaning
  7. Do you have issues with “issue”?
  8. Chain language
  9. Among or between?
  10. Time trial
  11. Subject matter
  12. Your cheatin’ heart
  13. Changes in Pat’s WNYC schedule
  14. Auntie anxiety, part 2
  15. The people’s choice
  16. Measuring life in coffee spoons
  17. Lex preferences
  18. A Lucky Strike extra
  19. Being and nothingness
  20. Conceptual arts, part 2
  21. A quixotic appeal
  22. Escalator clause
  23. Blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy
  24. Same difference
  25. A mecca for music
  26. Why does English have so many synonyms?
  27. Meet Pat today on Long Island
  28. Specious thinking
  29. A few kernels of truth
  30. When it’s good to feel bad
  31. In search of the wild kudo
  32. You’ve got a friend
  33. Relatively speaking
  34. Slouching towards Bethlehem

September 2009

  1. Meet Pat today in Manhattan
  2. Is there a cat in the corner?
  3. Politics and transparency
  4. Does Wimpy need a spell-checker?
  5. Sympathy strike
  6. Batting practice
  7. Plane English
  8. Seasonal disorder
  9. BBQ, part 2
  10. Auntie anxiety
  11. Forward thinking
  12. Crying over spilled milk
  13. Vice isn’t nice!
  14. Why are we linguistic lemmings?
  15. You can’t underestimate this … or can you?
  16. A new “Woe Is I” is here!
  17. Herbal remedies
  18. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  19. A tall individual in a short suit
  20. You do something to me
  21. A crowning moment
  22. An allergic reaction
  23. Google eyed
  24. Hoboes, bootleggers, and hijackers
  25. It’s a woman thing
  26. Curly Bill gets it in the neck
  27. Problem child
  28. All’s well that ends well
  29. Fine tuning
  30. Is there a husband in husbandry?
  31. Hone truths
  32. The flatulent society
  33. An adjective with integrity

August 2009

  1. An update on updating
  2. Jeeves! I’m in the soup.
  3. Suggestive language
  4. Moses’ older sister
  5. Get on the stick
  6. A devilish relationship
  7. In the longue run
  8. Hissy fits
  9. Check it out
  10. Bigger than the both of us
  11. ‘Anyways,’ said the damsel
  12. The dog what bit me
  13. Home economics in “Hamlet”
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. Line drawings
  16. Nothing but the ruth
  17. Down the shore, and over the house
  18. I say father and you say pater
  19. At wit’s end
  20. Bon appétit
  21. Time piece
  22. The Three Princes of Serendip
  23. A Sisyphean profusion
  24. Is it a tittle, a square, or a tee?
  25. The haves and the have-nots
  26. Songful conviction
  27. Fun, funner, and funnest
  28. An apple for Mizz Grundy
  29. Pretzels, chips, whatever
  30. Term limits
  31. An ulterior motive
  32. Smiling out loud

July 2009

  1. A wonderful catastrophe
  2. Catch words
  3. Double, double toil and trouble
  4. Hidden in plain sight
  5. A burning question
  6. Quotable and unquotable
  7. On Language: All-Purpose Pronoun
  8. On the road again
  9. Invasive etymologies
  10. In a funk over thunk
  11. In years gone by
  12. A storied usage
  13. Watering holes
  14. Hyphenating rhythms
  15. Is this something to lose sleep over?
  16. You can’t take it with you
  17. Steep learning curves
  18. … and yes I said yes I will Yes
  19. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  20. Don’t count on it!
  21. Attention, please
  22. Seasonal employment
  23. Tickled to death
  24. A few things to chew on
  25. The missionary pronunciation
  26. Nobody fixes grits like Mom
  27. Keeping score
  28. More than you know
  29. Watch words
  30. Graphic arts
  31. Vowel mouthed
  32. A judgment call
  33. Pictures at an exhibition

June 2009

  1. A categorical answer
  2. Nonce sense
  3. The shill of it all
  4. Meet Pat today in Connecticut
  5. What may (or might) have been
  6. Theirs not to reason why
  7. ‘I dasn’t scratch’
  8. Is Barcelona the best?
  9. So why not?
  10. None so blind
  11. Giving diligence its due
  12. Metaphors and cataphors
  13. A few telling remarks
  14. Thumbs up!
  15. Thank you kindly
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Toothsome twosomes
  18. Joint venture
  19. Tom, Dick, and Harry, part 2
  20. What, me worry?
  21. Should Hillary hyphenate “Rodham Clinton”?
  22. On heroes, edible and otherwise
  23. Article physics
  24. Quality time
  25. For better or verse
  26. Is your grandniece great?
  27. Is Blomkvist dead?
  28. Spice craft
  29. Kitchen aid
  30. On the wrong side of the bars
  31. Andirons and firedogs
  32. Why is the human race called a race?

May 2009

  1. Noun sequitur
  2. What’s OK and what’s not
  3. Fired, sacked, and bagged
  4. How sacred is sanctity?
  5. Is uptalk a silly affectation?
  6. Verbal promiscuity?
  7. The anatomy lesson
  8. Short and smelly
  9. More about less
  10. Presenting the future
  11. Let’s try, try again
  12. Damned if you do
  13. Pat on WNYC: May 20, 2009
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. The pursuit of happiness
  16. Good manners and good English
  17. Room-inations
  18. Are the lexicographers on board?
  19. With or without
  20. Herbal treatment
  21. Semi serious
  22. Sound effects
  23. Yikes, yoicks, and hoicks!
  24. Hits, myths, or maybes
  25. Are you myth informed?
  26. A charlady at Margate
  27. Of mice and men
  28. Jeepers creepers: Are you myth informed?
  29. The meme generation
  30. It ain’t necessarily so: Are you myth informed?
  31. Synecdoche on his mind
  32. An oeuf is an oeuf: Are you myth informed?
  33. Full fathom five thy father lies
  34. Sense and sensitivity: Are you myth informed?
  35. I’m glad you axed
  36. Stiff upper lips: Are you myth informed?
  37. I heard it through the grapevine
  38. Good on ya, mate
  39. Talking the talk
  40. The stimulative power of cow chips

April 2009

  1. Does she … or doesn’t she?
  2. An intentional slight
  3. It’s the bee’s knees
  4. Due process
  5. Custom tailoring
  6. Infinitively speaking
  7. Happy Birthday, Strunk and White!
  8. Just the fax, ma’am
  9. Dali’s droopy clocks
  10. To have and have not
  11. Do leaves turn in autumn or fall?
  12. Isn’t it botanic?
  13. A little so-and-so
  14. The whole nine yards, part 3
  15. The hoopla over hoo-ha
  16. Dash bored
  17. Pat on WNYC: April 15, 2009
  18. Rule of thumb
  19. Checks garnished with parsley?
  20. A nitch to scratch
  21. Is “horny” a dirty word?
  22. A Yorkshire sweetie
  23. The dating game
  24. Oh, the vision thing
  25. Heads up!
  26. There is no where there
  27. Portion control
  28. Kicking the bucket
  29. Is it the floor or the ground?
  30. Capital punishment
  31. Body language
  32. Cultured plurals

March 2009

  1. Why we suck
  2. Lesbian rule?
  3. It’s Yogi all over again
  4. It ain’t necessarily so
  5. Arabian flights
  6. Short stories
  7. How shameless can shameful be?
  8. What’s in a name?
  9. Tuh be or not tuh be?
  10. Taking irony’s pulse
  11. Linchpins and lynching
  12. The “some” also rises
  13. A way with words
  14. Elect tricks
  15. Pat on WNYC: March 18, 2009
  16. Bowel play
  17. Defining moments
  18. Money matters
  19. Our neologists in chief
  20. Hat talk
  21. Valedictory addresses
  22. State secrets
  23. Graduate degrees
  24. OK, already!
  25. A serpentine etymology
  26. A hinge point of history
  27. In the beginning were the latkes
  28. Hi tech and low
  29. Nutso, cracko, & co.
  30. Spinning out of control
  31. A love story, By n Large
  32. Doc in a box

February 2009

  1. An opera in progress
  2. War games
  3. Jenny was a friend of mine
  4. Noodling around
  5. An object lesson from the Oval Office
  6. Tense about the present
  7. All together now
  8. Time piece
  9. The million-word myth
  10. Differences, differences
  11. Acronymble
  12. Pat on WNYC
  13. When good grammar sounds bad
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. Spellbound
  16. An ideal pronunciation
  17. To sir, with love
  18. Funny you asked
  19. Mo’ better blues
  20. Nabokov’s favorite dictionary
  21. A Faustian flight
  22. On gifting and regifting
  23. Negative feedback
  24. Now, that’s a grind!
  25. Should Snow Patrol lie or lay?
  26. On to-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow
  27. Stupid, stupider, and stupidest
  28. Phoo, pfui, and phooey
  29. It is high. It is far. It is gone.
  30. “Ma’am” is the word
  31. Uggies of the Year?

January 2009

  1. She’s so unusual
  2. Talking hands
  3. Screwball etymologies
  4. To haff and haff not
  5. It’s OK to squeeze the preposition!
  6. Out in left field
  7. No comment?
  8. An itsy bitsy teenie weenie question
  9. The chamber of commas
  10. Constructive advice
  11. Pat on WNYC
  12. Pnonsense
  13. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  14. Why don’t “laughter” and “daughter” rhyme?
  15. So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
  16. A singular attitude
  17. Love amongst the ruins?
  18. Defused, diffused, and confused
  19. An exception proves the rule?
  20. Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy
  21. Between Barack and a hard case
  22. Fine tuning
  23. The repurpose driven life
  24. Did Muggsy’s scheme backfire?
  25. Pony expressions
  26. An “ish” out of water?
  27. When too right is too wrong
  28. Sick language
  29. Silence, please!
  30. Thankful and thinkful
  31. If it ain’t got that “ing”
  32. Barring fire, flood, or devious etymology
  33. The ironic age

2008 377

December 2008

  1. “Me” first?
  2. Piece work
  3. Shuffling off this mortal coil
  4. Are they connected?
  5. A buss is just a buss
  6. Does Yogi have a lot to answer for?
  7. Wounded spirits
  8. Blazing saddles
  9. Spell blinding
  10. Backward thinking?
  11. Divine thoughts
  12. Penny loafing
  13. Is “alright” all wrong?
  14. Born in the USA
  15. Pat on WNYC: Dec. 17, 2008
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. My dinner with entrée
  18. Come on-a my house
  19. Is DEE-fense an offense?
  20. How to o-o-h and a-h-h
  21. Le mot juste
  22. Were the Beatles off piste?
  23. Funny you asked
  24. Two dots or three?
  25. Missing links?
  26. Is she smarter than him?
  27. Conceding with grace
  28. Euphemysticism
  29. Mood altering
  30. Quiddity
  31. A singular undergarment
  32. Comma sense
  33. Missing articles

November 2008

  1. Scrabbled regs
  2. Prepositional phases
  3. Shifty vowels
  4. And all the men and women merely players
  5. An awful mess
  6. Slanguage arts
  7. Nother wise
  8. The unchurchly church key
  9. Accent piece
  10. Perfect pitch
  11. Now bear with me
  12. Pat on WNYC
  13. The ins and outs of country
  14. Hear Pat today on WNYC
  15. His High Mightiness
  16. An apostrophe? A catastrophe?
  17. Debut appearance
  18. Orange aid
  19. Forever young
  20. Why “one-off” is one of a kind
  21. Headline shorthand
  22. Metaphors be with you
  23. Does Homer walk like a duck?
  24. Horsing around
  25. Stative seeking
  26. Seize the day
  27. All well and good
  28. The long and the short of it
  29. Oh, doggone it!
  30. Separation anxiety
  31. Could have went?
  32. Kind of an answer

October 2008

  1. Old Hungarian Goulash?
  2. Is “misnomer” a misnomer?
  3. “Nobody dast blame this man”
  4. Are you punchy or drunk?
  5. PAHST times
  6. Are we seeing “more” more?
  7. Organic recitals
  8. What’s fishy about baited breath?
  9. Couples counseling
  10. Colleagues now, and then
  11. Correspondence course
  12. State affairs
  13. Vowel change
  14. Follow the leader
  15. You have no idear!
  16. A plea for pretentiousness
  17. Pat on WNYC
  18. Premises, premises
  19. Hear Pat today on WNYC
  20. The right medicine
  21. Time studies
  22. The shipping news
  23. Earthen-wariness
  24. In-laws and other strangers
  25. Corporate-speak
  26. Wooly Bully
  27. Sex symbols
  28. A growing concern
  29. Calm and composed
  30. Patently singular
  31. Reach out and touch someone
  32. The iron age
  33. Sound advice

September 2008

  1. Pax Syriana
  2. “How to” management
  3. A multiplication bee with a sting
  4. A curt courtesy title
  5. Job listings
  6. Joint ownership
  7. Chinese chestnuts
  8. A lot of idiomatic English
  9. On jingoism and jingoes
  10. My dog Fang
  11. A wordie’s travelogue
  12. Daised by podiumbrage
  13. Don’t bank on it
  14. Pat on WNYC
  15. Fauxtography
  16. Hear Pat today on WNYC
  17. The whole empanada
  18. The missing link?
  19. A free for all
  20. It doesn’t strike a chord
  21. In the gingerbread doghouse
  22. I’m OK, you’re okay
  23. The power of negative thinking
  24. Does your heart belong to daddy?
  25. House and home, part 3
  26. Welcome advice
  27. Questionable marks
  28. A few facts about nonfiction
  29. Home truths
  30. Acronymony
  31. Is it three words or “to”?
  32. Whom-sick and clause-to-phobic

August 2008

  1. Old Nick and English deviltry
  2. Can you reason with Hamlet?
  3. Two-sided words
  4. This, that, and the other
  5. Hear Pat today on WNYC
  6. And while we’re at it …
  7. Don’t be a so-and-so
  8. A suspect usage
  9. You’re everything but mine
  10. A jerry-rigged expression?
  11. You give me fever
  12. The Loch Ness naches
  13. Commander Data and the Doc
  14. For better or worse
  15. The well-tempered prelude
  16. More than meets the eye
  17. Is “too” an also-ran?
  18. Hardy of heart
  19. Home study
  20. As you like it
  21. It’s a guy thing
  22. Who do you love?
  23. The whole nine yards, part 2
  24. Mix and mash
  25. A sort of answer
  26. Sylvester Stallone’s mama
  27. A sign of approval
  28. Budget wise
  29. Rose is a rose, or is he?
  30. The long and the short of shrift
  31. People oriented
  32. Immune response

July 2008

  1. An extended meaning?
  2. Subprime time
  3. Pound for pound
  4. Writing in style
  5. The travail of travel
  6. A sneaky question
  7. Verbal assistance
  8. Why are the clams happy?
  9. Group therapy
  10. Welcoming committee
  11. Two index fingers pointing
  12. Is the lease up on “lend”?
  13. What and what not
  14. Heightened tension
  15. Choices, choices
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Erstwhile adventures
  18. When do you need “whenever”?
  19. Redundancy redux
  20. A booby prize is awarded
  21. Lost in the whilst
  22. Cotton picking
  23. Stools, pigeons, and ducks
  24. On borrowed time
  25. Multiple choice
  26. Take a listen, please!
  27. It all depends on you
  28. The English patient
  29. A purpose-driven question
  30. Pardon my French
  31. One whiff, and a bust!
  32. Ghetto talk

June 2008

  1. Thus far, so good
  2. Is “most” almost there?
  3. Is that what it’s all about?
  4. Capital crimes
  5. “Aluminum” vs. “aluminium”
  6. “And thence my Lady Sandwich”
  7. Plutonic relations
  8. A tissue of lies
  9. Captain, may I?
  10. Ringing in the posies!
  11. From “izzard” to “zed” to “z”
  12. Aggressive behavior
  13. You axed for it!
  14. When did those upper lips stiffen?
  15. Thong tied
  16. Store gazing
  17. Plurals of wisdom
  18. APB: Whither “the”?
  19. A family affair
  20. One less question to answer
  21. Get around much anymore?
  22. Anti accidents
  23. A skeevy etymology
  24. Emotional baggage
  25. Meet the pundit
  26. To incent and incense
  27. Is it HUN-ta or JUN-ta?
  28. A Japanese import?
  29. Whooping it up!
  30. Hunky-dory

May 2008

  1. Dude the obscure
  2. Is Manhattan full of schist?
  3. Talking the talk
  4. Meet Pat today at the NY Public Library
  5. Grotty or grotesque?
  6. Catcher in the wry
  7. Noodling with words
  8. A robust wine with leafy overtones
  9. Jacques in the beanstalk
  10. End games
  11. Lame and basted
  12. A piece of work
  13. Game theory
  14. Food for thought
  15. Sez who?
  16. The best regards
  17. Shake that stick
  18. Forte knocks
  19. Drill instructor
  20. Over a barrel
  21. Eye of the storm
  22. Front-seat driving
  23. ri-PREEZ or ri-PRIZE?
  24. Transient labors
  25. The imperfect storm
  26. Shtreet smarts
  27. Name dropping
  28. Hear! Hear!
  29. Lingua frankness
  30. A modest proposal
  31. Symbolic art
  32. A royal redundancy?

April 2008

  1. The species of extinction
  2. Why can’t Americans learn to speak?
  3. Enuf already!
  4. Altogether now
  5. Special education
  6. To err or not to err
  7. The ubiquitous eponymous
  8. Serious adverse events
  9. The armchair maven
  10. The flip side of distaff
  11. Poetic license
  12. Shop till you drop
  13. Accentuating the negative
  14. Rules, schmules!
  15. These strings don’t zing!
  16. The importance of being open
  17. Just because you’re you
  18. Epicenter piece
  19. Vacuum battles
  20. Deviant behavior
  21. Long and short division
  22. Like it or not
  23. Is he hearing things?
  24. Half truths
  25. Schismatic beliefs
  26. Primal screens
  27. Prime time
  28. The epicene pronoun
  29. So what’s permitted?
  30. Oh, me! Oh, my!

March 2008

  1. Souls of Discretion
  2. Is this “how” a howler?
  3. Bury similitude
  4. Plea agreement
  5. Schneidenfreude
  6. She’s, like, gimme a break
  7. Should “reaccredited” be edited?
  8. Email intuition, Part 2
  9. Whadda catastastroke!
  10. The quick brown fox
  11. Idioms delight
  12. Where’d ya get those peeps?
  13. Two-faced words, part 2
  14. On war and peace in bed
  15. How many boots on the ground?
  16. Dead in the water
  17. Supersize that word?
  18. Adjectively speaking
  19. Finishing touch
  20. Light in the loafers
  21. The ins and outs of sleep
  22. A wazoo-ful of prepositions
  23. Squish, squash!
  24. Comment, please?
  25. That’s that
  26. Did I decimate the language?
  27. The NOO-kya-lur family
  28. What’s up, Jack?
  29. On commas and nuns
  30. Something’s gotta give
  31. “I” anxiety

February 2008

  1. Knuckle down!
  2. Illiterary criticism
  3. Say it again!
  4. Sporting the oak
  5. Scratch words
  6. An article of faith
  7. A fraughtful question
  8. Psst! Naked pictures
  9. Pleased as Punch
  10. A foot-and-a-half-long hot dog
  11. Isn’t it problematic?
  12. Sudden life
  13. Trough luck
  14. Teacher education
  15. Syntactics
  16. Home sweet home
  17. Dracula and other phenomenons?
  18. Bigger than a breadbox
  19. Odds and endings
  20. Is conciser always nicer?
  21. A fool, a fool, a motley fool
  22. What’s buttery about butterflies?
  23. The only one
  24. A buoyant principle
  25. A question of rhetoric
  26. There, there now
  27. A dilemma inside an enigma
  28. Ivory-toweredness
  29. Benign neglect

January 2008

  1. In the beginning were the words
  2. Fun and games
  3. It is what it is, or is it?
  4. The hoodoo on “who do”
  5. An algebraic occasion
  6. A justifiable usage
  7. What’s new, pussens?
  8. High muckamucks
  9. Grandfather clause
  10. Moonshines
  11. Ups and downs of cyberspace
  12. A sigh is just a sigh
  13. Myriad images
  14. A murder of crows
  15. Do you know where it’s at?
  16. No problemo?
  17. Keeping the faith
  18. Don’t know much geometry
  19. Food for thought
  20. Grammar Moses
  21. Gone by the waistline
  22. I yam a sweet potato
  23. An inviting abbreviation
  24. Is he a Yankees fan?
  25. Is synergy a sin?
  26. User friendly
  27. A goldenrod rule?
  28. Discomfit zone
  29. Seeing is believing
  30. The whiching hour
  31. Don’t cry for me, Argentina

2007 367

December 2007

  1. Numbo jumbo
  2. Truly Scrumptious
  3. Exceptions make the rules
  4. Suspect etymology
  5. A pantleg to stand on
  6. A theological dispute
  7. Board games
  8. A show stopper
  9. When a cat has your tongue
  10. “Change” ins and outs
  11. Goodness gracious!
  12. Spade work
  13. “Live in” help
  14. Occupational therapy
  15. An ax to grind
  16. A pet topic
  17. Spell-checked
  18. A big deal breaker
  19. Reddy or not!
  20. Guilt trips
  21. Mommy tracking
  22. Good grammar or good taste?
  23. Can more than one be singular?
  24. Geek mythology
  25. Is it “titled” or “entitled”?
  26. A “fustrating” situation
  27. Civil unioned? Civilly united? Civil whatever?
  28. Tense and tense ability
  29. Open to interpretation
  30. Possessive mothers-in-law
  31. A star-spangled abbreviation

November 2007

  1. All the best whiches
  2. A slothful usage?
  3. Learning disabilities
  4. Should a kid care about grammar?
  5. Do you heart New York?
  6. Mischief-making
  7. The Scarlet Letter
  8. Take a decision, please!
  9. Adult entertainment
  10. Booby hatch
  11. Inside the pale
  12. Is this integration?
  13. Noun sense
  14. The proper perspective
  15. Author! Author!
  16. Department of inveterate affairs
  17. Just because you’re you
  18. A conversation stopper
  19. Are you possessed?
  20. It’s got to be me
  21. “I’ve ‘ad me breakfast”
  22. Collective thinking
  23. Whiling away time
  24. Don’t lay down your guns!
  25. A scrutable mystery
  26. Who pays the tab?
  27. Is it “-able” or “-ible”?
  28. Russian dressing
  29. Fuzzy numbers
  30. Is this “use” abuse?

October 2007

  1. Through the looking glass
  2. Is ‘ain’t’ misbehaving?
  3. Back in the day
  4. An interesting preposition
  5. A Jamesian mystery
  6. The right orientation
  7. Is he an old fuddy-duddy?
  8. Noblesse oblige
  9. An abuser manual
  10. Not to mention the goldfish
  11. Bacon, bats, and girls
  12. Watch your aitches
  13. A dark and goosey night
  14. Stop on it!
  15. The $64,000 question
  16. Are we losing “-ed” adjectives?
  17. The theory of devolution
  18. Kansas City, here I come
  19. Ever more or less
  20. A scramble before eggs
  21. Heavens to Betsy!
  22. You’re welcome!
  23. Prior considerations
  24. Need to know
  25. The promised land
  26. Bronx cheers
  27. A possessive maitre d’
  28. Etch a kvetch
  29. Is resistance futile?
  30. As German as apple pie!
  31. Goodbye, Ruby CHYOOZ-day

September 2007

  1. Rail birds
  2. To dot or not to dot
  3. Going to business
  4. Mano a mano
  5. Hey, ucalegon man!
  6. Majority rules
  7. “STOP” watch
  8. A snark in the grass
  9. Who put the “howdy” in Houston St.?
  10. Gay Paree and the Eye-Full Tower
  11. Whither or not?
  12. A dubious etymology
  13. Annus horribilis
  14. Badged, badgered, and bewildered
  15. Good caramel
  16. The art of the fugue
  17. What a shambles!
  18. From the word go
  19. That’s amore
  20. Thonx to the Bronx
  21. Artsy-fartsy
  22. Turn of the century
  23. Exquisite expressions
  24. It does mean a thing (if it’s got that “ing”)
  25. Are you feeling gruntled?
  26. Inchoate of many colors
  27. A tricky situation
  28. Throatwobbler Mangrove
  29. Naturalized citizens
  30. A subtle difference

August 2007

  1. A wonky question
  2. “Islamic” or “Islamist”?
  3. Preventative medicine!
  4. Is it ih-RACK, eye-ROCK, or whatever?
  5. A which’s brew
  6. Nerds of America
  7. One of these days
  8. Several interpretations
  9. Lend me your earmarks
  10. Whiteboard rafting
  11. Continuing education
  12. “Wait” watching
  13. Quoth the maven: “Anymore”?
  14. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
  15. A Junie B. in your bonnet?
  16. Can a woman be a mensch?
  17. Mind-boggling
  18. Don’t be cute!
  19. Casualties of war
  20. Puny tunes
  21. Missing links
  22. “Had” tricks
  23. A case of backwardness
  24. Points about price
  25. A deconstruction site
  26. An annual exam
  27. Subs and Burbs
  28. “Am I being an old fart?”
  29. Days of infamy
  30. Dutch treats
  31. The ring of truth

July 2007

  1. Conceptual arts
  2. Self improvement
  3. The vision thing
  4. People, places, and names
  5. Young Frankenstein
  6. Breaking the codology
  7. Key bored
  8. Quoth the raven
  9. Mavens, shmavens
  10. Plurals of wisdom
  11. Stomp
  12. We the People
  13. Do you pronounce ‘t’ in ‘often’?
  14. A noble stand of lime trees?
  15. “Disreputable” contractions
  16. So she’s like, “I hate LIKE!”
  17. Little Shavers
  18. The following question
  19. Size matters
  20. Over the hump
  21. 1 prof. emeritus + 1 prof. emeritus = 2 ?
  22. What do you call that thingy?
  23. The “i” in iPOD
  24. Is “bête noire” politically incorrect?
  25. Good job, Spot!
  26. Tricky relationships
  27. Is “niggardly” a no-no?
  28. Hey, whaddaya say?
  29. A nonsecurity blanket
  30. A mute point
  31. “Ex” hits the spot

June 2007

  1. Resume, resumé, or résumé?
  2. “Dos” and “don’ts”
  3. Two-faced words
  4. Why a horn?
  5. Spick and span
  6. Ugly and/or unnecessary
  7. So there!
  8. A full-size question
  9. Avarice and greed
  10. “Criminalist” vs. “criminologist”
  11. Fixing to go!
  12. An underhanded expression
  13. A flounder out of water
  14. Is the president being dissed?
  15. A bemusing situation
  16. OFF and ON
  17. Why a “via”?
  18. Salad days or cake days?
  19. One word too many
  20. Strictly a female female
  21. Massaging the message
  22. Is “trepidatious” a word?
  23. Parameter insecurity
  24. It’s absolutely annoying!
  25. Is ‘irregardless’ your #1 ‘uggie’?
  26. Don’t cry for this Argentine!
  27. Email intuition
  28. That’ll be the day
  29. What a dump!
  30. A tortured usage?

May 2007

  1. Who’s the “Indian giver”?
  2. Out of sight!
  3. Possessed by possessives
  4. What’s with the “et” in “et cetera”?
  5. Is “overage” over the line?
  6. Did Roger Clemens throw a wild pitch?
  7. Textual criticism
  8. Is it worth the “efforting”?
  9. A hairy thought
  10. Why do New Yorkers stand “on line”?
  11. A kangaroo court
  12. Is talk cheap?
  13. For younger grammarphobes
  14. When the Joneses are possessed
  15. T ceremonies
  16. The dirt on “ethnic cleansing”
  17. Waking the dead
  18. A kid-friendly grammar book?
  19. Sound advice
  20. The octothorpe’s many tentacles
  21. His mom is a stickler
  22. For medicinal purposes only!
  23. “Woe Is I Jr.” is here!
  24. Loan cowpokes
  25. Forewarning signs
  26. Response ability
  27. Out of pocket
  28. A highfalutin word?
  29. A revolting thought
  30. Bandwidth to spare
  31. Penal envy
  32. A word with pizzazz!

April 2007

  1. Why is the U.S. singular?
  2. An element of style
  3. Starting positions
  4. Any way the wind blows
  5. Is her dad sketchy?
  6. Stormy weather
  7. Vowel play
  8. Pajama games
  9. From Zee to Zed
  10. Aromatherapy?
  11. Grammarphobia or grammarphilia?
  12. A jewel of a word
  13. To hell in a handbasket
  14. Is it “already” or “all ready”?
  15. So to speak
  16. When is a comma too much?
  17. Is “root cause” redundant?
  18. “We” vs. “us”
  19. Cohort in crime?
  20. Who’s a bonehead?
  21. A “brand-new” question
  22. Let’s fathom a “sea change”
  23. Saying is believing
  24. Ginning up the politics
  25. Should “banal” rhyme with “anal”?
  26. A hot time next door!
  27. A “pitchy” usage
  28. Taxi! Taxi!
  29. Compound interest
  30. Language (and marriage) counseling

March 2007

  1. A moment of truth
  2. Heteronyms and homophones
  3. Monkeyshine!
  4. Don’t fold and mutilate!
  5. Plastered in Paris
  6. Three sheets to the wind
  7. Is “death knell” overkill?
  8. On cows and cowlicks
  9. Excuse me, Mr. Trump!
  10. Hacking it
  11. Is “scot free” a slur on Scots?
  12. An etiquette lesson
  13. More “bone” mots
  14. “Ditto,” a word with a past
  15. “Gender” bending
  16. Mash notes
  17. Incentive payback
  18. A tough row to hoe
  19. You send me
  20. On “whinge” and “whine”
  21. The great divide
  22. Suspended animation
  23. Is it OK to “dialogue”?
  24. Make no bones about it
  25. The “penultimate” peril
  26. Is “winningest” a loser?
  27. Reference material
  28. Are you a Raymond Carver fan?
  29. A nosy question
  30. You guys and dolls
  31. Gimme closure
  32. How possessive can you get?

February 2007

  1. How should you answer the phone?
  2. Right on the money
  3. Keep your shirt on!
  4. Is pronunciation your forte?
  5. By the seat of one’s pants
  6. A “bitch” of a word
  7. On “farther” and “further”
  8. Mind your p’s and q’s
  9. Do we say “an herb” or “a herb”?
  10. Is it forego … or forgo?
  11. Tom, Dick, and Harry
  12. Which “orange” came first?
  13. Ducks in a row
  14. What’s the singular of “scissors”?
  15. The “It” Squad
  16. A hair-raising subject
  17. “Fulsome” prison blues
  18. Is a double negative a no-no?
  19. An inflammatory question
  20. Easy as duck soup?
  21. Isn’t it ironic?
  22. On “enormity” and “enormousness”
  23. Capital punishment
  24. Impacted wisdom
  25. The “flea” in “flea market”
  26. Nibble, nibble, toil and “kibble”
  27. Bewitched, bothered, and “nonplussed”
  28. The downside of “crescendo”

January 2007

  1. On “swine” and “pork”
  2. Do you champ or chomp at the bit?
  3. The mother of all boards
  4. A few capital and capitol ideas
  5. At sixes and sevens
  6. Is a computer “backed up” or “back upped”?
  7. Does “cache” rhyme with “sash” or “sashay”?
  8. Is a country a “she” or an “it”?
  9. Let’s wax philosophical.
  10. Paint the town red!
  11. Ship High In Transport?
  12. What’s the plural of maitre d’?
  13. On “bring” vs. “take”
  14. A lot of malarkey
  15. “Goons and ginks and company finks”
  16. Is noon 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.?
  17. A bun in the oven
  18. Growing pains
  19. Why is a Jeep called a Jeep?
  20. Hunting the origin of “snarky”
  21. Is it “butt naked” or “buck naked”?
  22. Getting the hang of hung
  23. Is “flaccid” pronounced FLASS-id or FLAK-sid?
  24. Reluctant vs. reticent
  25. One fell swoop
  26. Is a person a “who” or a “that”?
  27. Is “media” singular or plural?
  28. I could care less
  29. Why is a funeral director called an undertaker?
  30. Does Mrs. Malaprop have a rival?
  31. Who’s the “Charley” in “charley horse”?

2006 141

December 2006

  1. Carrot and/or stick
  2. Paradigm lost?
  3. A modest preposition
  4. Is “boonswoggle” legit?
  5. The language of geometry
  6. Who put the “X” in “Xmas”?
  7. To split or not to split?
  8. Clothes vs. clothing
  9. Damn Yankees!
  10. Is there a “hearse” in “rehearse”?
  11. On knickerbockers, knickers, and the Knicks
  12. You’ve got to be kidding
  13. Why does the Bronx have a “the”?
  14. “All is” vs. “all are”
  15. The pedigree of “pet peeve”
  16. Dissing the Democratic Party
  17. Port and Starboard
  18. Her Nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs
  19. Why is the proof in the pudding?
  20. The origin of “randy”
  21. Two ways to be possessive
  22. A one-dimensional character?
  23. “Historic” vs. “historical”
  24. The evolution of “peruse”
  25. A “likely” story
  26. An “actionable” usage
  27. Is the adverb losing its -ly
  28. The scoop on newspaper jargon
  29. The origin of “caucus”
  30. An ATM machine?
  31. A murderous mob of crows

November 2006

  1. “Appendices” vs. “appendixes”
  2. In the mind of the beholder
  3. Is it “militate” or “mitigate”?
  4. Straight from the horse’s mouth
  5. What’s the skinny on “skinny”?
  6. “Woe is I” vs. “Woe is me”
  7. Whose name is mud?
  8. Is a person a “that” or a “who”?
  9. Why is there an “e” in Pat’s last name?
  10. Much ado about “doable”
  11. Why isn’t “email” more like “mail”?
  12. What’s the origin of “hinky”?
  13. Is “none” singular or plural?
  14. Is it “fewer” or “less”?
  15. Some “gruesome” thoughts
  16. When the issue is “issues”
  17. Assure, ensure, and insure
  18. Should “Ms.” have a period?
  19. With John and “me”
  20. Why do we say “eighty-six it”?
  21. Why do Americans say “horseback riding”?
  22. Where ignorance is bliss
  23. A dotty question
  24. How do you say “affluent”?
  25. The origin of “sex maniac”
  26. Is she an “actor” or an “actress”?
  27. Wear heart on sleeve
  28. Why is a frank a “hot dog”?
  29. Don’t dis the verb “disrespect.”
  30. Did Mencken coin “bloviate”?

October 2006

  1. What’s the origin of “willy-nilly”?
  2. Why do we “take a flier”?
  3. No room to swing a cat
  4. No ifs about “and” or “but”
  5. Is he an “atheist” or an “agnostic”?
  6. Is language organic?
  7. Why do we say “spitting image”?
  8. A comma, too?
  9. Is it “pleaded” or “pled”?
  10. The accent on “homage”
  11. The whole nine yards
  12. The Big Apple
  13. A “graduate” degree
  14. A brief history of Father Time
  15. An umlaut pan?
  16. “Each” and “every” headache
  17. Bringing up “baby-sit”
  18. “Down the tubes”
  19. A “forward” (or “foreword”) pass
  20. Let’s “vet” this
  21. On “frogs” and “frog-eaters”
  22. “Nauseous” vs. “nauseated”
  23. Computer “mouses” or “mice”?
  24. Are you “dubious” or “doubtful”?
  25. A “pandemic” epidemic!
  26. Is “whereabouts” singular or plural?
  27. “Disinterested” vs. “uninterested”
  28. Pregnant or “knocked up”?
  29. Can “Esq.” be used after a woman’s name?
  30. How arguable is “arguably”?
  31. A “moot” point

September 2006

  1. On ’til and till and until
  2. Why do politicians sound like turkeys?
  3. What’s the right dictionary for me?
  4. A singular question
  5. Why is a toll road a “turnpike”?
  6. A “trying” time
  7. The uniqueness of ‘unique’
  8. A “flustrating” question
  9. A “cockamamie” story
  10. Do you really need “that”?
  11. Who put the “tom” in “tomboy”?
  12. A plural in sheep’s clothing
  13. “Liberty” vs. “freedom”
  14. Is broccoli “healthy” or “healthful”?
  15. On “each other” and “one another”
  16. The scoop on “bi” and “semi”
  17. “In behalf of” vs. “on behalf of”
  18. The ‘lie’ or ‘lay’ of the land?
  19. “Got” and “gotten”
  20. “I Wish I Were Blind”
  21. “Off of” is off-putting.
  22. “Bob’s your uncle”
  23. There’s no “there’s” there.
  24. “I mean,” “you know,” and other tics
  25. Do you feel “bad” or badly”?
  26. “Don’t give me that jive.”
  27. The “which” (or “that”) trials
  28. Does “presently” mean “now” or “soon”?
  29. Can you cut the mustard?
  30. “I literally exploded”

August 2006

  1. Why is a police officer called a “cop”?
  2. Is it “gantlet” or “gauntlet”?
  3. Using ‘myself’ for ‘I’ or ‘me’
  4. “A while” and “awhile”
  5. A female version of “avuncular”
  6. “In like Flynn”
  7. “Yous” or “youse”
  8. “Career” vs. “careen”
  9. Why isn’t there a “fire” in “fiery”?
  10. “I’m all in.”
  11. “Just us chickens”
  12. “Munchausen syndrome by proxy”
  13. “Coming up spades”
  14. On “troop” and “troops”
  15. “A whole nother”
  16. “Begging the question”
  17. “Tongue in Cheek”
  18. “Gone missing” or “went missing”
  19. ‘Lighted’/ ‘lit’ and ‘dived’/ ‘dove’

2010–2013 →