The Curious Engineer

Grammarphobia

2010–2013

1,371 posts

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2013 263

December 2013

  1. On the shambolic side
  2. A perfect infinitive
  3. Using “one” for “a” or “an”
  4. Black bear: phrase or noun?
  5. Is your spell-checker a maverick?
  6. Is the cheese blue or bleu?
  7. How Jesus got his name
  8. The nowness of “right now”
  9. Pungent Grains of Titillating Dust
  10. “After a while” vs. “in a while”
  11. Is Brooklyn a brand?
  12. “Jail” versus “gaol”
  13. Does “attendee” bug you?
  14. A “thank you” note
  15. ‘In general,’ for the most part
  16. Let’s get kinky!
  17. The “cur” in “curmudgeon”
  18. “Grate” expectations
  19. A past that isn’t perfect
  20. Let’s do the mashed potatoes
  21. If you’re a fysigunkus, skip this!

November 2013

  1. Was ist das?
  2. Wagyu or waygu?
  3. “Least” wise
  4. Did Marco Polo ride a donkey?
  5. Mayday: French to the rescue!
  6. New Year’s daze
  7. How noble is the sandwich?
  8. Pat on WNYC and at the NYPL
  9. A grizzly of a different color
  10. Lozenge or lozenger?
  11. You’ll find out!
  12. The comma in question
  13. Speaking words of wisdom
  14. Figs and hoots
  15. Let’s rock-and-roll
  16. Empire State-ments
  17. Here’s Johnny
  18. Everyday vs. every day
  19. The winningest dog
  20. The many ways to say nothing

October 2013

  1. The secret life of sources
  2. From minutia to minutiae
  3. Hear Pat on Iowa Public Radio
  4. Three little Wendys
  5. “Very” similitude
  6. Running dogs of rhetoric
  7. The power of appositive thinking
  8. Drown, drowned, and drownded
  9. Harebrained or hairbrained?
  10. Fain vs. feign
  11. Counterintuitive: true or false?
  12. Body English
  13. What’s a female cuckold?
  14. Einstein? It’s all relative
  15. If not, why not?
  16. Memento memorious
  17. The right percent
  18. An opinion on opinionated
  19. “Good-paying” or “well-paying”?
  20. “I” strain
  21. In-laws and other impediments
  22. A jitney lunch
  23. Leaning out

September 2013

  1. Title tracking
  2. Myself and other selfies
  3. Are there fangs in newfangled?
  4. Can kids see fun?
  5. The house of delegates
  6. What’s the difference?
  7. Texicography
  8. Chili, chile, or chilli?
  9. The prince of shorthand
  10. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  11. A bordello on the waterfront
  12. Can the White House talk?
  13. Fraudsters and other swindlers
  14. Stroke treatment
  15. Throw the brook at them!
  16. How to correct a friend’s English
  17. How the Bard and Cicero spoke
  18. Spendy spree
  19. Briefing paper
  20. Ego trips
  21. Letterary criticism

August 2013

  1. Who’s zori now?
  2. Let’s play it by ear
  3. Collocation colocation co-location
  4. The right proportions
  5. Never-never land
  6. “This this” and “that that”
  7. For land’s sake!
  8. Idiomatic transmission
  9. Is a side dish garnish?
  10. Who’s killing organic search?
  11. On mayors and mayoresses
  12. How did news become copy?
  13. Blood, toil, tears, and quotes
  14. Falling in love again
  15. A disappearing act
  16. Out goes you!
  17. Street cred
  18. Circular reasoning
  19. Spill proof
  20. Hear Pat on Iowa Public Radio
  21. An eye-opening plural
  22. Bird play
  23. How “terror” gave us “terrific”

July 2013

  1. The whole troop
  2. Let’s do “do”
  3. Why is a hick town a jerkwater?
  4. Cardinal college
  5. Is “many” missing in action?
  6. Is there a bee in your bonnet?
  7. Sentence interruptus
  8. Whosetrionics
  9. See Spot run!
  10. Human resources?
  11. The language of gay marriage
  12. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  13. Predominately speaking
  14. Is a clunker used or pre-owned?
  15. That’s all, folks!
  16. Architectural criticism
  17. How illegal is unlawful?
  18. Much ado about texting
  19. It’s a gas
  20. How cool is coolth?
  21. Just supposing …
  22. Repeat offenders
  23. In a pickle

June 2013

  1. Is the present a gift?
  2. If we had our druthers
  3. Turning the tables
  4. The story behind the headlines
  5. Is “refer back” redundant?
  6. A case in point
  7. In pretty good company
  8. Rental telepathy
  9. Is it “is”? Or is it “are”?
  10. Are cowpokes poky?
  11. Mistresses and other women
  12. Wooder, wooder, everywhere?
  13. Bilingual education
  14. A capital offense?
  15. The rhubarb phenomenon
  16. A classical education
  17. Eeeeeeeek!
  18. Since Pluto was a pup
  19. Like the back of one’s hand
  20. In a jiffy

May 2013

  1. A “media” event
  2. “Other” wise
  3. The tip of my fingers?
  4. A loaded question
  5. Theories of relativity
  6. Earth angles
  7. A matter of course
  8. Program notes
  9. Is “go viral” going viral?
  10. Yeah, no
  11. Between times
  12. Let’s rustle up an answer
  13. Problems, problems
  14. Death, the great intensifier
  15. The singularity of Mother’s Day
  16. Is “offshore of” off-putting?
  17. Why “stereo” in “stereotypical”?
  18. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  19. Genitively speaking
  20. The “poke” in “slowpoke”
  21. Parsing the Preamble
  22. Who-whomery
  23. Alternating currents

April 2013

  1. The well-coordinated modifier
  2. On the lam
  3. Myself abuse
  4. Are the cohorts in cahoots?
  5. Hat tricks
  6. Should we watch our language?
  7. Is there a “their” there?
  8. Let’s play ball
  9. About that “Donate” button …
  10. Whodunit? Oscar Wilde!
  11. I got this
  12. High on the hog
  13. Just sayin’
  14. The next name I’m going to call
  15. A chasm in pronunciation
  16. Hyphen-iacal
  17. Plenary session
  18. Plumb loco
  19. Cop talk
  20. How false are false titles?
  21. Waxing Rothschild
  22. On “i.e.” versus “viz.”
  23. Hear Pat on Iowa Public Radio
  24. The silo syndrome

March 2013

  1. Historic vs. historical: A history
  2. Making sense
  3. Contrite and sarcastic?
  4. Are you a Japanophone? はい
  5. The earliest Johnny-come-lately
  6. Downton’s steep learning curve
  7. Whether … or not?
  8. Noun entities
  9. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  10. NOO-kya-lur reactions
  11. A blizzard of etymology
  12. “Inalienable” or “unalienable”?
  13. Make sure you’re sure
  14. You better believe it
  15. Invasion of the brainworms
  16. Why “won’t” isn’t “willn’t”
  17. Zero-sum games
  18. A noun for being upside down
  19. “Like” minded
  20. Elliptical reasoning
  21. “Each other” vs. “one another”
  22. Lex appeal: Does size matter?

February 2013

  1. Gramm-ology: “Sequester”
  2. An arm and a leg
  3. “By” lines
  4. Is “to” part of the infinitive?
  5. Meteoric language
  6. The singularity of “as follows”
  7. Closeted language
  8. Indian territory
  9. Our how many-eth beer?
  10. The full story
  11. “Want” adds
  12. Still sleeping with the fishes
  13. Where is “put” in “stay put”?
  14. Rhetorical deviltry
  15. Quote école
  16. Look, readers!
  17. Should we dis “disassociate”?
  18. Blood and treasure
  19. Homophobia, past and present

January 2013

  1. The grayness of they-ness
  2. Are you bored to flinders?
  3. We’re on safari
  4. All or nothing at all
  5. Since Christ left Chicago
  6. Read us in Smithsonian magazine
  7. How credible is “incredible”?
  8. Passive distribution
  9. Wigs, bigwigs, and big Whigs
  10. Inaugural pronunciations
  11. English lit or British lit?
  12. We hope you’re not bored
  13. Behind the Iron Curtain
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. Meantime, back at the ranch
  16. Quote magnets
  17. Can a fruit be a vegetable?
  18. All for one, and one for all
  19. When the past is present
  20. The whole six yards?
  21. What kind of abbreviation is K-9?
  22. A humbling victory?
  23. Thanks for collocating!
  24. Hypercritical vs. hypocritical

2012 345

December 2012

  1. Doing the math on “aftermath”
  2. More about caring less
  3. Election daze
  4. Never forget! Never again!
  5. Does Santa have a gender issue?
  6. Making love, then and now
  7. Flack attack
  8. Is it “whiskey” or “whisky”?
  9. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  10. Full time
  11. The birth of a notion
  12. Nice and nasty
  13. Can a man be a hostess?
  14. Uppity language
  15. Shady language
  16. Winsome evangelism
  17. Beyond the pale
  18. Look out below!
  19. Donkey’s years
  20. Supporting language
  21. Sufferin’ succotash!

November 2012

  1. Nose piece
  2. Disorganized crime
  3. A sense of wonder
  4. Why does “fridge” have a “d”?
  5. We’re not stymied
  6. Equatorial currents
  7. Why is a turkey leg a drumstick?
  8. Putting an adverb in its place
  9. Did Winston want discipline?
  10. Not for the squeamish?
  11. Did you early vote?
  12. Vet noire
  13. At the end of the day
  14. Must a love affair include sex?
  15. A recipe for success
  16. Side effects
  17. Robot talk
  18. When Ireland was Scotland
  19. “In” a paper vs. “on” the Net
  20. Pat in NY Times on Web. 3 furor
  21. Something for the weekend?
  22. Frankenly speaking

October 2012

  1. Like a hole in the head
  2. Why is a top 10 song a hit?
  3. Quote du jour
  4. Is “lectitude” a word?
  5. A lick and a promise
  6. A transformative vision?
  7. Hear Pat on Iowa Public Radio
  8. Ten-dollar words
  9. Triangulating love
  10. Is this not cool?
  11. Who was the first nosy parker?
  12. Pat on WNYC: schedule change
  13. At long last
  14. Alphabet soup: ABC or ABCs?
  15. Is there a fox in the forecastle?
  16. Puns and other moat points
  17. The plastic thingy on a bread bag
  18. How singular is “metrics”?
  19. Coffee talk
  20. Refried English
  21. Is “bimbo” a naughty word?
  22. Stilted and/or stuffy
  23. Clothed minded
  24. Lede time

September 2012

  1. Doubling down at KFC
  2. Everwhat and everwhere
  3. Is “the reason why” redundant?
  4. Does “sign off on” tick you off?
  5. Is “legitimize” legitimate?
  6. The benefit of your thoughts
  7. The astonishing life of “Wow!”
  8. The whole nine yards, continued
  9. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  10. “Quash” vs. “squash”
  11. Did whites coin “honky”?
  12. Swoft-boating
  13. Anxiety attack
  14. Back in the day, revisited
  15. Aboriginal meaning
  16. Kissing cousins
  17. Does this excite you?
  18. Trench warfare?
  19. Name calling
  20. Storm watch: williwaw
  21. Team USA
  22. Into the woods
  23. Analyzing sabermetrics
  24. A symptom of medical English
  25. Plural jam

August 2012

  1. Lettering in sports
  2. Beck and call
  3. “Out” sourcing in English
  4. The wages of sin
  5. See you later, educator
  6. Primary education
  7. Feelin’ Groovy
  8. An aha moment in lexicography
  9. Legal aid
  10. Till the cows come home
  11. The case of the missing clew
  12. The apian origin of spelling bees
  13. Enough said
  14. “Instantly” vs. “instantaneously”
  15. Hanging up one’s spurs
  16. A mighty wind
  17. Why UK singers sound American
  18. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  19. Heavy reading
  20. Weigh station
  21. Ask us anytime (or any time?)
  22. A whole other thing
  23. A horse of another color
  24. Onymously speaking
  25. Culinary arts
  26. None sense
  27. Get thee to a carwashery
  28. Whom truths
  29. Guess who’s coming to dinner
  30. What’s with “I can’t with”?
  31. Vaganza: a mini-extravaganza?
  32. Hear Pat on Iowa Public Radio
  33. Shall we segue?

July 2012

  1. Crippled, handicapped, disabled?
  2. Quality control
  3. Five foot two, hyphens too?
  4. Basis points
  5. Preexisting conditions
  6. Processing to the altar
  7. Going forward in biz speak
  8. Modal children
  9. Did the Bard speak American?
  10. Serial number
  11. Coming to terms
  12. Jenny Kiss’d Me
  13. “For example” vs. “for instance”
  14. Please be careful of the gap!
  15. Meet Pat today in New York
  16. Is “higher” in “hierarchy”?
  17. Are you for sure about that?
  18. A lub of butter?
  19. Is “seabome” a word?
  20. Why the hyphen in Spider-Man?
  21. Lies, damn lies, and the 1500s
  22. Why don’t we say “eastnorth”?
  23. Vowel mouthed
  24. We say the darndest things
  25. Waste matter
  26. Thanks for asking
  27. The borne conspiracy
  28. May you live in interesting times
  29. Driver education
  30. On bended English
  31. No Exit
  32. On “premises”

June 2012

  1. The theory of irrelevance
  2. Satisfaction guaranteed
  3. When the complement was roses
  4. “Informational” vs. “informative”
  5. Taking issue with us
  6. Whence “-ency” and “-ence”?
  7. Dating service
  8. The grunts of a gruntled pig
  9. Scientific methods
  10. Getting down to essentials
  11. On guard
  12. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  13. Is “done” on the “finish” line?
  14. Mortgage interest
  15. Doing a number on amount
  16. Open wide, please!
  17. The sexy life of “hubba-hubba”
  18. Parallel universe
  19. Heat treatment
  20. Is this any way to talk to a boss?
  21. Healthy, wealthy, and wise-isms
  22. Spicy language
  23. This here usage
  24. How well is wellness?
  25. How did a “caretaker” become a “caregiver”?
  26. Is “partly cloudy” the same as “partly sunny”?
  27. How erudite is your pronunciation?
  28. Should Siri capitalize “God”?
  29. Unidentified Flying Objects
  30. Group-think
  31. Favored treatment

May 2012

  1. Windows update
  2. We’ll take Long Island and Staten Island too
  3. The “hopefully” wars
  4. Suspended animation
  5. Why Oynest has an erl can
  6. The ploy’s the thing
  7. Are you ept, ane, and ert?
  8. TEACHER IS NOT A LEPER
  9. Is the matrix the message?
  10. The quick and the late
  11. Does the ending of “alimony” mean money?
  12. Worcester source
  13. General relativity
  14. Neither hot nor cold
  15. Amphibian transportation
  16. A taxing question
  17. Yo! Bum Rush the Show
  18. Make a new plan, Stan
  19. What’s in “inane”?
  20. Does “nauseous” make you puke?
  21. The “whom” front
  22. Holding patterns: “maintain” vs. “retain”
  23. The elephant in the room
  24. Is the media dissing Mr. Obama?
  25. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  26. An apocryphal moment?
  27. Water ways: River Thames vs. Potomac River
  28. To surveil with love
  29. Really? Really?
  30. Do parkways lead to parks?
  31. Flame proof
  32. Burial ground
  33. On tadpoles and pollywogs

April 2012

  1. A fuselage of bullets?
  2. Per-snickety
  3. Due date
  4. Lyrical punctuation
  5. Let’s recombobulate
  6. Little orphan “any”
  7. Queer studies
  8. Pleonastically speaking
  9. Sound bites: “envelop” vs. “envelope”
  10. Remembrance of things past
  11. Can three things be back to back?
  12. Gilding the Bard
  13. Why does “ameliorate” mean “meliorate”?
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. What’s the takeaway?
  16. Was the Founders’ English less than perfect?
  17. Do we need a new word to express equivalence?
  18. Is the proof in the pudding?
  19. Referendum, shmeferendum
  20. Are you discombobulated?
  21. Green eggs and ham
  22. Getting tenses to play well together
  23. Rick Santorum—a tropism for the tragic?
  24. Spending spree
  25. Good luck with that!
  26. Does Mitt Romney’s hair breathe?
  27. Feebee minded
  28. Give it up for the emcee!
  29. Late for the funeral
  30. Oh, come now, TripAdvisor!
  31. When Aussies make the past more present

March 2012

  1. Pair-snickety
  2. Staff memo
  3. Just because
  4. Don’t choke on the pastrami!
  5. House of wax
  6. Biblical commentary
  7. Heteronyms: linguistic chameleons
  8. What’s normal now?
  9. Is Peggy wise or wizened?
  10. Street theater
  11. Why doesn’t the NY Times capitalize AIPAC?
  12. Backhanded criticism
  13. Why does “clerk” rhyme with “jerk” in the US?
  14. Priming the pump
  15. Trust territory
  16. De gustibus
  17. Adverbs on the hoof
  18. Did Caesar drive a Lexus?
  19. What’s with “what”?
  20. Clef notes
  21. The spicy history of baba ganoush
  22. All the fixings
  23. From Ta to Ta-ta to TTFN
  24. Let’s get it on
  25. The OED is not enthused
  26. The best of verbs, the worst of verbs
  27. Hip hip hooray
  28. Is “who’s” short for “who is” or “who has”?
  29. Does “let’s” need lexical support?
  30. Idiom proof
  31. An appetizing question

February 2012

  1. Theater (or theatre) piece
  2. Positively negative
  3. When the past isn’t perfect
  4. Watchwords
  5. Bathroom language
  6. Healthy choices
  7. An etymological valentine
  8. That old college cheer
  9. The human equation
  10. Ethics vs. morals
  11. Politics and prose
  12. Let’s look sharp
  13. Mythematics: a decimal point
  14. “At” tricks
  15. A participle in gerund’s clothing
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Neck of the woods
  18. The earwig in fact and fiction
  19. Need a PhD to pluralize “master’s degree”?
  20. Gone fishing
  21. A bona fide boner
  22. A likely story: “like” vs. “such as”
  23. When “for ever” isn’t forever
  24. A room with a view
  25. What’s your weekend look like?
  26. Assume, presume, and exhume
  27. Palimpsestuous
  28. Eating with the fishes
  29. Religious orientation
  30. Well, clutch the pearls!

January 2012

  1. Did the Costa Concordia capsize or ground?
  2. Point counter point
  3. Rock the mic … or the mike?
  4. Why does “croak” mean to die?
  5. Hyphenated Americans
  6. Cameo appearance
  7. The pedigree isn’t copacetic
  8. What do you call a monthly anniversary?
  9. A tad bit picky?
  10. Young Lochinvar is come, or is he?
  11. Would craft
  12. Let it be
  13. The nouning of “remit”
  14. A fish story
  15. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  16. Thundering in the index
  17. Intensive care
  18. Our word for the day
  19. Orientation day
  20. A rhetorical question
  21. Whom dunnit
  22. In search of powting
  23. Dog daze
  24. By cracky!
  25. A sin in syntax?
  26. Historic article
  27. Sign language
  28. By George!
  29. Compound fractures
  30. To hob or hob nob
  31. Why is “t” often silent?
  32. Headline news: to err is human

2011 383

December 2011

  1. Shall we shilly-shally?
  2. Foreign relations
  3. Has the subjunctive gone nuclear?
  4. Penalty kicks
  5. On “ilk” and its ilk
  6. The echt article
  7. Especially on Christmas Day
  8. Farewell, My Lovely
  9. Think piece
  10. Pinkies up
  11. Caffeine content
  12. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  13. When golf was banned in Scotland
  14. Preppy pronunciation
  15. Where have all the participles gone?
  16. A word pileup on the traffic report
  17. Window shopping on FITH Avenue
  18. On holy days and holidays
  19. When woulds collide
  20. A formidable subject
  21. What is your heart’s desire?
  22. Topology
  23. Is your English busted?
  24. Sleeping with the fishes
  25. When did “Venus’s beauty” get a second “s”?
  26. Tennis, anyone?
  27. On the tarmac
  28. Why do we favor a sore foot?
  29. Gallows rumor
  30. Ask and it shall be told
  31. Wanna argue?
  32. Hwat’s up with what?

November 2011

  1. Dead as a doornail
  2. The day’s eye
  3. Sold down the river
  4. Reputation management
  5. International studies
  6. Good golly, Miss Molly
  7. Vice isn’t nice, but is it vicious?
  8. The long goodbye
  9. Southern discomfort
  10. The more the merrier
  11. Catharsis, anyone?
  12. A slew of meanings
  13. Bouncing back
  14. Do we get lucky or fortunate?
  15. Are you coming or going?
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Indian summer
  18. Is bringing hard to take?
  19. Is auguring the same as boding?
  20. It’s all about ‘we the people’
  21. Substitute teaching
  22. Death sentences
  23. A cereal comma?
  24. Are these Pink Floyd lyrics crazy?
  25. When passive isn’t wimpy
  26. Trust busting
  27. Conjunctionitis
  28. A sign of the Times’s?
  29. Pay day
  30. The great deign
  31. Its/it’s: Grammar, punctuation, spelling?

October 2011

  1. Suitable attachments
  2. How notorious is notoriety?
  3. Fixation and the alchemist’s art
  4. Why not look a gift horse in the mouth?
  5. Are we defeatists?
  6. Period piece
  7. Infinitive possibilities
  8. O death, where is thy sting?
  9. Filling a few holes in the origin of spackle
  10. Is using “lay” for “lie” a hanging offense?
  11. Trend games
  12. Hey, Mr. Taliban
  13. A foolish consistency?
  14. Lexical buttinskies
  15. Who put the “feck” in “feckless”?
  16. Drive friendlily?
  17. When a helping word makes you cry help!
  18. Does “duck and cover” have fowl origins?
  19. Bells are ringing
  20. How do you say “double entendre”?
  21. A reprehensible posting
  22. Is “injust” one of those things?
  23. Cite lines
  24. Tent and tambourine
  25. A faux French quirk
  26. A whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
  27. Is “also” an also-ran?
  28. Do the bridges you burn light the way?
  29. Splatter proof
  30. A song and dance
  31. Trash talk

September 2011

  1. Is “oftentimes” off-putting?
  2. A cold case
  3. Swine language
  4. Superlatively speaking
  5. Do you pronounce the H in Hubert?
  6. Collective intelligence
  7. Pronounitis
  8. Shag? Lunkhead? Plunkety-plunk?
  9. A right good word
  10. Shall we blog?
  11. Is “civilised” more “civilized”?
  12. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  13. Whatcha up to? Oh, just hacking.
  14. Let’s spruce up our language
  15. Do prayers have to be grammatical?
  16. Into the generation gap
  17. A smoldering anachronism
  18. In search of the wild Mountweazel
  19. When “e” is seen but not heard
  20. Gizmo version 2.0
  21. Something to sneeze at
  22. The subject is noses
  23. Logging in (or on): Go configure
  24. Lost in translation
  25. Reality check
  26. Chimera obscura
  27. The dark side of the moon
  28. What the dickens!
  29. Breaking news
  30. Money 101
  31. Subjunctivitis
  32. Are you dotty enough?

August 2011

  1. An etymology without papers
  2. Why capitalize the “I” in “Internet”?
  3. From outhouse to our house
  4. Neologisms: winners and losers
  5. Idiot proof
  6. Is government the issue?
  7. Sackcloth and ashes
  8. Letting Gen. Hooker off the hook
  9. Are you agin us?
  10. A mariner to the bitter end
  11. Can an idiom make sense?
  12. Comp time
  13. How intimate is Dear Mr. Smith?
  14. We’re on deadline
  15. SHTREET wise
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Taking aim at loopholes
  18. Ode to schadenfreude
  19. Wildlife preserve
  20. Is Google a linguistic hit?
  21. Muggy waters
  22. Routing slips
  23. Is capitalizing “I” an ego thing?
  24. Mad Mentality
  25. Home invasion
  26. Some initial thoughts
  27. Has anyone lost their pit bull?
  28. Is “a lot of” sort of a sin?
  29. Only the lonely
  30. Heart-to-heart talk
  31. Indented servitude
  32. Yay, yea, and yeah

July 2011

  1. Etymology unloosed
  2. The sporting news
  3. Do we dignify this usage?
  4. Shortly later, alligator
  5. Who put the duck in duck sauce?
  6. Me and my shadow
  7. Raise taxes? Read our lips
  8. Is a one-sentence paragraph OK?
  9. Are you having none of it?
  10. Is a “concrete boardwalk” an oxymoron?
  11. It’s NYOOZE to us
  12. Is a comma before “and” a serial crime?
  13. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  14. Apposition paper
  15. Why do NO HUNTING signs say “POSTED”?
  16. Sex education
  17. Data entry
  18. To me, or not to me
  19. Are you bugged by bivvies?
  20. The subject was colors
  21. Over and over again
  22. An indissoluble solution
  23. When etymology is bunkum
  24. In high dudgeon
  25. At whose earliest convenience?
  26. Compound chemistry
  27. Don’t hold it against us!
  28. An ion for an ion
  29. Turning up our nosism
  30. Can a body try to be hidden?
  31. We are not bemused
  32. The book of “job”

June 2011

  1. No NYOOZE is good NYOOZE
  2. Schismatic teaching
  3. Nasty Business
  4. How much is everything?
  5. Hers, ours, theirs—and mines?
  6. A myth with a silver lining
  7. Is crack addictive or addicting?
  8. A do or a don’t
  9. What have we wrought?
  10. As far as we’re concerned
  11. Is it racist to “stereotype” a language?
  12. Hats off to the bowler
  13. Was the Joplin tornado surreal?
  14. Advocacy English
  15. For “instance”
  16. Does the prefix “re-” have a dark side?
  17. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  18. Hear Pat live tomorrow on WNYC
  19. When the subject is an object
  20. How “sooner” came to mean “rather”
  21. Probability theory
  22. We not know
  23. Here’s to the graduate!
  24. Is “safer”more safe than “safe”?
  25. An inner-office memo?
  26. Talk radio: naturalness vs. clarity
  27. Is our posting toast?
  28. “Look” in its quasi mode
  29. Equal treatment
  30. What’s up in headlinese?
  31. Movie ad-libs: New and improv
  32. Purple prose, part 2

May 2011

  1. Vowel language
  2. Hear Pat live today on Iowa Public Radio
  3. Scandalous to the bitter end!
  4. Puce abuse
  5. A gender-bending world view
  6. Why do dictionaries accessorize the alphabet?
  7. “Eight Elvises” and “100 Soup Cans”
  8. When Pat was taken aback
  9. Pompous circumstance
  10. Is “arson fire” a crime against English?
  11. Like Oswald in “Ghosts”
  12. Out the door and innuendo
  13. Grammar in real time
  14. Back to the future
  15. Clausetrophobia
  16. Meet Pat today in Manhattan
  17. Tricks our ears and tongues play on us
  18. Which craft
  19. You know not what you do
  20. No, it’s not spelled d-i-l-e-m-n-a
  21. With malice toward none
  22. ‘We the people’ v. ‘us the people’
  23. The fundamental things apply
  24. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  25. Why an annoying person is a pill
  26. The incident room
  27. Is our writing lame?
  28. Shtick figures
  29. Who put the kibosh on us?
  30. An ædifying history
  31. The roots of cahoots
  32. All right, this chick is toast!
  33. Fascinator rhythm
  34. Par for the course

April 2011

  1. Our changing language
  2. Too many chefs in the kitchen?
  3. Why is ‘she’ the cat’s mother?
  4. Why isn’t a W called a double V?
  5. Archie Fisher snow
  6. A rhetorical sin of omission
  7. Can one make a concerted effort?
  8. A gazeeka box and a green-fedora guy
  9. Purple prose
  10. The other half of it
  11. A cat’s-paw in fable and law
  12. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  13. Bear facts: the passive infinitive
  14. Cess who?
  15. You really got a hold on me
  16. Odd fellows
  17. Is all well that begins well?
  18. Into the woulds
  19. Can you “read” an audio book?
  20. Do your bangs stay bung?
  21. Here it is. Or is it?
  22. Let the cat out of the bag
  23. An ear for idiomatic English
  24. No money in the till
  25. A dour pronunciation
  26. Why aren’t whites people of color?
  27. Is the diaeresis driving you dotty?
  28. Two species of pronunciation
  29. Are you ready for any more anymore?
  30. Why does the “f” in “of” sound like a “v”?
  31. Pay pals: paid vs. payed

March 2011

  1. The cat’s pajamas
  2. Fast tracks and quick studies
  3. An arch etymology
  4. Lots of ifs, ands, & buts
  5. Why don’t genies use contractions?
  6. Code words and politics
  7. Man, woman, and child!
  8. An elitist attitude?
  9. Why can’t the Brits and Yanks agree?
  10. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  11. Is a Band-Aid a securement device?
  12. Can a bank “bank” (or “unbank”) you?
  13. Are we misguided?
  14. Why is anathema such a nasty character?
  15. Do you want to rant and rave?
  16. Is an iTunes download a record?
  17. Was Monica enamored with you-know-who?
  18. The two of you
  19. Hear Pat live today on Iowa Public Radio
  20. Is preheating the same as heating?
  21. She’s like, “No way!”
  22. Was the Babe a real trouper?
  23. Worl-dwide English?
  24. Heard acrost the US
  25. Translating the Koran
  26. Junk in the trunk
  27. Man oh man!
  28. Are congratulations in order?
  29. Sexual identity, reflexively speaking
  30. ETA: Has “arriving” arrived?
  31. It’s not quite “quite” anymore
  32. Going, going, gone
  33. What do you call a %&*&##@?

February 2011

  1. Were the files shred or shredded?
  2. Hansom is as hansom does?
  3. Porch swings
  4. Twat not
  5. Two-part invention: mental and musical fugues
  6. Quotes of many colors
  7. Is “sensual” sexier than “sensuous”?
  8. Have a good one, George!
  9. Is “upstate” an adverb, an adjective, or a noun?
  10. How classy is your speech?
  11. Can an animal die tragically?
  12. A likely story
  13. Was a dick a dummy in Jane Austen’s day?
  14. Don’t touch my junk food
  15. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  16. Hear Pat live tomorrow on WNYC
  17. For Pete’s sake!
  18. Why did the Emperor of Russia rusticate?
  19. Ups and downs of English
  20. Yinz, you-uns, you-all, and company
  21. Does the mayor’s English have a ways to go?
  22. “That” tricks
  23. Hello, handsome
  24. Why does “anymore” have a negative attitude?
  25. He’s, like, you know, a hunk!
  26. How close is “close to” to “nearly”?
  27. Cat got your tongue?
  28. Stop signs
  29. Lest-wise
  30. Drag strip

January 2011

  1. Do contractions have true grit?
  2. Harmonic progression
  3. ‘Here’ to ‘herein’ to ‘hereinafter’
  4. A tussle over tousle?
  5. Dicking around
  6. Eurocentric English
  7. Facts and damn facts
  8. Believe it or not
  9. What’s the skinny?
  10. David Crystal being right
  11. Falling on one’s sword
  12. A piece of cake
  13. Frankly, my dear, we like “hopefully”
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. Biscotto, biscotti, and biscottis
  16. Does this couple need therapy?
  17. Hand signals
  18. Cooking from scratch
  19. Shall we curate a garage sale?
  20. Coupon clipping
  21. How good is Captain Renault’s English?
  22. Is “necessarily” necessary?
  23. Another happening
  24. Electoral and mayoral, orally
  25. Black with a capital B
  26. Son of a gun
  27. Amen to that
  28. All corned up
  29. How do you say “Van Gogh”?
  30. Party time
  31. Hear Pat live today on Iowa Public Radio
  32. Private parts
  33. Booby traps

2010 380

December 2010

  1. The SEE-ment pond next to Granny’s still
  2. Boogie smoogie all night long
  3. Passive aggression
  4. Siren songs
  5. Are some numbers more equal than others?
  6. Comma place
  7. A stormy courtroom
  8. The first Noel
  9. The some of its parts
  10. Wha’ happen?
  11. Tucking into something tasty
  12. How full is full up?
  13. Why do we have both “less” and “fewer”?
  14. Concrete evidence
  15. The cat and the hat
  16. Live and let die
  17. Opposing views
  18. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  19. Asses and big asses
  20. You no good rat!
  21. Is this a superlative idea?
  22. Clichégate
  23. Is “chalant” the opposite of “nonchalant”?
  24. War of the words: Buckley vs. Wills
  25. Contingency planning
  26. Hear Pat live today on Iowa Public Radio
  27. Lurve affair
  28. One and the same
  29. Licking one’s wounds
  30. Is “inciteful” a word?
  31. Is Franco still dead?
  32. Why did we start “she”-ing ships?
  33. Delusions of grandeur

November 2010

  1. Is you is or is you ain’t?
  2. Dishing the dirt
  3. Junk mail and male junk
  4. Here’s to words and us
  5. A tinker’s damn
  6. Object lessons
  7. Is this wording off base?
  8. A website whatchamacallit
  9. Anne Boleyn, part 2
  10. Actually, we’re guilty too!
  11. How forthright is “forthcoming”?
  12. Can “both” and “as well as” play together?
  13. Whom page
  14. Is it hip to be square?
  15. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  16. English is English, regardless
  17. How industrial is an industry?
  18. Date lines
  19. A question of authority
  20. To “be,” or not to “be”
  21. Why is “m” a symbol for slope?
  22. High satiety
  23. Reshelf life
  24. Social studies
  25. Hyphen notions
  26. We’d better toe the line
  27. Word-mongering
  28. Grocery business
  29. Inciting incidents
  30. Is “syllabus” related to “syllable”?
  31. Why is it “moral,” not “morale,” support?

October 2010

  1. A transcendental meditation
  2. Was Anne Boleyn deheaded?
  3. Myth information
  4. Ulterior purposes
  5. Are husband and wife antonyms?
  6. Widow thou goest
  7. Colon treatment, part 2
  8. Blowin’ in the wind
  9. Are you the one?
  10. A Caucasian wingnut?
  11. How ridiculous is “ridiculously”?
  12. Hear Pat live today on Iowa Public Radio
  13. Should “iconic” get religion?
  14. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  15. There’s a whole lotta grammar goin’ on
  16. The long and the short of it
  17. The myth-busters get busted
  18. Do you want it bad … or badly?
  19. Is the stock market predictable?
  20. Do you hear mermaids singing each to each?
  21. With a jaded eye
  22. Have a good day
  23. All well and good, again
  24. To “of” and “of” not
  25. A very acclaimed critical review?
  26. A sigh is just a sigh
  27. An appraising eye
  28. Why do “label” and “table” rhyme?
  29. “On line” skating
  30. Is “jerry-built” a cousin of “gerrymander”?
  31. Do the suits want to dominate us?
  32. Is an analog dweeb a troglodyte?
  33. Hate speech

September 2010

  1. Is “schmegeggy” really Yiddish?
  2. In stir on the Jersey Shore
  3. The wazoo story
  4. Birth of the cool
  5. Should English dance to a Latin beat?
  6. Is the media the message?
  7. Sabotaging a language myth
  8. Sufficeth this explanation?
  9. The road less traveled
  10. Why is the apostrophe possessive?
  11. Do you mean what you say?
  12. Foreign correspondence
  13. Being as it’s a George Clooney film?
  14. When “as such” isn’t such a good idea
  15. “His” and “hers” pronouns
  16. Colon treatment
  17. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  18. Listen up, jarheads!
  19. A controversial pronunciation?
  20. Martha, Oprah, and the serial comma
  21. We weren’t far from wrong
  22. Is “Red Sox” plural?
  23. No sweat, sarge
  24. ­­Number, please!
  25. Scot, Scotch, or Scottish?
  26. Lining up the rank and file
  27. For “better” or for “worse”
  28. Great and not-so-great expectations
  29. Is “bloatation” a word?
  30. Does the plural “octopi” have legs?
  31. Ups and downs in titles

August 2010

  1. Impact zone
  2. Are armpits “axillae” or “axillas”?
  3. Should you turn off your grammar checker?
  4. Next question, please!
  5. Collective bargaining
  6. On the scent of a stinky etymology
  7. The one and only you
  8. Bean counting
  9. Questionable punctuation?
  10. Does “functionality” have a function?
  11. Pomp and circumstances
  12. As long as he needs me
  13. Are you a Luddite if you’re not on Twitter?
  14. It’s definitely not “definately”
  15. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  16. A “talking points” memo
  17. Title characters
  18. Does this expression make you throw up?
  19. A deceptively tricky word
  20. A work in progress
  21. Verbal reasoning
  22. Franglais speaking
  23. Sui genitive!
  24. The gold diggers of Broadway
  25. Was Elena Kagan a general?
  26. ­­The fingerprints of history­
  27. Back dating
  28. Error checking
  29. Why are short people called shrimps?
  30. Me too? I too?
  31. Is a pamphlet a little pamph?
  32. Onliest the loneliest

July 2010

  1. When abusage becomes usage
  2. Jock talk
  3. Should we strike out “stricken”?
  4. Is “proven” innocent or guilty?
  5. Why Alice has got to grow up again
  6. How many hornets in a hornet’s nest?
  7. Hyphen anxiety
  8. Number crunching: when un oeuf is un oeuf
  9. A black perfect little dress?
  10. The diaspora of English
  11. A phobia you won’t find in the PDR
  12. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  13. Stiff upper English
  14. My bad!
  15. Lie detection
  16. Suffice it to say
  17. What’s “de” story?
  18. How hilarious is very hilarious?
  19. A choice usage
  20. Can one ship make a flotilla?
  21. The salt of life
  22. The holistic truth
  23. Is “funnily enough” cringeworthy?
  24. Is he moaning or complaining?
  25. Do you own this usage?
  26. Do we “stanch” or “staunch” this usage?
  27. Reading made easy
  28. Was El Greco a gringo?
  29. Object oriented
  30. Anger management
  31. Tacks time
  32. Urban affairs

June 2010

  1. Once upon a time
  2. Is “legit” legitimate?
  3. Is “folks” too folksy?
  4. Is next Monday tomorrow or a week later?
  5. What is a derivative derived from?
  6. Curbing your dog
  7. The Bible in chapter and verse
  8. An adjective in sheep’s clothing
  9. Is the temp hot or high?
  10. Is “mayhap” a mishap?
  11. Does it “affect” or “effect” your funksmanship?
  12. Let’s get physical
  13. An educated opinion
  14. Why don’t we say a batter flew out?
  15. Is this species of English extinct?
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Is “hearsay” a cousin of “heresy”?
  18. Hear Pat today on Iowa Public Radio
  19. How do we know when usage changes?
  20. Waiting on … and on and on
  21. Why are British names so odd?
  22. Does the majority rule?
  23. Is “these ones” legit?
  24. Does this usage get you to thinking?
  25. A piece of cake
  26. Is it proper to refer to oneself as “Esq.”?
  27. Do MDs misuse the verb “present”?
  28. Is the band Phish singular or plural?
  29. Can we be too possessive?
  30. Same old, same old
  31. Just an FYI
  32. A moment in time

May 2010

  1. Do you dis “disenfranchise”?
  2. Lying in wait
  3. What do you call a man-hater?
  4. Toot suite
  5. Can there be two main points?
  6. A rule made of whole cloth?
  7. Firstly, secondly, and thirdly
  8. Street smarts
  9. Can function follow form?
  10. Who is the Tom in tomboy?
  11. A “tri”-ing question
  12. Food pathology
  13. An alleged pronunciation
  14. Etymological teamwork
  15. Walking on eggs or eggshells?
  16. Crumbs from the table
  17. So much for that
  18. Editing the auditors
  19. Stupid is as stupid does
  20. Why are “overlook” and “oversee” opposites?
  21. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  22. Can a tree blush green?
  23. Misery lights
  24. To we or not to we
  25. And don’t call me Shirley
  26. Eponymous, redux
  27. Bells, bats, and belfries
  28. How much is a few?
  29. Via and via not
  30. Hyphenated English
  31. Dwindle, peak, and pine
  32. Lady Catherine’s condescension

April 2010

  1. Screen tests
  2. She’s in a pickle
  3. Which hunting
  4. Evasive action
  5. A nocturnal cat with claws
  6. From soup to nuts
  7. Seed catalog
  8. In and of itself
  9. Why is “Filipino” spelled with an “f”?
  10. A tale of two rivers
  11. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  12. Never let me go
  13. Behalf time
  14. A questionable bias
  15. Far be it from me …
  16. Out of pocket, revisited
  17. Dutch treats, part 2
  18. Ups and downs
  19. Bye, baby bunting
  20. House cleaning
  21. Chalk scratching on a blackboard
  22. On comma ground
  23. Body building
  24. Snappy endings
  25. Contract law
  26. Woes by any other name
  27. Vision things
  28. Pimping the doc
  29. Why isn’t it light after dark?
  30. Does his grammar or hearing need fine-tuning?
  31. Spellbinding letters

March 2010

  1. Infinitive wisdom
  2. Inaugural issues
  3. Try and try again
  4. Mutually exclusive interests
  5. Who are immediate next of kin?
  6. Results oriented
  7. Our two Left Coasts?
  8. The “Adam” family
  9. Home school, home-school, or homeschool?
  10. When to sic ’em
  11. Black (or African) American?
  12. Word counts
  13. An issue of ownership
  14. Why a duct?
  15. And by the way …
  16. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  17. Thank you notes
  18. Let’s scare up an etymology
  19. Medal play
  20. Environmental standards
  21. An accidental tourist
  22. Passing the buck
  23. Hic transit gloria
  24. Is this English ready for prime time?
  25. In unison and out of it
  26. Confused, until now
  27. Deadpan, part 2
  28. Dos and don’ts
  29. Why is an “h” called an “aitch”?
  30. Way down yonder in etymology
  31. Buster Keaton’s deadpan look
  32. Is selflessness the objective?

February 2010

  1. A decadent argument
  2. Lawyerly talk
  3. Words to the wise
  4. Repeat performance
  5. A homage or an affectation?
  6. The urinary tract
  7. Plural usage
  8. Tooth and nail
  9. Width, longth, and highth?
  10. Almond joy
  11. Schadenfreudian analysis
  12. You can look it up!
  13. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  14. Garden variety Latin
  15. Don’t know from etymology?
  16. A comprising position?
  17. Whence upon a time
  18. Mummy dearest
  19. Seating arrangements
  20. Tales out of school
  21. And whilst we’re at it …
  22. As of this writing …
  23. Can two adjectives play in a combo?
  24. Factoid checking
  25. Imperfect pitch
  26. Taking care of business
  27. Progressive education
  28. A class act
  29. No ifs, ands, or buts

January 2010

  1. Insect aside
  2. The more things change
  3. Incidentally, Franny has the measles
  4. Honey, I sunk the boat
  5. The cocktail party
  6. Deference mechanism
  7. Above suspicion
  8. On home ground
  9. Subjunctive matter
  10. Vicious etymology
  11. Healthy, wealthy, and wise
  12. Opposition research
  13. Hear Pat live today on WNYC
  14. Service with a smile
  15. Lyric victory
  16. A mollusk proposition
  17. When the love-light is fading
  18. Compounding interest
  19. Pronounce-i-stan
  20. An unknown quantity
  21. A pig in a poke
  22. Comma names
  23. A gentleman and a scoundrel
  24. Invitation only?
  25. Naff lines
  26. Up and Adam?
  27. Word surgery
  28. The whole kit and caboodle
  29. From the git­-go
  30. A bunk in the night
  31. Is she a master or a mistress?
  32. Why is English a Germanic language?

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