I can get a little nervous when we pass a whole flock -- especially when they're on both sides of the road -- but this guy was alone tonight. Maybe he was feeling more vulnerable without backup and that's why he had his feathers ruffled.
🤣
A large wild turkey stands on a gray paved driveway with its tail fully fanned and its dark, glossy feathers puffed out in a strutting display. Its head is bright blue and red, and a tall green hedge and a wooden gate fill the background.
This beast joined us on our walk tonight.
The turkeys don't usually get agitated by our presence, but this guy definitely wanted us to know he is B.I.G.
I haven't done an episode about it, but I've actually been thinking about rereading it.
For most of language history, using "anxious" to mean "eager" was widely accepted. But that flexibility is narrowing: People are increasingly drawing a hard line between "anxious" for worry and "eager" for enthusiasm.
🤓 Here's why: www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/anx...
Did you know that many people differentiate between being eager and being anxious?
"Anxious" comes from Latin meaning worried or uneasy.
"Eager" goes back through French and once carried negative meanings — "fierce," "savage," and "sour." Over time, English softened "eager" into enthusiasm. 1/2
If you are considering a career as librarian in a Special Library, here’s a podcast that provides an excellent overview. As a side note, I like to note that all Special Librarians treasure their special collections.
Did you know George Washington's copy of James Monroe's memoir still exists—with Washington's passive-aggressive margin notes?
This week I talked with Harvard's John Overholt about books that travel first class, why white gloves damage rare manuscripts, and more.
🎧 Listen: is.gd/chqn7V
Have you ever heard of a "semordnilap"?
It's a word that makes a different word when reversed — like "stressed" becoming "desserts." Better yet, "semordnilap" backwards is "palindromes."
This week, we look at autological words, heterological words, and a sneaky paradox.
🎧 pod.link/173429229
Still on sale! (They never tell authors how long things like this will last.)
🤣
🎉🎉🎉 Can't wait!
Gretchen McCulloch also has an interesting piece about the role Latin might play though: www.quickanddirtytips.com/qdtarchive/w...
I think it's likely hypercorrection. People are told not to say things like "Bobby and me want ice cream," so they avoid "me" even when they shouldn't.
Could be true!
"Please contact Sue, Alf, or myself."
Sound right? Nope!
The trick is to omit the other people. You'd say, "contact me," so it's still "contact me" with other people in the sentence.
Check out the podcast for more and a bit on fun dialect pronouns like "meself."
🎧 is.gd/6gOT5I
Weird. It's working fine for me in Chrome. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
Promotional graphic with a teal background and pink-and-yellow patterned side borders. A large yellow "Sale!" stretches across the top over the cover of the red plaid book "Grammar Girl’s 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again," with the "Quick and Dirty Tips" logo at the top and a small cartoon of Grammar Girl in the center.
I wrote a book with 101 tips about misused words, and here’s just one great reason to buy it: it's on sale right now!
Find the ebook at Bookshop and Barnes & Noble for only $2.99. These deals don’t last long, so grab your copy while you can! 📕
BN: is.gd/DRvYHn
Bookshop: is.gd/969ISA
Looks like it's on sale at Barnes and Noble too:
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grammar-gi...
I just noticed the Kindle version of my book THE ULTIMATE WRITING GUIDE FOR STUDENTS is on sale for only $2.99!
I updated the book in 2023 too, so it's still quite fresh. Get it while it's cheap. :)
www.amazon.com/Grammar-Pres...
Learn more about the amazing way your brain processes words in this week's podcast: pod.link/grammargirl
Your brain retrieves words in just 200 milliseconds — as fast as a blink!
When you hear the word "dog," you instantly process doggy smells, sounds, sensations, memories, and emotions.
New #WriterBeware blog post: An update on the Anthropic copyright settlement, now that the deadline for filing claims has passed, including how many claims there've been and an objection to the settlement that could change everything if approved writerbeware.blog/2026/04/10/a...
From Merriam-Webster: Merriam-Webster Definition spandex Did you know? Example! • Did you know? Spandex is a fiber that has had an impact on fashion high and low, casual and formal, outer and under. It's not a trademark, as a number of the names of other fibers are, among them Dacron, Lycra, and Orlon. It's a generic term, coined in 1959 as an anagram of the word expands. Anagrammatic coinages are not common; the only other in our dictionaries that the average person is likely to be familiar with is sideburns. Sideburns is an anagram (and synonym) of burnsides, from Ambrose E. Burnside, a Union general in the American Civil War credited with originating the fashion (in the U.S., at least) also known as side-whiskers.
Omg. Spandex is an anagram for expands.
🤣
I love this detail!
"[Mr Back] seemed pathologically incapable of using hyphens correctly. Like Mr. Back, Satoshi tended to add hyphens when they were unnecessary and to omit them when they were needed."
And I'm sure some people will find this relatable:
The candidate to be the creator of bitcoin "often confused 'it’s' and 'its.'"
One of the clues to finding the man behind bitcoin: he used two spaces after a period!
Linguistic sleuthing FTW.
More links:
WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu8y...
READ: www.quickanddirtytips.com/transcripts/...
LISTEN: pod.link/173429229