How many people is a 'troop'?

Why spelling bees are called 'bees.'

The hidden logic of English spelling

How the Crusades gave us 'lingua franca.'

How Grammar Rules Actually Get Made

Decoding the colon: AP vs. MLA style.

The life-saving power of strong verbs

Why COM-pact is a thing and com-PACT is an action: Homographs in English

The reasons behind our accents

Do you cringe when someone says "Hopefully, he'll pass the test"?

What Harvard's rare book curator wishes you knew, with John Overholt

Autological Words

How writers are winning clients back from AI.

Why do we pronounce "Iran" and "Iraq" differently?

The 3,000 hidden colors of the dictionary

Toponyms: words named after PLACES

The crossword puzzle's role in World War II and the fight against Nazism.

Feghoots: Groan-worthy story puns.

The 'Tale of Two Dictionaries' with Peter Sokolowski

The origin of the word 'leprechaun'

'Mini' and 'factoid' don't mean what you think, with Jess Zafarris

Is the Academy Awards singular or plural?

Words That ONLY Exist In Specific Regions

The history of the octothorpe

How 'be like' took over the world

Linguistics Explains Why Some Names Capture One's 'Essence'

WHY WE USE ALL CAPS TO SHOUT

Why "mogul" means both a ski bump and a powerful person

Why writing with 'civic clarity' is so important, with Roy Peter Clark (2020)

How Winter Olympic sports got their names

Why does AI use so many em dashes? with Sean Goedecke

Why 'forte' has three pronunciations

Do Inuit languages really have hundreds of words for snow? with Dr. Charles Kemp

Scarecrows and other 'cutthroat' compounds

Scrabble strategy and tournament culture, with John Chew

What is a baker's dozen?

The History of 'OK' and Other Folk Etymology, with Doug Harper

Are you using the word 'impact' correctly?

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary with John Overholt

Penny idioms that are still legal tender

The history of Braille

How a long-lost yearbook revealed the origin of 'hella,' with Ben Zimmer

Why do we use 'x' in algebra?

2025 Words of the Year, with Jess Zafarris and Danny Hieber

The history of the phrase "pride and prejudice"

The 'sheeple' incident, with Stefan Fatsis

The rise of the 'hamster wheel.'

An inspiring tutor, 'New York System' hot dogs, and 'queen spotting' with Martha Barnette

Why Brits eat biscuits and Americans eat cookies.

Rob Drummond on languaging and our fluid speaking identities

Where did the words "knife," "fork," and "spoon" come from?

Why print dictionaries still matter, with Peter Sokolowski. Grammar Girl Episode 1135

Personification in language and AI. Dictums, maxims, and proverbs. Expensitive.

The hidden math and language of crosswords, with Natan Last. Grammar Girl 1133

How '23 skidoo' & 'at sixes and sevens' are related to '6-7.' Grammar Girl Ep. 1132

What a ‘Science' magazine experiment says about the future of AI in journalism | Abigail Eisenstadt

What Roman togas have to do with today's elections. 'Home in' versus 'hone in.' Grammar Girl 1030

Finding the true history of words, with Ben Zimmer. Grammar Girl 1129

‘Ghost words’ and their history. Rules for ‘between’ and ‘among.’ Wilsoning. Grammar Girl 1128

How to be a ‘feisty freelancer,’ with Suzanne Bowness. Grammar Girl 1127