They and the Gender-Neutral Pronoun Dilemma
A few weeks ago, as a submission for my topic contest, Bob Scopatz suggested I tackle the issue of gender-neutral pronouns in English. In his comment he said, “I dislike alternating between ‘he’ and ‘she’. I despise all variants of ‘he/she’, ‘s/he’, etc. I know that I should not use ‘they’, but it feels closest […]
Please Vote for Me!
My blog is currently in fourth place in Grammar.net’s Best Grammar Blog of 2011 contest. Please help me get into the top three by voting for Arrant Pedantry! Voting ends today. No registration required; you just have to complete a CAPTCHA. Go here to vote.
Continua, Planes, and False Dichotomies
On Twitter, Erin Brenner asked, “How about a post on prescriptivism/descriptivism as a continuum rather than two sides? Why does it have to be either/or?” It’s a great question, and I firmly believe that it’s not an either-or choice. However, I don’t actually agree that prescriptivism and descriptivism occupy different points on a continuum, so […]
Winners!
After much deliberation, I have two winners for the Kindle 3G / You Are What You Speak giveaway contest. There were a lot of good suggestions that would have made great posts, though I felt unqualified or underqualified to tackle some of those topics myself. I might try to get to some of the non-winning […]
Contest Reminders
Just a reminder that my blog is currently competing in Grammar.net’s Best Grammar Blog of 2011 contest. Arrant Pedantry is currently in third. If you like my blog, please go vote. Also, the deadline for submissions for my own contest sponsored by Stack Exchange English Language and Usage is fast approaching. Submit an idea for […]
It’s Not Wrong, but You Still Shouldn’t Do It
A couple of weeks ago, in my post “The Value of Prescriptivism,” I mentioned some strange reasoning that I wanted to talk about later—the idea that there are many usages that are not technically wrong, but you should still avoid them because other people think they’re wrong. I used the example of a Grammar Girl […]
Contests!
Topic Contest I’m very pleased to announce the first-ever contest here at Arrant Pedantry, sponsored by the generous folks at Stack Exchange English Language and Usage. The first-prize winner will receive a new Kindle 3G. A Word from Our Sponsor Stack Exchange English Language and Usage is a collaborative, community-driven site focused on questions about […]
What Is a Namesake?
I just came across the sentence “George A. Smith became the namesake for St. George, Utah” while editing. A previous editor had changed it to “In 1861 St. George, Utah, became the namesake of George A. Smith.” Slightly awkward wording aside, I preferred the unedited form. Apparently, though, this is an issue of divided usage, […]
Smelly Grammar
Earlier today on Twitter, Mark Allen posted a link to this column on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website about a few points of usage. It begins with a familiar anecdote about dictionary maker Samuel Johnson and proceeds to analyze the grammar and usage of the exchange between him and an unidentified woman. Pretty quickly, though, […]
The Value of Prescriptivism
Last week I asked rather skeptically whether prescriptivism had moral worth. John McIntyre was interested by my question and musing in the last paragraph, and he took up the question (quite admirably, as always) and responded with his own thoughts on prescriptivism. What I see is in his post is neither a coherent principle nor […]