Toots for grammargirl@zirk.us account

Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-30 at 20:44

I want to do some very simple messing around with making music.

Can anyone recommend a good video or video series that's something like "How to Make Music with Garage Band"?

I'm not going to get new software, so please don't bother recommending any. I do have an electronic keyboard I can hook up to my computer.

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-30 at 17:51

Do you love to solve word puzzles? Do you get excited when you figure out what someone's personalized license plate means?

If so, you'll love today's Grammar Girl episode about gramograms—word puzzles like "IOU" and "K9." Here's one that's less obvious from Rob Meyerson and Dan Misdea's new book "AB@C":

K-S N D J-Q-Z

Read: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/a-b-at-c/transcript

Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wordplay-and-cartoons-inside-the-making-of-ab-c/id173429229?i=1000687082254

Watch: https://youtu.be/Ef-_NT7jw3k

[#]GrammarGirl #WordGames

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-29 at 21:46

@lexfri I'm proofing the transcript for your interview while using my treadmill desk in honor of your recent post touting their benefits!

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-29 at 18:33

Ever wondered why we repeat words? For example, why do we say we're reading a "book-book" when we're reading a paper book?

In this week's #GrammarGirl episode, we’re looking at "reduplication" — why we say things like "salad-salad," "book-book," and "job-job" to emphasize the real, original, or most serious version of something.

Read: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/book-book/transcript

Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/does-book-book-make-sense-fun-words-for-jigsaw-lovers/id173429229?i=1000686172492

Watch: https://youtu.be/0R0uifWhaSo

[#]GrammarGirl #Linguistics

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-29 at 02:20

Timeline cleanse.

It was an exceptionally good day to see sea stars on the central California coast #today.

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-28 at 18:51

I've been making one lesson from my LinkedIn Learning courses free every week this year. Today's video is about using commas with introductory elements.

A Stanford study found that this is one of the most common writing errors people make, so it might be worth your time to check it out! ;)

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grammargirl_linkedinlearning-activity-7290077659873562625-Ju93

[#]LinkedInLearning #GrammarGirl #commas

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-27 at 23:16

1. Reactivated my long-dormant Costco membership.

2. Bought tires and saved enough money to cover the cost of the membership.

3. Got some smoked salmon because it was right there and looked so good. That's how they get you. ;)

[#]today

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-24 at 17:13

Have you ever wondered what it takes to write a memoir? How you could turn your life into a story people would want to read?

Well, if so, this episode is for you! Wendy Dale, author of "The Memoir Engineering System," has all kinds of pro tips and interesting insights that will have you dreaming of penning your own story.

Read: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/dale/transcript

Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-secret-to-writing-a-good-memoir-with-wendy-dale/id173429229?i=1000685138127

Watch: https://youtu.be/ZQCRBYduQWc

[#]GrammarGirl

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-23 at 02:40

Everything is awful; here’s a picture of a fallen tree I thought looked like a chair for giants this morning.

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-21 at 18:58

Well, an elderly loved-one is starting day 9 in the hospital after catching RSV during the holidays at a family gathering and has just been moved back to a "higher care" room because she went downhill overnight.

All I can say is if you are sick, stay the hell home, even if it means missing something fun.

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-20 at 17:20

Dutch people seem to argue about the literal use of "literally" ("letterlijk") too. I believe the NRC is a pretty big newspaper in the Netherlands.

https://bridgingtheunbridgeable.com/2025/01/16/how-literally-should-dutch-letterlijk-be-taken/

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-19 at 23:31

"High-falutin" recently caught my attention. It began as American slang in 1839.

Through the wonder of the Internet Archive, I was able to find the first citation mentioned in the OED, and it's a doozy. I'm not sure what Pete is going on about here, but later in the letter, he complains that these high-falutin "fellers" would hardly talk to him on a steamboat ride.

You can find the whole letter here: https://archive.org/details/sim_spirit-of-the-times_1839-05-18_9_11/page/n1/mode/2up?q=high-faluting

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-19 at 18:01

Do you LOVE @grammartable and the whole concept of the grammar table where she answers people's burning questions?

Well, now there's a whole movie about her experiences!

I got to talk with Ellen and her documentarian husband, Brandt Johnson, about making the movie and what they learned about humanity out on the streets.

Give it a listen while you finish your Sunday chores!

[#]GrammarGirl

Read: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/jovin-movie/transcript

Listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rebel-with-a-clause-the-movie-with/id173429229?i=1000684225399

Watch: https://youtu.be/4rvVrnAlx1o

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-16 at 03:42

I got an EKG today, and the doctor was openly delighted when she took it off the machine. She said it was "beautiful" and "perfect," and I am strangely proud.

Good job, little ticker! 🏆

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-16 at 02:27

I'm also interviewing Dan Gerstein of Gotham Ghostwriters tomorrow about the ghostwriting industry.

What questions do you have — from the angle of a writer who might want to try ghostwriting or as someone who might want to hire a ghostwriter?

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-15 at 21:55

I'm interviewing @lexfri tomorrow about all his word games at Lex.Games.

What questions do you have for him?

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-12 at 21:33

Old usage guides can be so entertaining. I just finished recording a piece for the Grammar Girl podcast about the Fowler Brothers' snarky take on quotation marks that I happened to stumble upon.

Here's a tiny teaser:

EXAMPLE OF A SENTENCE WITH QUOTATION MARKS:

John Smith, Esq., 'Chatsworth', Melton Road, Leamington.

ANALYSIS: The implication seems to be: living in the house that sensible people call 164 Melton Road, but one fool likes to call Chatsworth.

— The King's English, 1906

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-12 at 19:03

Sometimes podcasting is so frustrating.

I wanted to send an elderly relative a podcast to listen to. I know she has an iPhone, so I sent her the Apple Podcasts link, thinking it would open the app on her phone and it would be the easiest way for her to listen.

But no. She says it prompted her to log in to something and she got confused and bailed.

[UPDATE: It seems like something specific with her phone. It's worked fine for me and others under multiple kinds of tests.]

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-12 at 01:40

I'm not sure if this fully counts as trying a new recipe, but I threw together leftovers in a new way for dinner tonight, and it was delicious!

9 oz. (1 pkg.) shirataki noodles

7 oz. (1/2 can) of palm heart noodles

Some cubed roasted sweet potato

1T. basil infused olive oil

1T. peanut butter

1/2 T. ginger from a squeeze tube

3 T. soy sauce

Some shredded rotisserie chicken

Fry it up in a pan. :)

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Written by Mignon Fogarty on 2025-01-11 at 03:50

The American Dialect Society has chosen "rawdog" as the #woty2024 word of the year!

"Rawdogging" was was also a runner-up this year from the Macquarie Dictionary in Australia and the Collins Dictionary — at least. Those are the two I remember from my WOTY episode with John Kelly a couple of weeks ago.

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