A sharp-eyed, enlightened, and faithful newsletter reader sent me a link to a post by Benjamin Dryer, a copy chief at Random House publishers, who delineates his top three English “rules” that he believes should be ignored. He introduces the post this way: The English language, though, is not so easily ruled and regulated. It • Read More »
Archives: grammar
Carver’s rules for life, dethroning King Apostrophe, the author that Agatha Christie ‘remembered’: newsletter, July 12, 2019
July 15, 2019 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: grammar, journalism, newsletter, Women writers and journalists, writers, writing.
This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (2,7xx) on Friday, July 12, 2019. {% if subscriber.first_name != blank %} Hello {{ subscriber.first_name }}, {% else %} Hello, {% endif %} The honey harvest was completed last weekend at the Stovall house, and we gathered almost eight gallons of honey from three hives, • Read More »
Appalachian language and other myths about the region
September 12, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: grammar, history, journalism, writing.
You’ve probably heard this rural legend (as opposed to urban legend): The people of Appalachia speak a dialect of English that harkens back to the English of Chaucer; it’s older even than the English of Shakespeare. No, they don’t. Just as everyone else’s English has done, the English of rural Appalachia has constantly evolved and • Read More »
A 19th century writer-rock star, King James’ obsession, costly commas, and the Clinton impeachment revisited: newsletter, Sept. 7, 2018
September 10, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, grammar, history, newsletter.This newsletter was emailed to everyone on Jim’s email list (x) on August 30, 2018 Too much good stuff to read, too little time. I am in the middle of an excellent novel by a well-known author at the moment, and I will tell you about it in a week or two. I’ve also started • Read More »
Costly commas
September 8, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: grammar, journalism.God save the Queen! God, save the Queen! The presence or absence of punctuation — particularly the ubiquitous comma — can change the meaning of a sentence. And it can have massive consequences. This BBC website article, Pocket: The commas that cost companies millions, tells about how the absence of a comma in a contract cost • Read More »
10 letters lost from the alphabet: the video
February 8, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: grammar, journalism, writing.
Austin McConnell has put together this fun video about the symbols that were once part of the English alphabet but that we no longer use.
Going online: What I tell high school teachers and students
December 2, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: grammar, Home, journalism, journalism education, reporting, teaching journalism, web journalism.A news website gives scholastic journalists the opportunity to do something they’ve never done — practice “daily journalism.”
Texting and grammar:
November 23, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: grammar, Home, journalism, writing.r u goin 2 c her 2-nit Strict grammarians (I don’t count myself in those ranks) believe that text messaging will kill off good grammar, spelling and punctuation. (Unless it literally kills us first, since many text messages are sent and received from behind the wheel of vehicles at 45-plus mph.) But before we don • Read More »