Category Archives: language

The Point is Mute

By  Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever This is another example of what I like to call “Close but no cigarette.” I don’t remember where I heard it, as a good blogger should, but I recently … Continue reading

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Humorous Resume Mistakes

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever Who doesn’t enjoy a little humor related to funny typos, mistakes, and wacky statements on a resume or cover letter–except for those who made the mistake and didn’t get … Continue reading

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New Word of the Day: Candwich

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. We apparently have a new word, candwich. The new word is for a new product: a sandwich in a can. You know me–I’m not … Continue reading

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Myself Cannot Be the Subject of a Sentence

Do not use myself as the subject of a sentence. Myself and the other -self words—himself, herself, ourselves, etc.—are  reflexives, and reflexives cannot be used as subjects. Nominatives should be used as subjects. The nominatives are I, we, he, she, … Continue reading

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Breaking News: Bank Robber Decides to Not Wait for Police

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever Headline in today’s Daily Collegian, which is the excellent student newspaper at Penn State: Bank Robber Flees Scene. I have to admit that I was not surprised by that–rarely … Continue reading

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Jefferson Mistake in Declaration of Independence

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever None of us is perfect, of course, but it’s interesting to note mistakes of particular notoriety, such as the one Thomas Jefferson apparently made in the rough draft of … Continue reading

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Classic Example of Over-Inflated Language

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities. Over-inflated and convoluted language does not make a person sound more intelligent, but it does make a person seem as if: he’s … Continue reading

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Dear America–David Mitchell

For some reason, I feel that I should introduce this video of a funny British man giving a language rant with the line of “And now for something completely different.”

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Common Grammar Errors

Since we changed the design of the site, I know that some of our other pages are not as obvious as they were in the past, but they’re still there, including: Sherry’s Grammar List, which includes a heavy dose of … Continue reading

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Facilitate Does Not Mean To Lead

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever We all have those certain little words or phrases that just drive us crazy (If you need proof, see  our Pet Peeves page), and the word facilitate has become … Continue reading

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