Mignon Fogarty

Most mornings Pat and I go on a walk and feed the neighborhood crows. We have crow friends.

And they have territories, so we've learned not to feed them near the edge of a territory or both groups will swoop in and get aggressive with each other.

Well, this morning, a seagull joined one of the […]

I went into today full of energy, thinking it was going to be "finished what you've started" day.

Now that I'm a tiny bit more through one project, I remember how I got here.

Check out the whole conversation here:

WATCH: https://youtu.be/akHL0DMnHYU

READ: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/abigail-eisenstadt/transcript

LISTEN: https://pod.link/173429229

#GrammarGirl #podcast

It wasn't a perfect study, and it was completed in late 2024, so today's LLMs are likely better than the ones they used, but senior science writer Abigail Eisenstadt's thoughts on how the study came about and why they did what they did were interesting.

In the end, the systems they tested […]

You have to be naturally curious to be a science writer, so I wasn't surprised the writers at "Science" tested AI to see what it could do for them. But I was surprised by the duration and breadth of the test.

— They chose ~ one article a week for a whole year for AI to summarize, and they […]

A must-listen to episode of the @grammargirl AI Sidequest podcast. Mignon chats with Josh Bernoff about a survey he and collaborators conducted via responses from almost 1,500 writers and editors about their views on AI and what they're actually using it for.

Apple Podcasts […]

Remember how @bgzimmer and I talked about the origin of "Big Easy" in last week's podcast?

The show was all about finding earlier uses of words.

Well, it happened again! Ben emailed yesterday to say Barry Popik found even earlier uses of "Big Easy" from 1952.

Antedating seems like a hobby a […]

U.S. Friends: Vote today. Learn to write better on Nov. 18.

How? By joining my Essential Guide to AP Style webinar — attending should be the easiest decision you make this year!

We'll learn about the latest AP Stylebook updates and make sure your writing doesn't distract your readers from your […]

I just got tricked by Gatorade. 🤢

I grabbed the only green version from the shelf, thinking it would be the original flavor, and when I got home, it was cucumber-lime. Who wants CUCUMBER? That was worse than biting into a raisin cookie thinking it was chocolate chip.

Is there anyone with access to a newspaper archive or maybe the Washington Post archive who could look something up for me?

I want to see this quotation from the December 25, 1904 Washington Post:

“Now, that’s enough,” interposed Maud(e), “let’s skidoo.” And they skidooed with smiles and […]

@evoterra True that! Good work.

I just made an extra donation to my local food bank.

It's going to be a rough time for a lot of people who suddenly aren't getting SNAP benefits, and nobody should go hungry. If you're able to help, please do.

Why is it called the World Series? To someone not familiar with Major League Baseball, it might not make much sense. At the end of each postseason, the World Series is played to crown the game’s champion. Yet, with the exception of 1992 and ‘93, when the Toronto Blue Jays participated and won in back-to-back years, the

@raymaccarthy @bgzimmer Great question! I didn't know, but the MLB website essentially says it was marketing hutzpah.

https://www.mlb.com/news/why-do-they-call-it-the-world-series-anyway

"Jazz" traveled from San Francisco to Chicago to New Orleans, becoming the name for one of America's most iconic musical genres, so much so that the American Dialect Society actually picked "jazz" as the Word of the Century for the 1900s.

Ben also talked about spelling variations like "jass" […]

Are you watching the World Series tonight? Well, here's a fun fact to share with your fellow fans: "jazz" started as a BASEBALL term!

In this week's podcast, @bgzimmer explained how "jazz" was baseball slang from 1912.

Players on the West Coast were talking about "jazz curves" and telling each […]

🎃 TREAT YOURSELF! 🎃

Forget tricks — this Halloween, give yourself the treat of better writing. On November 18, I’m hosting a live AP Style webinar packed with the latest updates, insider tips, and answers to your most pressing questions!

You’ll receive:

✨ The full presentation deck
✨ Access […]

It feels early for word-of-the-year announcements, but Dictionary dot com is out of the gate with teen slang "67" (pronounced six-seven).

Runners-up:

* agentic
* aura farming
* broligarchy
* clanker
* Gen Z stare
* kiss cam
* overtourism
* tariff
* tradwife
* and the 🧨 emoji to mean "Taylor […]

Thumbnail for Grammar Girl podcast episode titled 'Antedating Words with Ben Zimmer.' Features the female host with long brown hair on the left pointing at the words and guest Ben Zimmer with dark hair and a short beard and mustasch on the right against a green background, with a retro-futuristic blue time machine illustration in the center featuring a clock face and antenna.

This week, I talked with the always delightful @bgzimmer about the linguistic detective work of antedating words — finding earlier usages than those published in dictionaries.

Learn about the surprising origins of "Ms.," "scallywag," and the baseball history of […]

[Original post on zirk.us]

@mloxton We’ll shop around. We can swing it if we have to, but it will hurt.

@sleepy62 It's for two adults (ahem, on the older side). I don't have it in front of me, but I think our deductible is around $7K each, $14K family. I feel like it has been decent coverage so far, and Pat has needed biggish things a couple of times.

@GhostOnTheHalfShell I hope so.

@stephanie Thanks.

@paul Me too. It's ridiculous.

A screenshot of a Bluesky post from indivisible northern Nevada showing a big crowd at the protest in Reno, Nevada

I’ve been to a lot of protests in Reno, and this is far bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen “Believe Square” full plus the bridge and the street beyond it filled with people.

Danny Bate is full of fascinating alphabet facts from his book "Why Q Needs U" in this week's Grammar Girl podcast!

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6r9mTl48f0

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

Listen: pod.link/173429229

#GrammarGirl #podcast

Promotional graphic for a Grammar Girl interview featuring Mignon Fogarty and Danny Bate. The background is green with light outlines of hieroglyphic symbols. The text reads: “INTERVIEW” at the top left in an orange banner and “Why Q needs U and how hieroglyphics created our alphabet” in large orange and white letters across the center. On the bottom left is Mignon Fogarty smiling, labeled “GRAMMAR Girl®,” and on the right is Danny Bate holding his book Why Q Needs U, labeled “DANNY BATE.” The QDT logo appears in the top right corner.

Listen to my chat with Danny Bate and dazzle your friends with alphabet trivia this weekend. :)

Here's a teaser:

The word "alphabet" literally means "ox house." It comes from the ancient letter names — "alp" (ox) and "bet" (house) — that come from the hieroglyphs […]

[Original post on zirk.us]

As far as I know, Macmillan is the only publisher who has said they will make it right for their authors, so kudos to them!

Jane thinks this is where agents can play a role by pressing other publishers to step up. /end

This is the page with the official database where you can search and file your claims: https://www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/

Since we recorded, I also got a statement from my contact at Macmillan saying they do, indeed, intend to "make it right" for authors for whom they failed to file […]

Jane Friedman and I talked about the Anthropic book settlement a few days ago.

She explained why you need to check the new settlement database and not rely on the old Atlantic database, and she explained why people outside the US are generally getting screwed and why authors in the U.S. have to […]

Promotional banner with an illustrated woman wearing glasses. Text reads 'Grammar Girl's Beginning and Intermediate Guide to AP Style' with VIP code MACMIL for $50 off. Event details: Tuesday, November 18, 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern time. Green and orange wave design background with Ragan branding.

Think you know AP style? Join me Nov. 18 to put your skills to the test with live quizzes. Plus, we'll have a Q&A at the end.

Use the code MACMIL for $50 off.

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