A wonderful visual representation of the absolute wrongness of saying “I could care less.”

Thank you! This illogical expression has frustrated me ever since I was a baby word nerd. From

A wonderful visual representation of the absolute wrongness of saying “I could care less.”2012-01-09T23:56:11+00:00

Declaration of Independence: Beauty and brains

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are experiencing a painless reentry. And why not take some writing inspiration from the document whose signing we just celebrated? The second sentence of the Declaration of Independence has been called

Declaration of Independence: Beauty and brains2012-01-24T21:27:47+00:00

How do you spell Libyan dictator?

Apparently there are no wrong answers. This image from Wikipedia illustrates the many ways his name can be spelled in transliteration.   I love that the only thing everyone agrees on is that his first name starts with M and ends with r. (from Wikipedia via

How do you spell Libyan dictator?2012-06-18T13:34:39+00:00

Why "blog"? No, those aren’t the dreaded gratuitous quotation marks.

And no, I don’t mean what can blogging do for you, emotionally, financially, existentially or otherwise. What I mean is: where does the word blog come from? As promised in yesterday’s Blog you and your momma, too post, here’s the etymology, according to the late, great William Safire: Blog is a shortening of Web log. That’s all, folks. Simple as pie. Safire explained it in a 2002 On Language column; the earliest usage Safire found was in 1999. What’s interesting is what the word’s origin says about how blogging has transformed since then. As Safire explained back in 2002: [A blog] is a Web site belonging to some average but opinionated Joe or Josie who [...]

Why "blog"? No, those aren’t the dreaded gratuitous quotation marks.2012-06-18T13:44:49+00:00

Blog you and your momma, too!

One of the (many) quirky quirks of English is that nouns tend to gradually morph into verbs, to the horror of many.

Blog you and your momma, too!2012-06-18T13:50:20+00:00
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