Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

SIGHTSEEING: A listener asked, “Why is it sightseeing and not siteseeing? Aren't you seeing sites? Sightseeing sounds redundant.” Interesting question! ON ACCIDENT or BY ACCIDENT: A listener asked, "What is the deal with the term on accident? I've always used by accident, but I've noticed a lot of pretty smart people . . . I've noticed them using on accident. So, am I wrong?" Sometimes when I get questions like this I can't find an answer, but in this case, I hit pay dirt! I was lucky enough to find an entire research paper on the topic. SPONSOR http://weebly.com/grammar AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl HASHTAG Use #WhereIListen to tell me your listening story on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

HEARTY OR HARDY? A listener named Cheryl left a comment on the Grammar Girl Facebook page asking me to write about the difference between hearty and hardy. She wrote, “I am a writer and get confused on the usage of the two adjectives. Love your podcast and appreciate your shows and tips!” HOW ENGLISH BECAME ENGLISH. Today, I have an excerpt from Simon Horobin’s new book, How English Became English. I especially liked the part about English in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Asia because I don’t know as much about these forms of English as I do about American and British English; so it brings a new perspective that I haven’t been able to share with you in the past. JURY-RIGGED. You’ve probably heard of something being jury-rigged. That means patched together in a temporary manner. But what does rigged mean? And how does a jury get involved? Turns out, one doesn’t. SPONSORS http://care.com/grammar http://igloosoftware.com/grammagirl AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

HOW TO PRONOUNCE ADIRONDACK: Apparently, I’ve been mispronouncing "Adirondack" my whole life, and thanks to the listeners who let me know. WRITING FOR AUDIO: A listener named Tim wrote that he heard someone on NPR say that another person “often frequented” a venue, and Tom thought the phrase "often frequented" sounded redundant. IS FUNNEST A WORD? Researching the word “funnest” and its close relation “funner” turned out to be a lot less fun than I had hoped. The opinions are so varied that I became completely engrossed and frustrated and forgot to call my mother on her birthday. SPONSORS http://casper.com/gg (and the offer code gg) http://weebly.com/grammar AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

ARE YOU INTERURBAN? When you split your time between the East Coast and the West Coast, you can call yourself “bicoastal.” What about when you’re splitting your time between two cities, like a listener named Jeff, who splits his time between New York City and Boston? VONNEGUT'S FAMOUS SEMICOLON QUOTATION. I couldn’t imagine that any talented writer would so universally dismiss an entire punctuation mark. Not one to take things at face value, I went searching and quickly found that the Vonnegut quotation, so often offered with a giddy air of insider superiority, is taken out of context. Here are the details. OFF THE CUFF. Imagine you were wearing an old-time dress shirt. One with stiff, starched, white cuffs. Those cuffs were sometimes several inches long! You could write a lot of notes on something that long. SPONSORS http://amazon.com/kindleforkids http://weebly.com/grammar AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

Away Versus Home? A listener named Alan wrote, “When using the word versus, does it make a difference as to what is placed before and what is placed after? For example: Roe versus Wade or Red Sox versus Yankees. In other words, by rule is one the challenger, and the other the challenged?” How to Make Product Names Plural: Two Silicon Valley guys were talking on Twitter about whether they should say they have two iPad Pros or two iPads Pro. Then Schiller jumped in to say: “One need never pluralize Apple product names. Ex: Mr. Evans used two iPad Pro devices.” People on Twitter generally seemed to think this seemed ridiculous and Business Insider, Mac Rumors, and others turned it into a story. Woohoo, Twitter spat! SPONSORS http://audible.com/gg http://weebly.com/grammar AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

FOLLOW ALONG ON THE WEBSITE Titled or Entitled? http://j.mp/titled-entitled AP Style Updates http://j.mp/APstyle2016 Into Thin Air http://j.mp/into-thin-air SPONSORS http://IglooSoftware.com/grammargirl http://casper.com//gg and use the code GG AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon E-BOOK: GRAMMAR GIRL'S QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING On sale for $2.99 through April: Kindle: http://amzn.to/1RRJDAe Nook: http://bit.ly/1qmUsBi FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

FOLLOW ALONG ON THE WEBSITE Pronouncing Pulitzer: http://j.mp/227C9M1 Navajo Codes: http://j.mp/1S3FXIA SPONSORS http://verbling.com (Discount Code: grammargirl) http://audible.com/gg AMAZON AFFILIATE CODE http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon E-BOOK: GRAMMAR GIRL'S QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING Kindle: http://amzn.to/1RRJDAe Nook: http://bit.ly/1qmUsBi FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Snapchat: http://snapchat.com/add/thatgrammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl

Follow along on the website: Redundancy:http://j.mp/1PGcT99 Letters of Recommendation: http://j.mp/20fJRVo Sponsors: http://audible.com/gg http://feverbornbook.com Wow! It's episode 500. Thanks to everyone. Tell me your story about how you listen. Leave it as a comment on the post pinned to the top of the page at http://facebook.com/GrammarGirl.

Follow along on the website: Current or Currant? http://j.mp/22WDk4j Singular They http://j.mp/1UL2gFO Sponsor http://igloosoftware.com/grammargirl Amazon Affiliate Link: http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon

Follow along on the website: Mongoose Joke: http://j.mp/1RmNGqh Writing Dates: http://j.mp/1OSwvWV Sponsor: http://audible.com/gg When you shop at Amazon, start at our affiliate link to support the show: http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon

Should You Capitalize 'the Force' from Star Wars?

Follow along on the website: http://j.mp/1O78HCs Support the show by using our Amazon affiliate link: http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon Grammar Pop iOS game: http://j.mp/1H5YiSj

Follow along with the articles on the website: http://j.mp/QDTgrammar Recommended book: The Grammar Devotional Sponsors: http://mackweldon.com (20% off with the promo code "grammar") http://thirdlove.com/grammar (30 day free trial)

Follow along on the website: http://j.mp/QDTgrammar Pair Forensic Linguistics In Cold Blood Sponsor: http://thirdlove.com/grammar Sponsor: http://SockFancy.com Use the code "grammar" for $10 off. Quick And Dirty Tips Amazon Affiliate Link. Start your shopping here to support the show: http://quickanddirtytips.com/amazon Grammar Girl's Books: http://j.mp/allGGbooks Grammar Pop iPad Game: http://bit.ly/14eeMDb

Follow along on the website: Hoofs or Hooves? http://j.mp/1lyLAFV Color Phrases: http://j.mp/1NszDMS Sponsor: http://audiblepodcast.com/GG Recommended Book: The Red Queen's Run Support the show when you shop at Amazon: http://quickanddirtytips.com/Amazon Grammar Girl's AP Style Webcast: http://bit.ly/GrammarGirlAPStyle