Author Archive
Articles by Merrill Perlman | Email the Author
Homegrown
The living language
By Merrill Perlman Dec 7, 2011 at 10:00 AM
To look back at the early years of the Columbia Journalism Review is to look at how we used... More
On, Dasher!
A punctuation mark loved too much—or not enough
By Merrill Perlman Dec 5, 2011 at 01:05 PM
Many punctuation marks have different uses—think of the comma—but only a few leap off the page to a reader’s eye—as... More
Friendly Fire
Insulting without meaning to
By Merrill Perlman Nov 28, 2011 at 02:12 PM
As language and society evolve, words that were once considered merely slang sometimes take on an offensive odor. In the... More
Separation Anxiety
Smoothing comparative phrases
By Merrill Perlman Nov 21, 2011 at 03:44 PM
Black Friday is coming! And this one will be as big as, if not more hyped and crowded than, Cyber... More
Taking the Fifth
A dictionary, updated, adds and subtracts
By Merrill Perlman Nov 14, 2011 at 01:52 PM
The Fifth Edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is out, cause for celebration for some and... More
Conjunction-itis
What about ifs, ands, or buts?
By Merrill Perlman Nov 7, 2011 at 03:45 PM
Many generations of students have had certain grammar “truths” drilled into their little heads. One is the “myth” that infinitives... More
Taking Names in Vain
Why we care, for Pete’s sake
By Merrill Perlman Oct 31, 2011 at 01:08 PM
You’re with your five-year-old at the ice cream shop, and she can’t decide which of the dozens of flavors to... More
Fermenting Revolution
Some terms associated with beer
By Merrill Perlman Oct 26, 2011 at 02:27 PM
With “Oktoberfests” popping up all over, it seems a good time to grab a “growler” and get “krausened.” The first... More
Making Introductions
Putting the cart before the tumbrel
By Merrill Perlman Oct 17, 2011 at 02:14 PM
Writers frequently introduce a topic or unfamiliar phrase, then define it, as in “The condemned rode to the gallows in... More
No Use
The “d” is (usually) not optional
By Merrill Perlman Oct 10, 2011 at 03:02 PM
The Northeast has been experiencing a bit of a resurgent summer*, so cool refreshments have been called for. You have... More
Only You Know
Once in a while, placement matters
By Merrill Perlman Oct 3, 2011 at 01:30 PM
OK, we’ll admit it: Most of the time you can put “only” anywhere in a sentence and no one will... More
Unequal Rights
All synonyms are not the same
By Merrill Perlman Sep 26, 2011 at 12:03 PM
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style counsels to avoid euphemism, and, as we wrote on the book’s fiftieth anniversary,... More
None of the Above
Plural or singular? Yes.
By Merrill Perlman Sep 19, 2011 at 02:12 PM
How many of you were taught that “none” stands for “no one,” and must always take a singular verb? Bet... More
Bodily Functions
The scent of a language
By Merrill Perlman Sep 12, 2011 at 01:00 PM
The scene may have been a long coach ride or a London park bench on a hot day, but the... More
Talking Back
‘Revert’ gains a new meaning
By Merrill Perlman Sep 6, 2011 at 03:56 PM
The recruiter was pleased that the law firm was interested in one of his clients. “I will revert with candidate... More
Against Semantic Satiation
Some new words to learn after a wild week
By Merrill Perlman Aug 29, 2011 at 02:06 PM
After a week in which the East suffered through earthquakes and a hurricane, we could all use a little entertainment.... More
Going Strait
Narrowing down the difference between “strait” and “straight”
By Merrill Perlman Aug 28, 2011 at 01:54 PM
When two words sound the same and have similar meanings, you know they’re going to merge eventually. But until they... More
Oral History
Of spoken and written words
By Merrill Perlman Aug 22, 2011 at 01:15 PM
It’s a crazy market, the investors were told by the columnist, and they had to protect themselves. So they shouldn’t... More
One Word or Two?
An altogether random list to use every day
By Merrill Perlman Aug 15, 2011 at 04:59 PM
English insists on having variations of words, like “every day/everyday” or “any time/any time,” where two words are scrunched together... More
Really?
Literally speaking
By Merrill Perlman Aug 8, 2011 at 01:35 PM
Here’s a cover letter cited in a column about what not to write when applying for a job: “I am... More
‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
Josh Barro, the loneliest Republican
What to make of the 28-year-old columnist’s contempt for the GOP—and its would-be reformers
Dowd and Fournier and countless others who have launched similar complaints are asking, “Why aren’t we getting what we were promised?”
Elizabeth Spiers on launching media brands
What do news publications need to do to adapt to digital? Any publication you see doing it really well?
Wolf Blitzer and other journalists should leave God out of natural disasters
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
