Author Archive
Articles by Merrill Perlman | Email the Author
The Fast Lain
Figuring out ‘lay’ and ‘lie’
By Merrill Perlman Jan 24, 2011 at 02:49 PM
It’s no “lie”: Many people get “lay” and “lie” wrong a lot. So let’s “lay” down the rules. The best... More
The Frugal Writer
Why use several words when one will do?
By Merrill Perlman Jan 19, 2011 at 01:31 PM
At some points in time, people engaged in the profession of journalism tend to learn to acquire the negatively associative... More
Duty Double
When nouns and verbs collide
By Merrill Perlman Jan 10, 2011 at 02:58 PM
Headlines are supposed to grab a reader’s attention and provide a fast synopsis of an article for a busy reader.... More
Whoa, Nelly!
On “reigning in” misspellings and misusage
By Merrill Perlman Jan 8, 2011 at 07:16 PM
"New Auditor Will Take Reigns in 2011" was the headline. Another article about money said that the "government refuses to... More
Two-Faced
Beginning January with Janus words
By Merrill Perlman Jan 4, 2011 at 02:15 PM
Welcome to January, the two-faced month. On the one hand, it’s the start of the new year, a time to... More
Just One of Those Things
Choosing between singular and plural
By Merrill Perlman Dec 20, 2010 at 01:29 PM
Be the hit of your holiday party! Amaze your friends! Impress your family! Be one of those people who uses... More
Spellbound
Different spellings, different words
By Merrill Perlman Dec 13, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Much has been written about the dangers of using spelling checkers without brain in gear. Spelling checkers won’t tell you... More
Grainy Picture
‘Granularity’ and other business jargon
By Merrill Perlman Dec 6, 2010 at 12:47 PM
For a number of years, some attendees of jargon-heavy business meetings have played “Buzzword Bingo”: Someone prints out cards with... More
A Matter of Taste
On “gourmet,” “gourmand,” and loving food
By Merrill Perlman Dec 1, 2010 at 04:17 PM
When a word takes on unwanted connotations, people seeking a replacement often settle on something close, thinking, perhaps, that the... More
Never the More
Replacing a word in a quotation can lead to trouble
By Merrill Perlman Nov 29, 2010 at 02:40 PM
What happens when a public official misspeaks? Should a news outlet edit the quotation, paraphrase it, or just leave it... More
Degrees of Rejection
‘Refudiate’ may have a use after all
By Merrill Perlman Nov 22, 2010 at 11:31 AM
The “words of the year” lists are beginning to appear, and we’re generally going to ignore them, since those words... More
Passing the Blame
A “scapegoat” by any other name …
By Merrill Perlman Nov 15, 2010 at 12:38 PM
Antonio Pierce, on ESPN, was talking about how the Washington Redskins seemed to be blaming their quarterback for a lot... More
Stock Answers
A stylebook takes on financial terms
By Merrill Perlman Nov 8, 2010 at 02:42 PM
If you’ve been reading too much “financial porn,” you might be tempted by the “skirt-length theory” and try to “buy... More
Leading Questions
How some journalism terms were born
By Merrill Perlman Nov 1, 2010 at 01:52 PM
The Associated Press recently said it would stop using some wire-service jargon as instructions on its stories. Among them were... More
Boo!
Scary words
By Merrill Perlman Oct 25, 2010 at 03:00 PM
Halloween is next week, and thousands of people are “scarifying” their houses in anticipation of the hordes of trick-or-treating children.... More
Overly Possessive
Why the lack of an apostrophe sometimes isn’t wrong
By Merrill Perlman Oct 18, 2010 at 01:13 PM
A student recently asked why she had been corrected when she wrote “The teacher’s union voted to strike.” That’s easy:... More
Loan Ranger
Money can change a noun to a verb
By Merrill Perlman Oct 11, 2010 at 12:48 PM
The reporter seemingly couldn’t make up his mind. In an article about a mayor’s financial problem, the reporter used a... More
Who, I?
When personal pronouns don’t get along
By Merrill Perlman Oct 4, 2010 at 12:34 PM
If you go to Language Corner’s Facebook page (and while you’re there, you may as well “like” it), you’ll see... More
Echo Chamber
On redundant acronyms and initialisms
By Merrill Perlman Sep 30, 2010 at 04:59 PM
An acronym or initialism can become so familiar that we forget what it stands for and add one of its... More
Selling Short
When words are truncated, spellings differ
By Merrill Perlman Sep 27, 2010 at 03:03 PM
By now, just about everyone knows what an “app” is, and knows it’s short for “application.” The verb form of... More
Woman’s work - The twisted reality of an Italian freelancer in Syria
Sourcing Trayvon Martin ‘photos’ from stormfront - Not a good idea, Business Insider
Elizabeth Warren, the antidote to CNBC - The senator schools the talking heads on bank regulation
Art Laffer + PR blitz = press failure - The media types up the retail lobby’s propaganda
Reuters’s global warming about-face - A survey shows the newswire ran 50 percent fewer stories on climate change after hiring a “skeptic”
Barack Obama: ‘those old times aren’t coming back’
“It used to be there were local newspapers everywhere. If you wanted to be a journalist, you could really make a good living working for your hometown paper”
The Guardian’s editor opens up on Reddit
Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, answered questions in an Ask Me Anything
The (almost) lost speech of Justice Anthony Kennedy
How his insightful remarks about the Constitution inadvertently make the case for a Supreme Court “media pool”
Fox News sues TVEyes for copyright infringement
Says subscription service sells access to its content without permission nor compensation
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
ACEsTooHigh.com – Reporting on the science, education, and policy surrounding childhood trauma
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
