Language Corner
The Golden Years
Happy fiftieth birthday, Strunk & White
By Merrill Perlman Apr 20, 2009 at 03:54 PM
April 16 was the fiftieth anniversary of the release of The Elements of Style, the “little book” that so many... More
Serial Killer
Why the ‘serial comma’ isn’t important
By Merrill Perlman Apr 13, 2009 at 11:00 AM
You know it, and you love it or hate it—it’s the last comma in a simple series, the one before... More
Snark Hunt
The search for the true meaning
By Merrill Perlman Apr 9, 2009 at 06:45 PM
Sometimes, dictionaries just don’t get it. this one will define a word one way; that one will define the same... More
Hopefully Yours
Is “full of hope” full of it?
By Merrill Perlman Apr 6, 2009 at 01:36 PM
“Hopefully,” Americans have been watching the first overseas visit of President Barack Obama. Those Americans who were taught English and... More
Firing Blanks
Is everyone who loses a job “fired”?
By Merrill Perlman Mar 31, 2009 at 03:54 PM
The day Brenda Starr has been dreading has arrived. Her new boss, Mr. Bottomline, says she has become too expensive.... More
Stop, Fief!
A long-term lease on a made-up word
By Merrill Perlman Mar 24, 2009 at 01:25 PM
Let us travel back to those thrilling days of feudalism, when lords were lords and everyone else paid high taxes... More
Waif Goodbye
How various dictionaries define the word “waif”
By Merrill Perlman Mar 17, 2009 at 03:07 PM
Let’s say you find a “waif” on the street and take it home. Should you call an orphanage, an animal... More
Wait Lifted
Do you wait for, on, or upon someone?
By Merrill Perlman Mar 11, 2009 at 01:44 PM
For hundreds of years, linguists, grammarians, and others have argued over what word should follow “wait,” as in “I am... More
Persuasive Convincing
On the vanishing distinctions between “persuade” and “convince”
By Merrill Perlman Mar 2, 2009 at 03:42 PM
Back when English grammar was rigorously taught in schools, certain rules were hammered into students’ heads: Never split an infinitive;... More
A Noisome Joy
Another word that doesn’t mean what it looks like it means
By Merrill Perlman Feb 23, 2009 at 01:16 PM
Think of all the words that don’t mean what their spellings seem to indicate they mean—among the ones already discussed... More
Presidents Setting
Attempting to punctuate President(s)(s’)(’s) Day
By Merrill Perlman Feb 16, 2009 at 04:39 PM
We used to have two holidays in February: Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday. Now, we have three, though most of... More
Cultured Plurals
Plurals, singulars, and the de-Latinization of English
By Merrill Perlman Feb 9, 2009 at 03:20 PM
When baseball season starts in just a few short weeks, the New York Yankees will have a new “stadium.” The... More
A Frayed Knot of Words
The difference between “homonym” and “homophone”
By Merrill Perlman Feb 2, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Last week’s posting discussed sound-alike words that are often mistaken for one another, despite their different meanings. That brought a... More
Pedal Pushers
“Soft-peddling” a faulty homonym
By Merrill Perlman Jan 26, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Now that Barack Obama is president, one columnist wanted to know, weren’t the late-night comedians, who had taken so many... More
Able Action
When the audience isn’t in on the definition
By Merrill Perlman Jan 19, 2009 at 05:00 PM
English has no grammar police to prevent someone from taking a word and putting it to work with another meaning,... More
#Realtalk: This isn’t another ‘golden age’ for print - But it is one for media
Social media in smaller markets - How three social media managers deal with smaller markets and more local coverage.
A rally for laid-off Sun-Times photogs - A protest Thursday morning drew about 150 picketers to the newspaper’s headquarters
Reporting, or illegal hacking - Scripps reporters are accused of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Exchange Watch: California Dreaming - Low healthcare premiums on the West Coast were trumpeted as a big, good-news Obamacare story. But: “Compared to what?”
Things have always been getting worse
Yes, women’s magazines can do serious journalism
In fact, we’ve been doing it for a while
The people who run the American security apparatus are in the overwhelming majority diligent people with a deep concern for civil liberties. But their job is to find creative ways to collect information. And they work within an institution that, because of its secrecy, is fundamentally inimical to democracy and to a free society
Fast Company is hacking the newsroom
Here’s why
Rachel Maddow’s tribute to Michael Hastings
“Michael was angry … he was angry about things that weren’t right in the world. He was angry with war and with loss, and that drove his reporting.”
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.
