Language Corner
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
The Personals
When to use ‘who’ and ‘that’
By Merrill Perlman Aug 1, 2011 at 12:11 PM
“We’re the people that are going to say, ‘No,’ to Washington, D.C., taxing and spending,” U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX),... More
Lone Modifications
Adjectives may agitate
By Merrill Perlman Jul 25, 2011 at 02:09 PM
Adjectives play many roles. They can tell us which box on the gift table is being discussed—the “blue” box—so we... More
Irony Patch
It’s not a coincidence
By Merrill Perlman Jul 18, 2011 at 01:47 PM
It’s “ironic” that many journalists don’t understand when to correctly use “irony.” Here’s an example of how “irony” frequently appears... More
Quotus Interruptus
‘What … did (he) say?’
By Merrill Perlman Jul 12, 2011 at 12:51 PM
For weeks before Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees reached 3,000 career hits, he had been saying he didn’t... More
Almost Famous
Confusion over “infamy” and “notoriety” abounds
By Merrill Perlman Jul 5, 2011 at 05:05 PM
ou probably don’t want to become “infamous.” but you may want to be “notorious.” The adjective “infamous” has traditionally meant... More
Gonna Wanna
When dialects collide
By Merrill Perlman Jul 5, 2011 at 03:40 PM
Writing the way people speak is one way to make sure your copy doesn’t become bloviated or stodgy. But journalists... More
Fraught Fest
Can something be ‘fraught’ without ‘with’?
By Merrill Perlman Jun 27, 2011 at 01:12 PM
Kirk Arnott, a retired assistant managing editor of the Columbus Dispatch who keeps his hand sharp with part-time copyediting there,... More
Title Search
Descriptions that deserve respect, or not
By Merrill Perlman Jun 20, 2011 at 02:10 PM
We love to modify things, to make them as descriptive or as recognizable as possible. It’s not just a house,... More
Call Me ‘Al’
Another confusing suffix
By Merrill Perlman Jun 13, 2011 at 02:28 PM
Is an appliance “electric” or “electrical”? Is Sarah Palin visiting “historic” sites or “historical” sites? Is being “politic” the same... More
Appositive Negatives
Some things are not unique
By Merrill Perlman Jun 6, 2011 at 02:38 PM
Last week, we talked about setting a parenthetical description off with commas in the grammatical phenomenon known as an “appositive.”... 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”
In one tweet
Luke Russert is the Golden Boy of DC
And it drives young journalists crazy
It’s official: We never need to worry about the future of journalism again!
The NYT shows us why
Why does Florida produce so much weird news? Experts explain
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.
