MetaFilter posts tagged with words and grammar

Two effect they're effluent capitol.

blue_beetle — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:29:53 -0800

Confusing Words is a collection of 3210 words that are troublesome to readers and writers. Words are grouped according to the way they are most often confused or misused.

a fascinating short timely rectangular (due to the CSS box model) white-on-blue American pixel-based educational post (about adjectives)

grumblebee — Sat, 19 May 2007 11:58:25 -0800

"The old, mean man" vs. "The mean old man." Here's an aspect of English (and other languages) I've never thought of before. If you're using a string of adjectives, there's a natural order for them to appear in: "opinion :: size :: age :: shape :: color :: origin :: material :: purpose". (Although I find "old, mean," due to it's strange order, sort of striking.) [more info: 1, 2, 3]

herc — Thu, 26 Sep 2002 16:11:54 -0800

Jedi (n) and Klingon (n) will now be listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. As will Ass-Backward. Given MetaFilter's interest in grammar this seems worth noting. How the editors decided that "Jedi" is worth inclusion but "Stormtrooper" is not is a conversation I would have loved to have heard. Naturally, people complaining about such inclusions ain't new. However, when words are removed from the same dictionary it's hardly noticed. Clearly unused words go away, so why do people make a stink about this year after year? Slow news cycles? Or is it an extension of the Prescriptivist - Descriptivist Argument with the Prescripts making a push for the "hearts and minds" of the public?

Tin Man — Wed, 03 Jul 2002 07:18:55 -0800

Sentence diagramming. Did anyone else learn this when they were a kid? Brings back memories -- a place for every word, and every word in its place. Fascinating for grammar nuts. The guy diagrams famous sentences -- even the opening sentence of the Declaration of Independence. (Happy Fourth!)

tdecius — Sun, 09 Jan 2000 15:53:47 -0800

Adverbs make you hot and bothered? Try Tham's Sexed-Up Grammar Guide.