Clinging to God and Grammar

by Carl R. Trueman

The battle over pronouns on social media and in public spaces, as trivial as it seems, is actually of great importance. Continue Reading »

23 Sep 2021

Style Reveals the Man

by Joseph Epstein

Writing cannot be taught, as I came to realize after attempting to teach it for thirty years to university students, but it can be learned. One can only teach the mistakes bad writers make and provide examples of what makes good writers good. One cannot teach a love of language, the power of . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Oct 2020

Dem Bones

by Paul V. Mankowski

Ossa Latinitatis Sola ad Mentem Reginaldi Rationemque: The Mere Bones of Latin According to the Thought & System of Reginaldby reginaldus thomas foster and daniel patricius mccarthycatholic university of america, 831 pages, $39.95 A recent online video shows a math teacher expounding the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2018

Grammar Rules

by Mark Bauerlein

Gwynne’s Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English? by n. m. gwynne ?knopf, 288 pages, $19.95 One of the first axioms of the field of linguistics is that the rules of usage in any language at any time are wholly conventional. Proper grammar and style have no . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2015

Weird Al Just Committed the Greatest Word Crime of All

by Kevin Gallagher

He takes care lest by a slip of the tongue he use the ablative instead of the accusative for ‘among men,’ but is unconcerned that by the fury of his mind he might cast a man out from among men” (Conf. 1.18.29). The particular pet peeves of the self-appointed language police have changed since the fifth century, but St. Augustine would surely recognize the same phenomenon active today. He might conclude, though, that we’ve sunk to a new low: today’s peevers tend not only to lack charity, but to lack even a good grasp of the language they imagine themselves to be defending. Continue Reading »

24 Jul 2014