Grammar Girl

1217. This week, we talk to Florence Hazrat, author of "On the Mark," about how punctuation evolved over 2,000 years. We look at why ancient Greek and Roman writing had no spaces between words, how a librarian in Alexandria introduced the first marks to help readers, and why the Renaissance brought a burst of new punctuation that then mostly stopped. Then we look at why a period can make a short text message feel aggressive, whether emoji count as punctuation, and how failed inventions like the interrobang tried to join the ranks.
Find Florence Hazrat on Instagram or her website.

A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support!
Larry Rosenblum
Mahala Russell
George Wilson
Laurel Paul
Linda Cox
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir

🔗 Join the Grammar Girl Patreon.
🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.
🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.
🔗 Find an edited transcript.
🔗 Get Grammar Girl books.
| HOST: Mignon Fogarty
| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.
Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
Creative Partnerships & Business Development: Morgan Christianson
Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb
| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.
| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1216. In honor of Labor Day, we look at occupational surnames — why Baker, Cooper, and Fletcher sound like jobs, and why Wainwright, Chandler, and Fuller were jobs too, even though they don't sound like it anymore. We also look at how names like Webster and Baxter preserve an Old English suffix for women's work.

The jobs segment was by Karen Lunde, a career writer and editor. She writes I'll Go First, a newsletter where she shares her story, and then hands you a writing prompt and a metaphorical pen. Find her at igofirst.org.

Save the date for Grammarpalooza — The Game Show: Thursday, September 24 at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.

A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support!
Larry Rosenblum
Mahala Russell
George Wilson
Laurel Paul
Linda Cox
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir

🔗 Join the Grammar Girl Patreon.
🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.
🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.
🔗 Find an edited transcript.
🔗 Get Grammar Girl books.
| HOST: Mignon Fogarty
| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.
Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
Creative Partnerships & Business Development: Morgan Christianson
Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb
| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.
| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1215. This week, we talk to Kory Stamper about why color science is surprisingly dangerous. We look at the literal chemical explosions at DuPont dye labs and the bitter rivalry between Webster’s Third and the American Heritage Dictionary. Then, we look at Kory's top three book recommendations for fellow color nerds. This bonus discussion originally aired for Grammarpaloozians in April. To hear them right away, join at Patreon.com/GrammarGirl.

Find Kory Stamper at KoryStamper.com or on Bluesky.

A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support!
Larry Rosenblum
Mahala Russell
George Wilson
Laurel Paul
Linda Cox
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir

🔗 Join the Grammar Girl Patreon.
🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.
🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.
🔗 Find an edited transcript.
🔗 Get Grammar Girl books.
| HOST: Mignon Fogarty
| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.
Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
Creative Partnerships & Business Development: Morgan Christianson
Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb
| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.
| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1214. This week, we look at why we say, "It's all Greek to me" when we don't understand something. We trace the phrase from medieval monks who couldn't read Greek manuscripts to Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and look at how other languages, like Czech, German, and Cantonese, express the same idea of incomprehension.

The Greek segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and author of "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support!
Larry Rosenblum
Mahala Russell
George Wilson
Laurel Paul
Linda Cox
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir
🔗 Join the Grammar Girl Patreon.
🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.
🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.
🔗 Find an edited transcript.
🔗 Get Grammar Girl books.
| HOST: Mignon Fogarty
| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.
Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb
| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.
| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1213. Pulitzer-Prize-winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman goes deeper into her journey from the "Washington Post" copy desk to the world of professional dance criticism. We look at how writing about an art form is the ultimate exercise in verb selection, why our brains physically react to words like "meander" or "zigzag," and how to find the "zing" in your writing by juxtaposing unusual adverbs with everyday actions. This was originally a bonus episode for Grammarpaloozians in April, Learn more at Patreon.com/GrammarGirl.
Find Sarah L. Kaufman at sarahlkaufman.com
Get Sarah’s books, “Verb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Art of Grace”

A hearty thank-you to our Keepers of the Commas on Patreon. We appreciate your support!
Larry Rosenblum
Mahala Russell
George Wilson
Laurel Paul
Linda Cox
Birna Anna Björnsdóttir

🔗 Join the Grammar Girl Patreon.
🔗 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.
🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.
🔗 Find an edited transcript.
🔗 Get Grammar Girl books.
| HOST: Mignon Fogarty
| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.
Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb
| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.
| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.