Unlike yesterday's newspaper, old blogs can't be used to wrap fish or line the bottom of a birdcage, but they can be recycled all the same. Here's a look back at 12 of the more popular (and sometimes controversial) posts on the Grammar & Composition Blog in 2012.
- Eight Quick Tips for Writing Under Pressure
Here's a little secret: both in college and beyond, most writing is done under pressure. . . . Read more - A Few Grammatical Oddities: Group Genitives, Whimperatives, and Notional Agreement
As every good English teacher knows, there's hardly a single principle of grammar that's not accompanied by a list of variations, qualifications, and exceptions. . . . Read more - Nominate Your Favorite Regionalism
Regardless of where you live in the world or which variety of English you speak, send us your favorite regionalism--that is, a distinctive word, expression, or pronunciation favored by English speakers in your area. . . . Read more - For You, What's the Hardest Part of Writing?
It's a question I ask my composition students at the start of every term: For each of you, what's the hardest part of writing? . . . Read more - Grammatical Mission Impossible: Defining a Sentence
Sure, we all recognize a sentence when we see or hear one. And most of us probably recall the textbook definition of a sentence . . .. But it's not that simple. Not at all. . . . Read more - Missing Letters
Despite the marvels of Facebook, instant messaging, and the like, I'm not convinced that anything in the digital world has succeeded in mimicking the particular pleasures and advantages of reading and writing personal letters. . . . Read more - No Time Like the Present Tense
As it happens, the present tense can refer to actions that occur not only in the present but also in the past, in the future, and outside of time altogether. . . . Read more - The Most Beautiful Words
Over the years there have been countless playful surveys of the most beautiful-sounding words in English. Perennial favorites include lullaby, gossamer, murmuring, luminous, Aurora Borealis, and velvet. But not all recommendations have been so predictable--or so obviously euphonious. . . . Read more - 100 Words and Phrases That Ticked You Off in 2012
Here are 100 verbal pet peeves submitted by readers over the past 12 months. . . . Read more - A National Grammar Day Grammar Quiz
To mark National Grammar Day, we offer this short quiz on English grammar--not usage or prescriptive grammar, but what David Crystal calls "the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves." . . . Read more - Ten Quick Tips for Using Abbreviations
Here, in response to some of your questions, are ten brief guidelines for using and punctuating abbreviations. . . . Read more - Ten Student Essays We Never Finished Reading
Rather than entice readers to continue, some first sentences make us wonder if it's worth going on. Here are ten of those boring or baffling openers. . . . Read more
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