Grammar Girl
QuickAndDirtyTips.com
Bite-sized etymological history and grammar rules answering why everyday English behaves the way it does.
Why we picked this
We picked Grammar Girl because it treats language not as a rigid set of schoolhouse rules, but as an evolving social artifact shaped by history, regional quirks, and everyday human error. Mignon Fogarty unpicks common idioms, obscure dialects, and phonetic habits with patient curiosity rather than prescriptive judgment. We favor the show because it prioritizes practical etymology over pedantry, offering a reliable, weekly archive for anyone who wants to understand why English sounds and behaves the way it does.
Recent episodes
Stray Russian words and made-up style rules, with Daniel Heuman and Chris Ryder
Sep 10, 202624 min
Who's a good boy? The science behind 'dog voice.' Is it 'bated breath' or 'baited breath'?
Sep 8, 202611 min
How we got from no spaces between words to the interrobang, with Florence Hazrat
Sep 3, 202627 min
Why do so many last names sound like jobs?
Sep 1, 20269 min
Explosions, chemistry, and dictionary 'spite,' with Kory Stamper
Aug 27, 202620 min
It's Greek to me: Why is the language of 'The Odyssey' shorthand for all that we don’t understand?
Aug 25, 202610 min
Sarah L. Kaufman on the shared rhythm of dance, critical writing, and finding better verbs
Aug 20, 202616 min
What 'kith and kin' and 'beck and call' have in common
Aug 18, 202612 min
Word wagons and bobbasheelys: Life at DARE, with Joan Houston Hall
Aug 13, 202620 min
Why does 'shh' mean the same thing in so many languages, and what's 'broad' about daylight?
Aug 11, 202611 min
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