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
Beowulf’s ‘you know,’ Shakespeare’s ‘prithee,’ and the myth of Valley Girl ‘like,’ with Dr. Laurel Brinton
Oct 22, 202638 min
What's a familect? The words only your family uses
Oct 20, 202620 min
Your college essay doesn't need an extraordinary story, with Ethan Sawyer
Oct 15, 202630 min
Why does 'Here comes he' sound so wrong?
Oct 13, 202610 min
Famous quotes we've been getting wrong, from Robert Frost to 'Don't mess with Texas,' with Eli Burnstein
Oct 8, 202645 min
Is it 'try and' or 'try to'? What does an epilogue do?
Oct 6, 202610 min
'Rizz,' 'lost in the sauce,' and Dictionary.com's newest words, with Steve Johnson
Oct 1, 202620 min
Why are ships called 'she'?
Sep 29, 202613 min
What's in a word? Mapping America's regional vocabulary and the Linguistic Atlas Project, with Allison Burkette
Sep 24, 202634 min
How often do you use 'the'? Meet Zipf's law
Sep 22, 20269 min
Min-maxxing, looksmaxxing, and Nixon-maxxing, with Roger Kreuz
Sep 17, 202617 min
Why do pirates say 'Arr'? Is it 'none is' or 'none are'?
Sep 15, 202612 min
Related shows
The Deeply Graphic Designcast - DGDC
Nick Longo and Mikelle Morrison diagnose graphic design career traps, client friction, and portfolio survival tactics.
Tape Notes
John Kennedy dissects modern studio sessions with the artists and producers who built them, isolating original stems and raw demos.
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
Solo-host music education breaking down single orchestral pieces and concertos movement by movement for listeners without conservatory training.
Sodajerker On Songwriting
British songwriting duo Sodajerker interviewing writers like Phil Collins and Linda Perry about the exact mechanics of verse construction.