Articles Tagged usage

In Defense of Jargon

Jargon is often criticized as meaningless and opaque. That’s blaming the tool instead of the user.

Don’t start a sentence with “hopefully”? Hopefully, you’ll read this article and learn why you can.

A few grammar peevers will insist that “none” means “not one” and must take a singular verb. But there’s more to the story.

Subject-verb agreement sounds simple but can be surprisingly complex. These 10 nuances of agreement will get you started.

“Don’t start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but,'” we’re told. But no one updates that rule when our skills grow. Let’s fix that.

FANBOYS can help us remember the coordinating conjunctions. Except that it’s wrong. Learn the truth about FANBOYS.

We’ve been taught not to start sentences with “however.” Why you can dismiss that rule.

The singular “they” zombie has been shuffling along for centuries. It’s time it bit the dust for good.

Have you been told that you can’t use “between” when talking about more than two items? That’s a zombie rule. Let’s rewrite it.

Why it’s OK to use “since” to mean “because” and when you should avoid it.