Now that summer is here, I know I’m not alone in looking forward to sitting in a cozy chair while soaking up some sun, with a good book and an icy drink nearby. If you’re looking to add a little bit of grammar to your summer reading list, here are three books I recommend. Each of them offers a fun, breezy read—maybe with a side of linguistic professional development.
Editor’s Note will be taking a short summer hiatus. See you in August!
Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by Ellen Jovin
In 2018, Ellen Jovin started the Grammar Table outside her apartment in New York City, offering to talk to any passersby who had a language question. This eventually evolved into a 47-state road trip where Jovin and her husband, Brandt Johnson, set up shop in various locations to talk to everyday people about grammar. The book recounts memorable conversations from those trips without getting deep into the weeds of the “rules.” You will meet several characters who have strong opinions on the Oxford comma, alongside others who confess to not knowing what that is. Jovin’s storytelling is always thoughtful and often funny—an exchange in Montana about the plural mongooses (mongeese?) had me laughing out loud. She and her husband also turned the trip into a documentary with the same name, released in January.
Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch
If you do any sort of communicating online, this book from linguist Gretchen McCulloch is for you. Although more academic in tone than Rebel with a Clause, this book is written for a general audience, and particularly for people who wonder whether emojis are OK to use in work emails, or why the LOL of the 2000s is not the same as the lol of today, or why using periods at the end of a text message strikes so many people as passive-aggressive. Do you often use ellipses in emails? This book tells you why your recipients interpret those very differently depending on their age. McCulloch takes an engaging deep dive into why and how the internet has accelerated language change—and why that’s not a bad thing. If you really want to get nerdy, check out her podcast with co-host Lauren Gawne, Lingthusiasm!
Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
This book from Kory Stamper, formerly a lexicographer for Merriam-Webster, is part memoir and part history of dictionaries, grammar rules, and English itself. It’s a fascinating look at the massive amount of effort that goes into creating a dictionary. Stamper tells several stories about the drudgery, the biases, and the existential crises that go into the work—one entire chapter is spent on her journey from harboring “personal linguistic beef” with the word irregardless to being one of its primary defenders. Contrary to popular belief, lexicographers are among the least likely to be grammar scolds, and this book sheds light on the vast gray areas inherent to any living language.
Pop quiz
Following University style, when are the names of seasons capitalized?
Click on your answer to submit your response. If you have the correct response, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a prize!
A note about the pop quiz
Please think of these monthly quizzes as open-book! I don’t expect you to know the answer off the top of your head. I designed these quizzes, in fact, to get readers more comfortable using the University Style Guide to find the answer. You are encouraged to consult that before submitting your answer.
April pop quiz winner
Congrats to the winner of the April pop quiz: Lori Loftis, senior pre-award program manager for Notre Dame Research!
Which of the following options is preferred in University style?
The norm in American English is to use “a” before words that begin with a consonant or a consonant sound, including h: a quality product, a historical event, a eulogy. Use “an” before words that begin with a vowel or vowel sound: an ND graduate, an ROTC unit, an hour later.
The key is to go by pronunciation and not by spelling. This is why it’s a historic but an hour—although both of these words begin with the letter h, only one of these words includes it in the pronunciation.
What we’re reading
These are stories that we found to be interesting, fun, or thought-provoking. The views are not necessarily endorsed. Want to share a story you found? Feel free to send it to me.
Is knowing how to spell still relevant?
The Washington Post (gift article)
The Washington Post (gift article)
Latest style guide updates
There are no updates this month. Have a suggestion for a new or updated entry? Please feel free to send it to me at bcollin8@nd.edu!
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