grammar

You Know You Want Weird Al's Robin Thicke Parody About Grammar

Jay Hathaway · 07/15/14 11:05AM

Robin Thicke has tried to move on from the controversy over "Blurred Lines," releasing a smash-hit plea for his wife to take him back (54 copies sold in Australia!), but Thicke's biggest hit is still right in the sweet spot for a Weird Al parody. Replace the naked models with sexy punctuation and the possessiveness with possessives, and you've got "Word Crimes."

Kesha Made It Out of Rehab, But Her Dollar Sign Didn't

Jay Hathaway · 03/07/14 04:55PM

Kesha Sebert has successfully completed rehab for eating disorders, and she says she's come away from the experience feeling "blessed." She's also come away from it as The Artist Formerly Known as Ke$ha, dropping the dollar sign in favor of a much more Google-friendly "s." Way to think about yr SEO, gurl. That's healthy.

Adam Weinstein · 01/30/14 04:11PM

The New York Times has used "nondescript" to describe 76 different office spaces in recent years, according to this thoroughgoing analysis by a grumpy anti-cliché grammarian.

The Great Starbucks Bagel Grammar Foofaraw

Hamilton Nolan · 08/16/10 08:49AM

Have you ever gone into a Starbucks and cursed their fake "Venti, Grande" size names? Sure. Gimme a "Large," amirite? And have you ever had police remove you from Starbucks for arguing about bagel-related grammar? Anyone? One lady has!

Rihanna's New Tattoo Has a Mistake In It

Maureen O'Connor · 08/12/10 01:22PM

Rihanna's new neck tattoo says "rebelle fleur," the French words for "rebellious" and "flower." Unfortunately, adjectives usually follow the noun in French, so "rebelle fleur" is actually just gibberish. Click to enlarge.

Surprise: Some People Do Not Understand Grammar

Max Read · 07/06/10 10:50PM

Researchers found that some native English speakers were unable to understand the sentence "The soldier was hit by the sailor," indicating that grammar may not be "universal." FYI: It means the sailor (boats) hit the soldier (tanks). [Science Daily]

How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Fake Trend Story

Hamilton Nolan · 02/09/10 01:06PM

We all know that New York Times fake trend stories are annoying because they are 1) fake, and 2) trend stories. But do not neglect their third worst quality: many are terribly written. Allow us to show you.