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Author Archives: Mignon

Does “Free” Mean “Worthless”?

I just threw away yet another card from Starbucks that offered me something free. This time it was for an app, but often it’s for a song, and sometimes it’s for a book. This time, I didn’t even bother getting the app. Between the Starbucks offers and the iTunes free song of the week, I’ve probably [...]

Phoenix E-Publishing Workshop Discount

My friend Evo Terra is putting on an e-publishing workshop in Phoenix on September 17, 2011 (next Saturday!) and is offering a $30 discount to the first 12 people to sign up using the code APOSTROPHE (not case sensitive), making the final price $99. Here is their description of the conference: This full-day workshop will [...]

Well Used: Maudlin

I love finding examples of words used in particularly appropriate ways. In this case, “maudlin” is well used because it was uttered by a nun: “We can’t be maudlin about this.” “Maudlin” was first used in the early 1500s, and we get the word from the biblical character Mary Magdalene. In medieval art, Magdalene was [...]

Twitter Favorites Are Getting More Public

Twitter is making changes to its Web interface that may cause you to rethink how you use the “favorite” feature. A small group of users are seeing the @Mentions tab being replaced with a tab that has your username and a new “Activity” tab, and Mashable says the change will be gradually rolled out to [...]

Smiley Faces and Parentheses

I get questions like this a lot (and they amuse me ). I get questions like this a lot (and they amuse me.) Mignon Fogarty is the author of six writing books, including the new books 101 Misused Words You’ll Never Confuse Again, 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs to Know, and Grammar Girl Presents [...]

Buy a Book Today, Get a Personal Thank-You Video

SUMMARY Buy a paperback copy of GRAMMAR GIRL’S 101 MISUSED WORDS YOU’LL NEVER CONFUSE AGAIN ($5.99) by midnight, Saturday, July 9, 2011;  send a screenshot or scan of your receipt to feedback@quickanddirtytips.com by noon (PST) Sunday, July 10, 2011; and I’ll record a personal video thank-you for you and post it as a private video [...]

FFP: Content Rules

CONTENT RULES: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business by Ann Handley & C. C. Chapman (Wiley) I read Content Rules on an airplane a couple of weeks ago, and I think it’s worth noting that I could have been playing Plants Vs. Zombies [...]

Surprise! I’m a Real Person

Students are surprised to learn there is a real person behind the Grammar Girl podcast.

The Rise of “Schadenfreude”

File this under “random things I do.” I read an offhand comment somewhere that “schadenfreude” (a word from German that means to take joy in other’s misfortune) had seen a jump in use in the late 1990s, and I wanted to see if that was true. The chart above is the log of the number [...]

My E-Books Are on Sale

My second book has just been released as an e-book, so to celebrate, my publisher has put both my e-books on sale. For just another week or so, you can get THE GRAMMAR DEVOTIONAL e-book for $4.99 and GRAMMAR GIRL’S QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING for $4.99. The regular prices are $9.99. The [...]