Typos: Should You Forgive or Forget?

Typos–we all hate them–but are some typos more unforgivable than others? That depends largely on what you are writing and for what audience. Below are several typo scenarios ranging from green light (no problem, speed on ahead) to yellow (caution) to red light (zero, and I do mean zero, typos allowed). A good general rule of thumb is the wider the audience and more formal the setting, the less “allowable” the typos.

How to Write Dates Correctly in English

If writing dates has you stymied at times, it is probably for one of two reasons. The first is that date formats vary the world over, and we come across these different styles frequently in our reading. The second may be that you aren’t quite sure how to write dates with commas.

The key to overcoming your struggle with dates is to understand the prevailing conventions and then apply them clearly—and consistently.

Speak Like a Scientist: 4 Words to Try Using Differently

Scientific writing is known for its precision and accuracy. Other forms of written and spoken communication, however, are often filled with confusing and ambiguous vocabulary. Here are four words we’ve poached from the scientific world that should be adopted in non-scientific communication.

Abstract In scientific writing, an abstract summarizes the key points of a presentation or paper.

What to Do When Someone Takes Credit for Your Work

You feel great after finishing a project, but then someone else takes the credit. What should you do? If you lose your cool, you could lose your job. Don’t run the risk! Let’s look at three scenarios and some strategies that can help you turn a bad situation into a favorable one.

The Passive Praise Stealer

You collaborate with a coworker on a project. Later, you overhear your boss commend your colleague: “What a fantastic job!

5 Overwatch Teamwork Tactics You Can Take to Work

This one’s for the gamer geeks. You know who you are. You’re the ones with thumbs permanently crooked from working analog sticks, or one hand formed into a palsied claw from clenching your [insert gaming mouse brand of choice here] in a death grip. You’re the ones whose parents said would never amount to anything if all you did was play video games all day. (To which you had to retort, “I’m building hand-eye coordination!”)

6 Grammatically Questionable Epitaphs

Gravestones are meant to live on long after the person they represent has passed. It’s important to make sure they’re both well-deserved celebrations of life and completely accurate, since correcting these stones can be an arduous and expensive process. In honor of “Plan Your Epitaph Day,” which took place yesterday, here are six famous examples of epitaphs with grave spelling or grammatical errors.

8 Ways to Show Gratitude at Work

As published in Glamour magazine, a little thankfulness can make you more successful at work. How so? The article reports that a study by the email scheduling app Boomerang identified three email sign-offs that result in the best response rates—thanks in advance, thanks, and thank you. If a simple email signature has such a profound effect, just think of what you can achieve with a genuine act of appreciation!

What kind of writer are you?

This poll is part of a series that Grammarly is running aimed at better understanding how the public feels about writing, language learning, and grammar.

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. We can’t wait to hear from you!

If you are interested in more, check out last week’s poll.

#GrammoWriMo Plot Summary

Updated November 15, 2013 

Chapter 1

Our adult, female protagonist, Audra, is introduced. This chapter must establish that Audra is a magical wish-granter whose job is to clean the coins out of a small, unremarkable local fountain each night. She is fed up with the vain and selfish wishes of people and regrets that she cannot make a wish for something great, noble—or not having to grant people’s wishes anymore.

How to Read Between the Lines of a Job Description

Guest post from Jennifer Parris, Career Writer for FlexJobs

On the surface, a job description might seem fairly straightforward. It lists the job title, a smattering of responsibilities, and contact info by which you can apply for the position. But upon a second reading, you’re sure to find many layers to the posting, full of nuances and hidden messages that a seasoned job seeker might be able to pick up.

You’ll Never Guess the Origins of These 3 Bizarrely Spelled English Words

English is linguistically categorized as a West Germanic language. Though it is now the most widely spoken language in the world, English actually got a pretty small start.

In the fifth century, many related Germanic dialects fused together, collectively becoming what is now known as Old English. These dialects were brought to the eastern coast of England by Germanic settlers and eventually gained a stronghold in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England in what is now southeast Scotland.

Words to Use When You’re Upset at Work

If work conflicts stress you out, you may be tempted to express your frustration with a few expletives. According to CareerBuilder.com, more than 80% of workers believe that “the use of curse words brings the employee’s professionalism into question.” What might this mean for you? If you are the employee, you could damage your chances of a promotion and seem less than mature in the eyes of your coworkers.

The Importance of Proofreading Your Résumé

Did you know that recruiters only spend an average of six seconds reviewing your résumé? You have a very small window in which to wow them, and in this competitive job market, even the smallest mistake can be enough to knock you out of the running. There are three main aspects of proofreading: spelling, grammar, and consistency. We’ll look at each of those below, but first, some sobering statistics about how many errors we found in a sampling of résumés.

What Is the Difference Between Acknowledgement and Acknowledgment?

This post acknowledges the pesky spelling of acknowledg(e)ment. If the verb ends in -e, where does that letter go when you add the -ment?

For the most part, folks in the United States or Canada will ditch the E, while people outside North America tend to keep it. But that’s far from a hard-and-fast rule, so chances are you’ll see both spellings regardless of where you’re reading.

Why Grammar Still Matters in Today’s Digital Age

Guest post by Matt Banner

Today’s digital age has brought back the craft of writing, but at a cost. With the rising popularity of hashtags, tweets, emoticons, and shorthand phrases like the ever-present “LOL,” it seems like good grammar has gone out the window. At the end of the day, does grammar still matter in this digital age?

For the foreseeable future, the answer is yes.

5 Retro Games that Made Us Better People

You’re having an average morning at the office, when suddenly word ripples out from the corner suite: the boss is going to visit a major potential client this afternoon, and she wants the latest version of the demo ready to show off. A wave of adrenaline sweeps the room—this is all hands on deck.

The copywriter and designers launch into vetting every scrap of text and making sure every element on the screen will be pixel-perfect.

Spelling counts: make sure you use these words correctly

Do you know the answer? Read on to find out which one is correct!

There are many (perhaps countless) homophones in the English language. These are words and phrases that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Here are three commonly confused homophones worth knowing:

1. A while vs. awhile A while refers to a period of time. In this construction, ‘while’ acts as a noun.

3 Charles Dickens Characters You Don’t Want to Meet

The great English writer Charles Dickens is known for his well-crafted characters. While some of the characters we meet in Dickens’ novels are endearing heroes, others are sinister villains. Here are three Dickens characters you would never want to meet.

Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist A career criminal, violent abuser, and murderer, Bill Sikes is at the top of the list of characters to avoid.

Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores Are Bringing Their A-Game: Help Spread the Love

Do you love being able to walk into your local bookstore and actually pick up a book and look through its pages?

The boom in e-reader and tablet sales are creating stiff competition for brick and mortar bookstores. Just as the corporate chains threatened to gobble up the independent competition in the pre-tablet, today’s digital media giants threaten brick and mortar merchants.