Good Grammar Can Keep You Out of Trouble. Here’s How.

We’ve all heard the bad grammar horror stories: gory rumors of a brilliant job candidate missing out on an opportunity because of a misplaced comma or frighteningly funny-not-funny tales of a political candidate mangling a perfectly good one-liner (making it mean even less than it did originally).

Then, of course, there’s the seemingly never-ending barrage of listicles recounting the 10 Most Hilarious Grammar Mistakes You Have To See Before You Die or waxing lyrical about #Grammarfails That Only Grammar Lovers Will Understand.

Is It Honor or Honour?

The notion of honor varies greatly from one culture to another. Ideas about what it means to have it, how to obtain it, and how to preserve are studied by sociologists and anthropologists. But here we’ll be studying how to spell it. Here’s the deal: you can write honor in your college paper, or honour in your university test, and in both cases you’d be correct. But some might frown if you do it the other way around, because there is a slight difference between the two spellings that has nothing to do with the meaning of the word itself: Honor is the preferred spelling in American English and is pronounced ˈä-nər; Honour is the preferred spelling in British English and is pronounced /ˈɒnə/.

What Does Afk Mean?

• Afk is an abbreviation for away from keyboard.
• It lets people know that you will not be at your keyboard for a while, or that you will not be online for a period of time.

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If you’re chatting online or playing an MMO, afk lets your friends know that you are stepping away from the keyboard.

The Meaning of Afk

Afk means away from keyboard, a phrase that lets others know that you won’t be at your computer for a while.

Six of the Best Holiday Books for Students

During the holiday season, students and everyday readers alike love to settle down with a good book, getting nice and cozy to escape the rush. Ideally this literary refuge takes place by a warm fireside, while the snow falls outside. While that might not always be possible, there are a few staples of holiday literature which are guaranteed to put readers in the mood for Christmas while providing some literary value.

How much grammar should educators know? Let us know!

What is your opinion of this controversial topic? What role do you think educators play in grammar and writing education?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

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

What Is “Full Proof?”

You know what fool is? It’s a naive person, someone who lacks good judgment. As you can imagine, a fool would be easily tricked by a clever ruse. Proof is an adjective that means “able to withstand, or invulnerable.” When you combine the two terms, you get foolproof. This adjective means “involving no risk or harm, or never-failing.” In other words, something foolproof would still work even if a fool were operating it.

Happily Ever After, or Not: The Influence of Mother Goose

May 1 is Mother Goose Day, established in 1987 by Gloria T. Delamar upon the publication of her book, Mother Goose; From Nursery to Literature.

The day is a time for reflecting on fairy tales, acting them out, making and wearing Mother Goose costumes, or reading fairy tales aloud. It also could be a time to consider how much these stories have influenced modern writing.

Grammar is Only a Piece of the Pie

This Thanksgiving, Grammarly embarked on a quest to find the most delicious pumpkin pie recipe on the web. We discovered some complicated concoctions from celebrity chefs, some simple secrets from popular brands like Libby’s and Bisquick, and some interesting instructions from online recipe sites.

It was too difficult for us to decide on the “best” pumpkin pie recipe, but we did notice a few trends that we wanted to share with you in preparation for the season of holiday sweets and festive treats.

Grammarly Announces Winner of 3rd Annual $1,000 Scholarship

On January 12, Grammarly launched its third annual scholarship essay competition, encouraging students to share their thoughts on one of two writing prompts:

• What is poetry, and how does it influence your writing?
• What is the funniest book you have ever read? Talk about why the book was funny and how it impacted you.

We received an overwhelming response from students of all ages, in all disciplines.

Strikethrough and Why It’s so Popular

A very long time before any of us was born, there were no computers, typewriters, or printing presses. Books were written by hand, on pieces of specially treated leather called parchment or vellum. Back in medieval times, books were not only written but also illuminated, embellished by colorful drawings. And the lettering, even though you might not be able to read it easily, is a testament to the skill and patience of the scribes who wrote them.

3 Dating Tips You Can Steal From “Quiet”

Dating is tough for a lot of people. For introverts living in an extroversion-dominant society, the dating pool can be even more difficult to navigate. However, some of the powerful lessons from the landmark book Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking can be helpful not only for coping with western culture generally but also for getting more value from dating.

How to Connect Sentences

One of the primary marks of a good writer is the ability to connect sentences properly. A stream of short, choppy sentences makes for a boring read, whereas long sentences strung together can be tedious or even confusing for the reader. In this article, we’ll discuss how to connect sentences in a way that is not only grammatically correct but also stylistically effective.

Grammar Basics: When to Use I or Me?

Mistakes with objective pronouns often occur when we have to choose between you and me and you and I. Because you is the same in both the subjective and the objective case, people get confused about I and me. The way to check this is to remove the second-person pronoun.

When he’s finished reading the book, he’ll give it to you or I.

If the sentence read “…he’ll give it to I,” we would know that “I” is wrong.

3 Works to Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.

In President Obama’s final State of the Union address, he included a call on Americans to use their “voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love,” as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called them. Dr. King’s legacy lives on not only in Obama’s speech but also in the minds and hearts of Americans as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday of January each year.

What Does Lmao Mean?

• Lmao is an abbreviation of the phrase “laughing my ass off.
• It is used to indicate that something is funny.

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Lmao is a phrase that comes into mind when we’re laughing very hard, even though we rarely lose body parts to laughing.

The Meaning of Lmao

Lmao stands for laughing my ass off. Typically people use it in written conversations to show that they think something is funny.

What Does Lmk Mean?

• Lmk is an abbreviation of let me know.
• The abbreviation is used the same way the spelled-out phrase is used, but you should avoid it in formal communication.

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When you need people to get back to you with additional information about something, lmk is one of the phrases you can use to ask for it.

The Meaning of Lmk

Lmk is short for let me know. People have been using it for at least fifteen years.

Cases of Pronouns: Rules and Examples

Case refers to the form a noun or pronoun takes depending on its function in a sentence. English pronouns have three cases: subjective, objective, and possessive.

Subjective Pronouns

The subjective (or nominative) pronouns are I, you (singular), he/she/it, we, you (plural), they and who. A subjective pronoun acts as a subject in a sentence. See the sentences below for illustration:

I have a big chocolate bar.

3 Quick Tips to Make Your Cover Letters Better

Guest post from Brie Weiler Reynolds

For job seekers, making a strong first impression is crucial. With employers spending so little time screening cover letters and resumes before deciding if your application will make it to the next round, it’s imperative to use that precious space well. Your cover letter acts as an introduction between yourself and the employer. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to make customized, quality cover letters to help your application stand out.

“Dear Tooth Fairy”: Letter-writing As Magical Persons

By Laura Wallis for The Stir by CafeMom

Few things are as monumental in an elementary-school kid’s life than losing a tooth. It’s a rite of passage, and it usually means an exciting thing is about to happen: the Tooth Fairy is going to pay a visit.

Just tucking the tooth under the pillow is usually enough to get a reward in exchange, but putting it in an envelope or folded up inside a sheet of paper means it’s less likely to get lost—and that presents a great opportunity to make some fun memories.