Before launching into the topic of this blog, I want to establish two things: 1) The sole purpose of language is communication—that is, the conveyance of meaning… Read more ““I Ain’t Got No Money,” Part Two: So Much Negativity!”

Okay, I can feel you cringing. “Ain’t” isn’t a word and “ain’t got no” is a double negative, and neither is grammatically correct, right? Not so fast,… Read more ““I Ain’t Got No Money,” Part One: “Ain’t” Ain’t a Word–or Is It?”

Pet peeve alert: It drives me crazy when I hear people refer to Shakepeare’s language as “Old” English. It is not Old English. It is not even… Read more “So You Think Shakespeare is Old English, Eh?”

When uncertain about something, Chaucer, in the 14th century, would “doute.” William the Conquerer, 300 years earlier, would “dute” or “dote.” So why do we now spell… Read more “Why is “doubt” spelled with a “b,” anyway?”