I came across a set of linguistic maps on Facebook recently. They’re maps of Canada – there are 23 of them highlighting the regional variables in the words w...

This morning I heard a politician talking about a “laundry list of spending.” It’s a funny term, laundry list. I make to-do lists and grocery lists, but I ne...

About this time every year, the Western world’s dictionaries decide what the Word of the Year is. Most notably, the Oxford Dictionary began first to identify...

Did you know, on the average web page, skimming and scanning text is common behaviour for most visitors? Users have time to read at most 28 per cent of the w...

I found this great website that collects all the mixed idioms from news sources. An idiom is a way of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a langua...

I can spot a misplaced apostrophe in a single glance. It’s my superpower. It’s an easy mistake to make, and even the most seasoned writers misplace their apo...

At first cock-crow the ghosts must go. Back to their quiet graves below. – Theodosia Garrison Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble....

Grammar is a set of rules about the structure of language. Most people are indifferent to the invisible gears that make language work. Some people love gramm...

Wordie for the Circle: Oct. 17 I thought since we go to the polls on Monday that it might be fun to take a look at words that are used in election campaigns....

Wordie for The Circle “The purpose of a plain-language approach in written communication is to convey information easily and unambiguously. It should not be ...

Wordie for The Circle Have you encountered situations where a document’s language caused more trouble than it solved? Perhaps you had to read it several time...

Wordie for The Circle: Sept. 6, 2018 Are you irrationally afraid of something? To the point that your body physically responds? Oxford English Dictionary def...