Author Archives: Ingrid Tieken

New writer for the blog

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

I’m very pleased to be able to introduce a new member of our team of blog writers: Adrian Stenton. Adrian was the copy-editor of my book The Bishop’s Grammar (OUP, 2011), with which he did a really great job. After that, he weas one … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Stephen Fry telling off his guests

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

Here is Joachim van Gelder’s first “Testing Prescriptivism” blogpost: Stephen Fry has hosted – with generous helpings of his usual charm and panache – the annual British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards ceremony for the past 11 … Continue reading →

Posted in usage features | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Commonest. Common or not?

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

And here is Madeleine Ibes’s first blog post: Whilst doing my weekly reading for the course Testing Prescriptivism, I stumbled across a term I had never heard before. The book I was reading was a study done by Mittins et al., … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden, usage features | Tagged | 3 Comments

Ashamed of your English?

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

If you are, and even if you are not, you might like to attend our monthly lunch lecture on Friday 22 April. Our speaker this time will be Harry Ritchie, the author of English for the Natives (2013). We’re delighted … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged | Leave a comment

Si volet usus

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

Here is Sara Sánchez-Molina Santos’s first blogpost: Grammatical rules change si volet usus (“if it be the will of custom”, according to Horace, in his Ars Poetica, c.  19 BC). This is what the Spanish Royal Academy says in the prologue to their … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The -isms around the prescriptiv- …

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

… and how they are (almost) non-apparent in Dutch Here is Merijn Kooijman’s first blogpost: Although no prescriptivist will probably ever admit this, prescriptivism is often just a cog in the machine. Obtaining perfect linguistic purity always seems to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Horrible Words

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

is the title of Rebecca Gowers’s new book, subtitled “A Guide to the Misuse of English”. It is coming out this Thursday, but for those of you who can’t wait, read all about it in The Guardian Online. (With thanks to … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Literally and figuratively

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

The use of literally has been a frequent topic on this blog. Here is another contribution, from my MA student Iméne Walles, this time on Dutch. The opposite of literally is figuratively. Of a sentence one could say ‘I meant … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Sticking up for the “sticklers”

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

Ina Huttenga is the next student from the MA course Testing Prescriptivism to present her first blog post: What I have here in my bookcase is The Wadsworth Handbook, a manual for students about writing. I use it mainly for citing … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden | 4 Comments

Prescriptivism in the classroom

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Ingrid Tieken

Boudewijn Steenhof, another student in my Testing Prescriptivism course, is a teacher, and combines his two interests in the post below. From my perspective, the course Testing Prescriptivism I’m following this semester has an extra layer. Being a teacher, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in MA Leiden | Leave a comment