Category Archives: news

Happy birthday, Harry Blamires!

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

Harry Blamires (b. 1916) is the oldest living usage guide writer in our HUGE database, and what is more, he has turned 99 today! Harry Blamires wrote several books on English, such as English in Education (of which I was told by … Continue reading →

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Taggart vs. Pinker: and the winner is …

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

I’d really like to be able to find out how well “our” usage guides, those in the HUGE database that is, have been selling over the years. This is confidential information, I was recently told by the firm handling the estate of … Continue reading →

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Early usage guide writer a talkshow host

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

Hardly any news if the information can be readily found on the Internet, but for me it was: Bergen Evans (1904-1978), the author of A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage (1957) together with his sister Cornelia , hosted a talkshow on language. I … Continue reading →

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Bryson in Hungary and China

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

WorldCat is a wonderful resource for our kind of work (though not always entirely reliable …). I looked up Bryson’s Troublesome Words (1984), one of “our” usage guides, to find out how popular the book was. I was trying to follow … Continue reading →

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Just out: the A2P articles on Prescriptivism

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

I’m very proud to be able to announce the first substantial publication from the Bridging the Unbridgeable project: the papers from the workshop that preceded the Leiden Prescription conference, called Attitudes to Prescriptivism (A2P), organised by Robin Straaijer, Carmen Ebner, Viktorija Kostadinova … Continue reading →

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Have went: just out

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

For Joan Beal, to commemorate her retirement, and to celebrate her wonderful research over the years! Tieken-Boon van Ostade, Ingrid and Viktorija Kostadinova (2015), Have went – an American usage problem. English Language & Linguistics 19/2, 293-312. And lots of … Continue reading →

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We need YOU …

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

… to help us get enough data by filling in the survey on flat adverbs (as in go slow rather than slowly). Our target is to have over 100 respondents, and we are not nearly half way there. So please fill in … Continue reading →

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Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Morana Lukač

Editors and language advice seem to go hand in hand. When in doubt about language matters, who better to consult than those whose job description includes improving style, formatting, and proofreading.  Mary Norris of The New Yorker has joined the … Continue reading →

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23 April: Correct-your-English Language Day

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

This blog features a Language Calendar, and it includes 23 April – English Language Day (UN). Why was 23 April chosen for this, and why have an English Language Day to begin with? As a World Language, English is important enough as it is. So … Continue reading →

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Thumbs up for IKEA!

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Ingrid Tieken

One of Simon Heffer‘s pet hates is the use of singular they: “Being a pedant,” he writes, “I regard [its use] unacceptable” (2010:110). Unacceptable or not, singular they, as Mittins et al. point out in Attitudes to English Usage (1970!), has been … Continue reading →

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