Tag Archives: usage problems

On whom/who in a Richard Osman novel again

Posted on December 15, 2025 by Ingrid Tieken

Perhaps my favourite St Nicholas present this year (ok, I also got the latest Asterix and Obelix comic, as well as the first ever Jane Austen graphic novel and lovely house socks, so hard to choose actually) was Richard Osman’s … Continue reading →

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On Richard Osman and his editors

Posted on August 4, 2024 by Ingrid Tieken

So I’ve finally read them all, all four of Richard Osman‘s The Thursday Murder Club crime novels. Not in the order in which they were published, due to their availability in our public library (so that in the end I … Continue reading →

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“The language is evolving …”

Posted on October 6, 2022 by Ingrid Tieken

I know that, but I’d still like to know what YOU think about this sentence, which I heard this summer while camping in England: “We are currently having to deal with a large volume of calls and are unable to … Continue reading →

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Interactive TeamWork survey

Posted on July 28, 2022 by BtU Admin

On 28 October 2022, TeamWork will be organising a workshop session, called “The mysteries of brackets and old grammar chestnuts”. For more information as well as to register for this event, see the TeamWork website. One of the workshops will … Continue reading →

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A very unlikely British phrase

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Ingrid Tieken

Watching the final episode of the BBC mini-series A Very British Scandal last night I was struck by the Duke of Argyll saying “This battle between you and I …”. It would have been highly unlikely for a man of … Continue reading →

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Roadkill’s scriptwriters

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Ingrid Tieken

For a paper I’m writing on the use of who/whom I’m trying to get in touch with the scriptwriters of Roadkill, a British political thriller series that was broadcast in the UK and the US towards the end of 2020 … Continue reading →

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Just out (surprise)

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Ingrid Tieken

Today, we found out that our article “Prescriptive attitudes to English” is published, that it has been out for two months already. Thanks, Carmen, for tweeting about it, or I wouldn’t have known. Still, I’m really pleased, and expect Carmen … Continue reading →

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Grammar Badgers

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Ingrid Tieken

A few weeks ago, I gave a guest lecture through Skype for students at the University of Wisconsin. Interesting experience, and fantastic students they were. Their teacher, Anja Wanner, told me they were busy preparing an outreach project (obligatory at … Continue reading →

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And then there were 4

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Carmen Ebner

After Grammar Girl’s Top 10 Grammar Myths in 2010 and the Guardian’s 10 grammar rules you can forget three years later, linguist and author Arika Okrent joins the usage problem shortlisting club with her 4 Fake Grammar Rules You Don’t … Continue reading →

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Literally, too big a fuss about nothing – the latest English Today interactive feature

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Viktorija Kostadinova

The sixth installment in the Bridging the Unbridgeable series of interactive features was published in the June 2015 issue of the English Today journal. In this feature, we ask readers to contribute to investigating the issue of the non-literal, intensifier use of … Continue reading →

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