Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Today’s episode is called “Since—The Same As Because? Axe if.”—because these three words—as, since, and because—can be trouble. Many people use them interchangeably to show cause, unaware of the ambiguity that can result. “As” is the biggest troublemaker of the three. Take this sentence, for...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Welcome to 2-Minute Tuesday and a QuickTake about quotation marks, with a little help from the POEtry of Poe. In Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Raven,” the raven—who is outside—comes inside when the narrator opens the chamber door. Outside or inside? That’s the question many...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Hey, everyone, I’m champing at the bit to share this QuickTake with Cate—that’s right, “champing.” But that’s not the only topic coming down the pike—that’s right, it’s “pike.” I’ve got to be kidding, right? You think I’ve just jury-rigged this episode with some made-up phrases—yep,...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Hey, everyone, Cate here. Wait—didn’t we have an episode on modifiers? We sure did. You might remember our very first QuickTake with Cate, “Is Your Modifier Squinting?” Now that our modifiers are no longer squinting—or if they are, check out that episode again—we need to...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Welcome to 2-Minute Tuesday and a QuickTake quiz with Cate. Ready? How many of the following ten abbreviations are acronyms? Two? Five? All? None? What is an acronym anyway? An acronym is a word we create from the letters of other words. Unlike other shortened...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Today’s QuickTake continues our discussion on abbreviations with a second quiz. Last time we discussed two types of abbreviations: acronyms and initialisms. An acronym is a word we create from the letters of other words, like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). An initialism is an...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Hey, everyone! Welcome to 2-Minute Tuesday and a QuickTake with Cate that has folks fighting over whose it is. Or is that who’s? When do we use apostrophes in words, and when don’t we? When is it its, and when is it it’s? When is...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Today’s QuickTake begins with a true story. A few days before Christmas, I found myself standing in a long line at the post office, waiting to mail my packages. After several minutes, the man in front of me turned to the woman in front of...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Welcome to Part 2 of prepositions. Our last QuickTake ended with a cliffhanger, right there in the post office! Was the man right? Did the post office employees need grammar lessons? Should it have been “Please turn off your cell phone,” or was the sign...
Video Transcript and Bonus Info: Welcome to 2-Minute Tuesday and another QuickTake with Cate. Imagine yourself standing in the grocery store ready to pay for your carton of eggs. The cashier looks up at you and says, “That will be 12 dollars.” “But I’m buying only one carton of eggs,”...