Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Paperback)

~ (Author) "EVEN THOUGH MY SHOW is called "Grammar Girl," the secret is that it's not usually grammar that confounds peopleit's usage..." (more)
Key Phrases: national highway system, sentence with hopefully, dirty tip, Grammar Girl, Dirty Words, Punch Up Your Punctuation (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Are you a fool for mnemonics? If so, you'll fall head over nubucks for Mignon Fogarty--a.k.a. the Grammar Girl--and her handy new audio guide to writing and speaking well. It’s chock-full of smart little anecdotes and memory tricks for felling the most common grammatical foes (who can ever remember the difference between "nauseous" and "nauseated" anyway?) and at just an hour long it's the perfect turn-to resource for students and professionals alike. I didn't try too hard to stump Grammar Girl in our Q&A, but with her eagle eyes she spotted my grammatical (typographical?) misstep without missing a beat! --Anne Bartholomew

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Questions for the Grammar Girl

Amazon.com: Now that we communicate so often via e-mail and text messaging, do you think that people have become more desensitized to poor grammar, or in your experience is awareness more heightened as a result?

Grammar Girl: The average person seems to have become more desensitized to poor grammar, but language lovers seem to be tormented by the flood of mutilated e-mail and text messages—at least a lot of the people I hear from seem to be tormented. It might be a self-selecting group. To use one of my father's favorite phrases, language lovers seem to feel as though they are "being pecked to death by a duck."

Amazon.com: Your weekly podcast helps millions of listeners use good grammar and write more effectively. Do you think there is more value in learning by listening, as compared to reading and practical exercise?

Grammar Girl: Perhaps it's ironic, but I have a hard time learning by just listening. I need to read things, which is one of the reasons why I provide full transcripts for all my audio podcasts on the Grammar Girl Web site. People learn in different ways, so those who want to listen can listen, and those who want to read can read.

In my experience, nothing beats practical exercise. I often have to look up grammar rules over and over again because I can't remember them, but once I've written a show about a rule, I always remember it.

Amazon.com: Have the grammar mnemonics you've developed come easily to you? Which ones were the toughest to capture in an easy-to-remember tip?

Grammar Girl: Some mnemonics come easily and some don't. I had a hard time coming up with a way for people to remember the difference between "its" and "it's," and I ended up using a really complicated story about a dream I had involving the eBay "it" advertising campaign.

I think the best mnemonics are the simple ones. Remembering that you should say "different from" instead of "different than" because "different" has two f's and "from" starts with an f isn't awfully creative, but it's easy to remember.

Amazon.com: Is there a grammar rule that even Grammar Girl finds it hard to remember?

Grammar Girl: There are so many that it's hard to pick just one! I have a notoriously terrible memory, which is why I'm always making up mnemonics.

Often I find that when I can't remember something it's because it is a style issue instead of a hard-and-fast rule, so different people do it differently and there is no "right" answer. For example, I always have to look up the rules about whether the verb should be singular or plural after collective nouns like "team" and phrases like "the couple" and "one of the people who."

But when I look up the rule for collective nouns, I am reminded that the "rule" is that you have to just decide whether your collective noun has a sense of being a group or a sense of being many individuals. (And then there are also differences between British and American English.)

It's even worse with a phrase like "one of the people who": experts are split over whether the verb should be singular or plural. There really isn't an answer; you just have to pick a side. I have a hard time making a mnemonic for something like that!

Amazon.com: It used to be that proper grammar and thoughtful wording were the defining factors of a good piece of writing. Increasingly, however, writing is prized for the speed with which it is produced and not necessarily the craft. How can conscientious writers find the happy medium between form and efficiency?

Grammar Girl: What, didn't I answer your questions fast enough?

But seriously, I don't think I've come in contact with the people who value speed. As a Web editor, I certainly wasn't happy when people turned in bad writing, even if they turned it in early. And when I was writing magazine articles or corporate materials for a living I never felt rushed (except when I waited too long to get started).

The places where I do feel a sense of urgency are in e-mail and messaging; people seem to expect immediate responses. But writing a high-quality message doesn't take much more time than writing a careless message; it just takes more focus.

Amazon.com: Bonus question: I wrote all these questions with no more than a cursory grammar and spelling check. How did I do?

Grammar Girl: I found only one major error, and I changed the text to bold. It looked like a typo rather than an error in your understanding of the rules. Good job!

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Product Description

Online sensation Grammar Girl makes grammar fun and easy in this New York Times bestseller

Are you stumped by split infinitives? Terrified of using “who” when a “whom” is called for? Do you avoid the words “affect” and “effect” altogether?

Grammar Girl is here to help!

Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar—but she’s also determined to make the process as painless as possible. A couple of years ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than twenty million times, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. From “between vs. among” and “although vs. while” to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Mignon offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Chock-full of tips on style, business writing, and effective e-mailing, Grammar Girl’s print debut deserves a spot on every communicator’s desk.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1st Holt Pbk. Ed edition (July 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805088318
• ISBN-13: 978-0805088311
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,253 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a good book even if you don't listen to the podcast, July 16, 2008

By	Ronald King (Shawnee, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I didn't have expectations about this book from the podcast because I only discovered Grammar Girl a few days before the book was released. I like books about usage, and I enjoyed this one. It's organized in chapters of related usage problems and the rules for the most frequent cases. For many issues, the book gives not only the right way to do it, but demonstrates common wrong ways too, and clearly labels them so you won't pick up the wrong way if you're skimming. Many of the entries include memory devices to help you remember what to do next time.

The drawings and examples were cute, but sometimes the references to Squiggly and Aardvark felt like inside jokes, but fortunately not to the point where I felt like the joke was on me. I didn't know if there were personalities for the characters that would have given me a deeper understanding of the examples they demonstrated, or if they were just generic illustrations.

The voice is consistent, and the delivery is short and sweet, or as the author puts it, quick and dirty. Nothing is belabored that shouldn't be, but each issue is adequately covered for most situations. If an item is controversial, the book mentions the controversy and gives an overview of the major arguments. Matters of style are also identified, even if the author has a strong preference for a particular way.

The last chapter, "Work It," is an unusual chapter for a usage book, and especially valuable. It gives writer-oriented tips for interviewing people, generating ideas, fighting writer's block, and proofreading. Some of the tips it gives are excellent, and in the right situation, may make the difference between success and failure. I would love to see that chapter expanded into a book of its own.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than Mere Grammar, July 19, 2008

By	K. L. Cummings (Clearfield, Utah) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Who needs another book on grammar?

Well, to be candid, most of us. We all struggle with the usual problems like lie vs. lay, affect vs. effect, and where to insert commas. In terms of these basic grammar questions, Mignon delivers the goods. In the guise of Grammar Girl she provides simple, memorable lessons in ... well ... grammar.

The book is more than just a grammar guide. Go back and read the full title. Go ahead. I'll wait.

You see the part that says "For Better Writing"? That's the real meat of this book. Mignon isn't some dusty academic who wants to put you in your place and make you feel inferior when you misuse a semi-colon. She's a talented writer who wants to help you improve your writing. Tucked in among the tips are dozens of ways to make your writing stronger and more engaging. She even covers writing for blogs and Twitter.

Last century we had Strunk and White as guides. This century we have Mignon.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible help for the grammar and usage impaired!, July 10, 2008

By	Christopher Patti "blind but not dumb" (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For what it's worth I definitely consider myself to be in ongoing need of exactly this kind of assistance!

I've enjoyed the Grammar Girl podcast since its early days and was quite pleased to find the exact same kind of approachable, easy to digest help in er new book!

The tips are clear and concise, effectively driving home the point at hand.

Now that we have the book, I can spread the word to the people in my life who will most likely never hear the podcast.