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

Mignon Fogarty (Author)

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.

Mignon Fogarty is the creator of Grammar Girl and founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network. A technical writer and entrepreneur, she has served as an editor and producer at a number of health and science Web sites. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University. She lives in Reno, Nevada.

In 2007, Mignon Fogarty, perhaps better known as Grammar Girl, created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. Her concise lessons aim to teach, or refresh, grammar knowledge as simply as possible. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than seven million times, and Fogarty 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 for which the podcasts are known, 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. Her tips include stylistic choices, business writing, and effective e-mailing.  From “between vs. among” and “although vs. while” to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Fogarty offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules.

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is also available on CD as an unabridged audiobook, read by the author.  Please email [e-mail] for more information.

Mignon Fogarty, perhaps better known as Grammar Girl, has compiled her concise lessons aimed to teach, or refresh, grammar knowledge as simply as possible. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility for which her weekly online podcasts are known, 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. Her tips include stylistic choices, business writing, and effective e-mailing. 

“I teach English at a small high school in Orfordville, Wisconsin.  I am very impressed with the quality and ease of information on grammar at your site.”—Geri Acker

"This semester, my students are teaching grammar to one another. Rules: be correct, be creative, be interactive. We've already kicked off the journey by agreeing to use sample sentences starring Aardvark and Squiggly. (If you haven't met these characters yet, I suggest you start listening to the Grammar Girl podcast with the rest of the country.) The inclusion of mullets and eye patches into our sentences may send us right off the fun scale. I know we're in college; rest assured we've reserved plenty of time for seriousness—should the need arise. Truth be told, however, it's all about the retention triggered by vivid images and good times. Can't wait to see what Aardvark and Squiggly are up to this afternoon."—Hillary Clemens, Brigham Young University, Idaho

“My mom is a language arts teacher at a lockdown facility for middle school and high school girls who have committed felonies.  These are some really disturbed young ladies who have had really awful lives.  One of my mom's goals is to break them out of their habits of speaking 'street' all the time, and especially to never write in slang.  Her point is not to belittle colloquial speech but to impress upon these girls that there's a time and place for everything and if they want to succeed, they will need to learn to express themselves in an educated manner . . . For her birthday I gave mom your book and she loves it!  It's now part of her curriculum. She says these girls are amazed that someone can become a celebrity via good grammar and if she says, 'Grammar Girl says . . . " they sit up and listen.  She says your ideas for remembering grammar rules are terrific for these girls.”—Karen Roth, Scottsdale, Arizona

“Your book is great. It reminds me of when I first read Strunk and White. I will use it in my classroom.”—Fourth Grade Teacher, Las Vegas Public School System

“I am a special education teacher and this year I have a cluster of kids in a self contained language arts class. It is my goal to make them decent writers. Most don't know a noun from ketchup so using your memory tricks will help!”—Samantha Jenses, Phoenix Public School System (Middle School)

“I went into my high school senior son's English class for a conference. What's on the wall? The Grammar Girl article, laminated, from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.”—Barbara Nixon, Atlanta, Georgia

"While Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is true to its title, offering advice for writers for every step of the process, from generating topic ideas to effective proofreading tips, this is not merely a reference book for writers. Most of the information applies equally to our daily conversation, concisely clarifying routine language-related issues and tackling those little bits of linguistic friction that rub us the wrong way, or perhaps should rub us the wrong way. Language is an interactive art, and Fogarty’s strength is her simple engagement: Her explanations sound like the urgings of a kind coworker who wants you to stop sabotaging your career by using 'then' when you mean 'than', the gentle guidance of a friend who understands the intricacies of where the comma goes in relation to quotation marks and parentheses. Her tone is easy and informative, which will be a relief to anyone who associates 'proper English' with condescending know-it-alls who think that knowledge of 'whom' separates the learned from the layperson. Best of all, she writes with enthusiasm, sometimes sounding like she’s settling a bet rather than disseminating knowledge. Fogarty’s writing style seems to be influenced by the podcast format: Because many of her topics come from letters from listeners, her responses are always focused on a real and active audience. There isn’t any sense that she is simply explaining the rules; she seems to genuinely want her audience to learn. This is not your father’s grammar book: Fogarty speaks to a 21st century audience, her short pieces steeped with modern pop culture references and a bit of retro fun: She uses Star Trek’s 'Borg' as an example of a singular collective noun (the Borg, she explains, are a sect with no sense of individuality, acting always as a collective); she calls out lessons from seminal language resource Schoolhouse Rocks (an underappreciated educational influence from a generation ago), and name drops Coldplay and the Black Eyed Peas when discussing whether band names are singular or plural. The subject matter isn’t new—the crux of every clarification Fogarty offers has surely been covered by another volume in the reference section of the book store—but considering how the same issues remain (e.g., the consistent confusion about when to use me, myself, or I), further tutelage is apparently necessary. Included in this volume are clear explanations of many common day-to-day usage questions, from the proper response to the simple question, 'How are you?' (She thoroughly explains the reason that 'I’m good' is every bit as acceptable as 'I’m well') to helpful mnemonic tricks for remembering commonly confused items ('i.e.' means 'in other words', and both begin with 'i'; 'e.g.' means 'example', both start with 'e'.) . . . Fogarty’s success with the podcast, and the value of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, is her ability to effectively communicate the essential information in a way that holds the reader’s attention long enough to set the record straight without causing involuntary flashbacks to the tedium of junior high English classes. Whether you are a grammar-phobe seeking guidance, a parent looking for a tutorial that your kids will enjoy (and theref...

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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 (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #81 in	Books > Nonfiction > Education > Reference
  #9 in	Books > Reference > Words & Language > Grammar
  #23 in	Books > Reference > Writing > Writing Skills

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 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)

This review is from: Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Quick & Dirty Tips) (Paperback)

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.

29 of 29 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)

This review is from: Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Quick & Dirty Tips) (Paperback)

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.

8 of 8 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)

This review is from: Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Quick & Dirty Tips) (Paperback)

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.