Talking About Words

  1. Finding words

    While Anne Curzan is on hiatus, MT “resurfaces” an oldie-but-goodie from the late Richard Bailey.

  2. Under the radar

    How shall we handle the subtle and undetected changes in English? Anne Curzan knows.

  3. Silent consonants

    Why is there a “g” in “gnat” and a “k” in knife? And what the heck does “hnecca” mean? Anne Curzan knows.

  4. Why comprise is complicated

    You say comprise, I say compose. Linguist Anne Curzan says we’re both right. Right?

  5. Dead words

    Linguist Anne Curzan goes back in time to commune with werewolves and midwives.

  6. Literally vs. figuratively

    Linguist Anne Curzan explains why we should not fear for the future English.

  7. Apostrophe catastrophe

    Why are “its” and “it’s” so often misused? Anne Curzan explores the big confusion regarding such a tiny punctuation mark.

  8. Conjunction junction

    Anne Curzan knows linguistics. And she says it’s OK to open a sentence with “and.”

  9. Is that a bluebird or just a blue bird?

    Linguist Anne Curzan dissects the mysterious species known as the compound word.

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