Mignon fogarty is the author of grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students. Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation. Some people prefer to write okay, because it looks more like a word and allows. Reflexive pronounsmyself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, ourselves, yourself, yourselvesshould be used only when they refer back to another word in the sentence. Note the apostrophe as recommended by ap stylebook. Grammar girl s, quick and dirty tips is really a condensed, audio version of the elements of style, excluding the section, in the elements of style on the approach to style. Okay, ok english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. Though it is not as detailed as strunk and whites excellent work, and should not be considered a replacement for it, it is a worthy addition to it. Okay is listed as a variant spelling of ok in my local dictionary. For example, the oxford english dictionary oed notes that a knave girl was a boy. What is the fine line difference between perspicacity and persicuity. Here are nine rules from the ap stylebook that you might never know unless you looked them up. According to the chicago manual of style cmos, writers goto guru of all things style, either ok or okay is acceptable, just be consistent.
Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing book. The variant of okay is just how one would spell a word with the same pronunciation. One of the most famous examples of a split infinitive is in the introduction of the original star trek tv series. There werent a whole lot of actual writing tips, with the exception of a short chapter near. If you dont need to adhere to a specific style, you can choose between the two. Ive looked at chicago manual online, which directs me to merriam webster for the spelling ok, but across the internet sources like grammar girl are confidently stating that chicago manual of style recommends okay. Okay and ok are two acceptable spellings of the same word. Grammar and punctuation the blue book of grammar and.
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 wordchoice guidelines that can confound. Spellings of ok ok was originally spelled with periods, looking like this. Mignon fogarty is the author of grammar girl presents the ultimate writing. Answers to writing questions grammar gotham writers. Grammar girls 101 troublesome words youll master in no time by. If you look it up in the dictionary, you will see either ok and okay listed as correct spellings of the word or all three versions. Possessives of nouns ending in s grammar underground. How to reference books and articles in text grammar and. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. Grammar girl offers language and usage instruction through the quick and dirty tips network of sites.
How the word ok was invented 175 years ago smart news. What is the difference between ok and okay todd parr. Clear explanations of natural written and spoken english. The origin of ok ok was born in america in the 1830s. Anyway discourse markers so, right, okay in fact okay, ok. Chicago style for my books, but to honor the words origins, i insist on ok instead of okay. Most people regularly write stuff like we went to jamess house without stopping to think whether it should be james house. Okay is better, and is the only way to write it if you mean the verb to approve or the noun meaning approval in contexts like please reivew this and give me your okay. This is a site concerning grammar, which includes spelling, sentence structure. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better.
Bottom line, grammar girl s 101 troublesome words youll master in no time is not only an educational read, but it is a fun read. In formal writing, follow the requirements of your style guide. The examples given from some of my favorite books, movies and television shows really accentuated the lessons that she was trying to teach. Grammar girls 101 troublesome words youll master in no. Ok is more common in edited writing, but okay appears about a third of the time. How to call someone girl without seeming sexist the. There were a few times that i disagreed with her conclusions in this book for example, when she says its okay to use the word. Im terrible at grammar, ok maybe more than terrible, appalling. Buy our book smashing grammar 2019 written by the founder of grammar monster, smashing grammar includes a glossary of grammar essentials from apostrophes to zeugma and a.
Ok is okay and vice versa for authors the fussy librarian. You shudder at a split infinitive, know when to use that or which and would never confuse less with fewer but are these rules always right, elegant or sensible, asks linguist steven pinker. Itd sound ridiculous and too formal to say, on what did you step. Its like saying ok, fine, just leave me alone now ok kinda ambivalent. Whenever i listen to her podcast, scan her blog, or read her book, i always pick up new insight into grammar. Grammar girl ultimate writing guide grammar girl download b ok. Grammar expert mignon fogarty or grammar girl, passionately supports the form ok. Grammar girl ultimate writing guide grammar girl download. Grammar girl uses the example of, what did you step on.
What follow are 10 common issues of grammar selected from those that repeatedly turn up in style guides, petpeeve lists, newspaper language columns and irate letters to the editor. The older term, ok, possibly derived from an abbreviation for an intentional misspelling of all. New grammar girl book, 101 troublesome words, tackles everything from hopefully to ok vs. Since becoming grammar girl six years ago, ive gradually come to the.
Also, fogarty is okay with using their as a singular pronoun instead of his or her. Today, it is more common to see it spelled as ok without the periods and okay. Ok first appeared as an abbreviation for oll korrect, printed in a satirical article about grammar, the economist continues. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. A comprehensive guide for every writer, editor, student, and business person by june casagrande maybe it isnt the best book on punctuation, but casagrandes book is a conversational entry point to understanding grammar. Divisions of books volume 3, chapter 4, page 189 divisions of plays act 3. When texting mainly to girls what is the difference. Home page for english grammar today on cambridge dictionary. Grammar girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar. My heroine, grammar girl, wrote up an article about this topic that covers most of the bases. Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to mignon fogarty, aka grammar girl, whose toprated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 40 million times.
If its only this word in reply, i think its dismissive and rude. My children also use ok, i never taught them but they read a lot of books so they. Much like the text messaging abbreviations of today, ok was an abbreviation for a funny misspelling of all correct. This rule is mostly considered a myth by most grammarians. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips to clean up your. The examples given from some of my favorite books, movies and television. Im a copy editor who reads grammar girls books regularly and many other. By mignon fogarty, grammar girl september 19, 2011 people often assume that its tough to be my copy editor, but the truth is that im pretty easygoing. In casual use, ok is acceptable as an interjection. A more accurate title would probably be grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better grammar. I suggested it to my english teacher at the time and we ended up reading it in the book. Since discovering grammar girl, ive acquired plenty of fresh knowledge about grammar, some of which ive shared here in the writing forward grammar posts. 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 wordchoice guidelines that.
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