Language and its history
Where English, its spelling and its punctuation came from, and the stories behind the rules.
The rules a marker applies were made by people, at particular times, for particular reasons: printers settling spellings, dictionary makers choosing between forms, style guides deciding where a comma goes. Knowing where a rule came from is the quickest way to know how firm it is.
These guides tell those stories from the records themselves: the dictionaries, the printers' and editors' own words, and the histories written from them. Where a popular story cannot be traced, the guide says so rather than repeating it.
31 guides
October 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Dialects in academic writing: standard and non-standard English
Can I use my dialect in academic writing, and what do linguists and style guides say about standard and non-standard English?
What linguists, the CCCC, APA, MLA and Chicago say about dialects and standard English, when your own variety fits an essay, and how to name one.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
October 3, 2026 · 13 min read
Famous misprints in history, from the 1631 Wicked Bible
What are the most famous misprints in history, and what was the Wicked Bible?
The 1631 Wicked Bible and other documented misprints, from court records and library catalogues, with errata slips and how to cite the edition you read.
Everyone
October 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Modern Standard Arabic vs dialects: fusha, ammiya and Arabizi
Which Arabic is written, Modern Standard Arabic or the dialects, and how do I cite and transliterate a source written in a dialect?
Where Modern Standard Arabic and the dialects are each written, from Ferguson's diglossia to Arabizi, and how to cite and transliterate a dialect source.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
October 3, 2026 · 13 min read
Noah Webster and American spelling: why color has no u
Why do Americans spell color without a u, and which spellings did Noah Webster change?
Why Americans spell color without a u: Noah Webster's blue-backed speller, his 1806 and 1828 dictionaries, the reforms that failed, and what essays ask now.
Everyone
October 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Phonetic transcription and the IPA in academic writing
How do I use phonetic transcription and the IPA in an academic paper?
When to use broad or narrow IPA transcription, which Unicode fonts show every symbol, and how to cite and credit the IPA chart in a paper.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
October 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Plain English movements: the Campaign, the Act, the research
How did the plain English movement start, what did the Plain English Campaign and the Plain Writing Act change, and does plain language work?
How the Plain English Campaign began in 1979, how the US Plain Writing Act of 2010 passed, and what research on readability and plain language shows.
Everyone
October 3, 2026 · 13 min read
The dictionary that invented a word: dord and other ghost words
What is the ghost word dord, and which other words did dictionaries invent by mistake?
How dord got into Webster's 1934 dictionary, the ghost words the OED listed as spurious, and fake words planted on purpose, from the dictionaries' own records.
Everyone
October 3, 2026 · 12 min read
The longest word in English, and other word records
What is the longest word in English, and which other word records do the dictionaries confirm?
The longest word in English as the dictionaries record it, from 45 letters to 189,819, with the most meanings, place names and Guinness word records.
Everyone
October 3, 2026 · 12 min read
Why English is the language of science: history and data
Why is English the language of science, and when did it replace Latin, German and French?
How Latin, German and French gave way to English in science, what the publication data show, what English costs non-native writers, and who requires it.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 12 min read
A history of the em dash: typesetters, Sterne and Dickinson
Where did the em dash come from, and how is it different from the en dash and the hyphen?
The em dash from 1588 playbooks and typesetters to Sterne and Dickinson, and how Chicago, APA, AP, Oxford and the Guardian set em, en and hyphen today.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 12 min read
Apostrophe rules, the grocer's apostrophe and its defenders
What are the apostrophe rules, and what is the grocer's apostrophe?
Apostrophe rules from APA, MLA, Chicago and the Guardian, the grocer's apostrophe, the Apostrophe Protection Society and councils removing it from street signs.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
Does literally mean figuratively? What the dictionaries changed
Does literally now mean figuratively, and when did the dictionaries change it?
What Merriam-Webster, the OED, Cambridge and Collins say about literally, when each recorded the intensifier, the 2013 uproar, and what an essay should do.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
E-mail or email? The hyphen and the hyphenation wars
Is it e-mail or email, and when should compound words take a hyphen?
Why AP dropped the hyphen from e-mail in 2011, the 16,000 hyphens the Shorter Oxford cut in 2007, and the APA, Chicago and Oxford rules for compound adjectives.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
Footnote symbols in order: asterisk, dagger and double dagger
What is the order of footnote symbols, and where did the asterisk, dagger and double dagger come from?
The traditional order of footnote symbols, where the asterisk, dagger and double dagger came from, what they mean in papers and tables, and their Unicode points.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
History of quotation marks: from the diple to curly quotes
Where do quotation marks come from, and why are there single, double, curly and straight quotes and guillemets?
How the diple became the quotation mark, why British and American printers chose different marks, guillemets abroad, and curly vs straight quotes in Unicode.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
History of the semicolon: who invented it and how to use it
Who invented the semicolon, and how should you use one today?
Who invented the semicolon, how it reached English, what Vonnegut, Orwell and its friends said, and where APA, MLA, Chicago and Vancouver put it today.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
How printing fixed English spelling, from Caxton to Johnson
How did printing affect English spelling, and did William Caxton fix it?
How printing affected English spelling: Caxton's Westminster press of 1476, the eggs passage, the h in ghost, the Chancery Standard and what waited until 1755.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
The ampersand: its history, name and when to use & in APA
Where did the ampersand come from, why is it called an ampersand, and when do you use & in APA and other citation styles?
Where the & came from, why it is called an ampersand, whether it was the 27th letter, and when APA, Harvard and MLA write & or and.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 12 min read
The pilcrow (¶): the paragraph symbol's meaning and history
What is the pilcrow (¶), where did the paragraph symbol come from, and how is it used today?
Where the pilcrow (¶) came from, how blank spaces may have become the indent, how to show it in Word and Google Docs, and citing with para. or par.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 12 min read
What is an interrobang? Who invented it and how to type it
What is an interrobang, who invented it, and how do you type one?
Who invented the interrobang (‽) in 1962, the typefaces and typewriters that carried it, how to type U+203D, and what style guides say about ?! today.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 13 min read
Who invented the question mark? Origin, myths and the Spanish ¿
Who invented the question mark, and where did it come from?
Who invented the question mark: the punctus interrogativus, Alcuin and Godescalc, the cat and quaestio legends, the Spanish ¿, Greek and Arabic marks, APA and MLA.
Everyone
October 2, 2026 · 12 min read
Words Shakespeare invented, and what the OED now records
How many words did Shakespeare invent, and did he really invent them?
Where the 1,700 figure for words Shakespeare invented comes from, what the OED and searches of early printed books now show, and 12 words and phrases checked.
Everyone
September 26, 2026 · 12 min read
British or American English in academic writing: which to use
Should I use British or American English in my essay?
British vs American spelling, Oxford spelling and -ise or -ize, quotation marks, dates, what APA, MLA, Chicago and journals ask, and how to keep one variety.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
September 26, 2026 · 13 min read
Latin abbreviations in academic writing: e.g., i.e., et al., cf.
What do e.g., i.e., etc., et al., cf., viz. and other Latin abbreviations mean, and how do APA, MLA and Chicago want them written?
What e.g., i.e., etc., et al., cf., viz., vs. and ca. mean, and how APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver set each one, with common mistakes.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
September 26, 2026 · 13 min read
Samuel Johnson's dictionary of 1755 and its famous definitions
What was Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, how long did it take, and what were its famous definitions?
Johnson's Dictionary of 1755: the contract, the helpers, the numbers, its famous definitions read in the first edition, whether it came first, and how to cite it.
Everyone
September 26, 2026 · 13 min read
The Great Vowel Shift explained, with examples and dates
What was the Great Vowel Shift, when did it happen, and why is English spelling not phonetic?
What the Great Vowel Shift changed, word by word, the dates linguists give and dispute, why spelling stayed behind, and what happened in Scots and the north.
Everyone
September 26, 2026 · 12 min read
When to write numbers in words: APA, MLA, Chicago, UK, IEEE
When should I write numbers in words and when in figures in APA, MLA, Chicago, British and IEEE style?
When to write numbers in words or figures in APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, GOV.UK and IEEE: the thresholds, exceptions, percentages, decimals, dates and money.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
September 26, 2026 · 12 min read
Why is English spelling so weird? Silent letters and ghoti
Why is English spelling so weird, with silent letters like the k in knight?
Why English spelling is so weird: Norman scribes, Caxton's printers, silent letters, the b in debt, loanwords, failed spelling reform, and where ghoti really began.
Everyone
September 26, 2026 · 13 min read
World Englishes in academic writing: Indian, Nigerian and others
Can I use Indian, Nigerian or Singapore English in academic writing?
What world Englishes are, which spelling journals in India, Nigeria, Singapore, Pakistan, Kenya and the Philippines ask for, and how to keep one variety.
UndergraduatePostgraduate
September 24, 2026 · 13 min read
How the Oxford English Dictionary was made by volunteer readers
How was the Oxford English Dictionary made, and who were its volunteer readers?
How volunteer readers built the Oxford English Dictionary on slips of paper, what is documented about W. C. Minor, and how to cite an OED entry today.
Everyone
September 23, 2026 · 13 min read
A short history of the English language, period by period
What is the history of the English language, from Old English to today?
Old, Middle, Early Modern and Modern English, with a documented line from each period, the languages that shaped English and how to cite its history.
Everyone