Why is the word scissors plural, and how did we fall into the habit of calling it “a pair of scissors” and then end up clumsily calling it “a scissors”?
Fully conscious
Togetherness
OK, I give up—how do you know when to use 'altogether' and 'all together'?
To E or not to E
Italic otherness
Why do English-language style guides tell us to italicize words in other languages when they appear in English running text?
Uppercase parents
Can you please explain, in terms that a gerbil could understand, when to capitalize Dad and Mum, and when not to, and why?
Wait—white what?
Is there a new meaning of the term 'white elephant'?
Editing on the side
Is it a good idea to finance a writing career by doing freelance editing?
Humour us
Why oh why do we Canadians spell 'humour' with a 'u', but 'humorous' without the 'u'?
Hard art
May I say more about the anguish of writing?
Guten tag, Jerry
Is “jerry-built” an insult to people of German descent?
Pre-washed before
In the world of lettuce packaging, what's the difference between “washed” and “pre-washed”?
The reverential pronoun
Is it necessary to capitalize “he,” “his” and so on when referring to God?
Beginner's luck?
Why would a publisher sign up an unknown novelist's first book and say no thanks to an experienced writer's second book?
Inelegance
Is it usual for an editor to change a writer's text so that some words are repeated severaltimes?
