1184. This week, we look at the history of lingua francas, from the original mix of Italian, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish used during the Crusades to today's global English. Plus, we look at whether it's wrong to use "who" for animals, "that" instead of "who" for people, and "whose" for inanimate objects.

The lingua franca segment was written by Alexandra Aikhenvald, a Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow at Jawun Research Institute, CQ University in Australia. It originally ran on The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license.

AI systems confusing dog faces with blueberry muffins.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

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• Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
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• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
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1183. This week, we talk to Anna Jo Bratton about leading the committee that decides the rules for the "journalism bible." We look at how the team "pressure-tests" new rules and why the process isn't a democracy. Then we look at major updates for 2026, including the new AI chapter and the decision to make "healthcare" one word. 

58th Edition of the Associated Press Stylebook, out May 27

Join my AP Stylebook webinar, May 20, 2026.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

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• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
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• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

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1182. This week, we solve the mystery of the colon: when do you actually need to capitalize the next word? We compare AP, Chicago, and MLA styles to give you a clear answer. Then, we look at common words with surprisingly "shadowy" histories — from the sudden appearance of the word "dog" to the apocryphal origin of "quiz."

The words with no origins segment was written by Karen Lunde. Find her on igofirst.org.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1181. This week, we talk to Sarah L. Kaufman about verbs. We look at why English is a "manner verb" superpower and why babies often learn prepositions before actions. Then, we look at how choosing strong, dynamic verbs can actually save lives during a disaster and how specific words like "smash" can physically alter a witness's memory.

Find Sarah L. Kaufman at sarahlkaufman.com

Get Sarah’s books, “Verb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Art of Grace”

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

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• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1180. Why does "Ye Olde Shoppe" look old-fashioned? This week, we look at the vanished letters of English — thorn, eth, and yogh — and at why English has so many words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, such as "compact" (an agreement) and "compact" (to press together). 

The homographs segment was written by Samantha Enslen who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com.

The Old English segment was written by Karen Lunde who writes the newsletter I'll Go First. Find her on igofirst.org.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

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• Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1179. This week, we talk to Valerie Fridland, a linguist and professor who grew up in Memphis surrounded by Southern accents and now researches the history and social power of speech. We look at her new book, "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents," which explores the history of how American speech developed and how colonial settlement patterns shaped regional identities. Then we look at the decline of regional accents, the mechanics of speech sounds like "L" and "R," and the psychological impact of accent bias.

Get Valerie’s new book, "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents."

More from Valerie at valeriefridland.com

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1178. Do you cringe when someone says "Hopefully, he'll pass the test"? This week, we look at why "hopefully" as a sentence adverb has been controversial for decades, even though the Associated Press accepted it in 2012, and it's been common since the 1930s. Then, we look at xenolinguistics — the study of alien languages — asking what human languages have in common and why (and how) alien languages might be completely different.

The xenolinguistics segment was by Natalie Schilling.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1177. This week, we look at behind-the-scenes of being a curator at Harvard's Houghton Library with John Overholt. We look at why 18th-century paper is surprisingly tough, how John managed the high-stakes transport of a George Washington book, and why curators actually prefer bare hands over white gloves. This bonus discussion originally ran for Grammarpaloozians back in January.

Find John Overholt on Mastodon.

Houghton Library's website

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1176. This week, we look at mind-bending words, including "semordnilap" (which spells "palindromes" backwards), "pentasyllabic" (which has five syllables), and "hyphenated" (which is not hyphenated). Then, we tackle how to use "me" and "myself" (with an aside for "hisself," "meself," and more fun dialect words).

The "palindrome" segment was by Karen Lunde, a career writer and former Quick & Dirty Tips editor. She writes I'll Go First, a Substack where she shares personal essays and memoir, then hands you a weekly writing prompt and a metaphorical pen. Find her on igofirst.org.

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🔗 Transcript available on QuickandDirtyTips.com.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1175. In this bonus segment, which originally aired last October for Grammarpaloozians, we look at how AI is disrupting the freelance writing industry with author Suzanne Bowness. She shares her strategy for experimenting with different AI tools and the importance of being "conversant" in them for clients. We also look at the challenge of losing clients to AI but gaining new ones who were dissatisfied with the machine-generated text.

Find Suzanne on her website, Codeword Communications.

Get the book, "Feisty Freelancer."

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

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1174. This week, we look at why we pronounce "Iran" and "Iraq" differently and what those pronunciations reveal about our political beliefs. Then, we look at the "smelly" words that confuse people, including "odorous," which started out meaning "fragrant" but now mostly describes bad smells.

The "Iran" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and author of the soon-to-be-released book "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents." A version of it originally appeared in The Conversation and appears here through a Creative Commons license. And you can find Valerie at valeriefridland.com.

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🔗 Transcript available on QuickandDirtyTips.com.

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| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Castria Communications
• Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian
• Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.