iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 6h

I guessed "STBX" meant "Starbucks," but I was wrong! It's one of 5,900 new @dictionarycom words (it means "soon-to-be ex"). This week, I talk with lexicographer Steve Johnson about what made the cut, including "padawan," "throw hands," and more. 🎧 APPLE: buff.ly/GIpkmWX ▶️ YOUTUBE: buff.ly/RbBqBAA

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Ben Zimmer @benzimmer.bsky.social · 19h

I spoke to @vulture.com about the nerdy pastime of "gridspotting," tracking down the provenance of crosswords in movies and TV shows.

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Brian G. aka urbanbohemian 🪩🥂💖 @urbanbohemian.com · 30/09/2026

We're on Bluesky, put the link in your post. Put the link in your post. Put. The. Link. In. Your. Post. Links in posts aren't buried or de-prioritized here. This is one of the last platforms you don't have to make interested users do detective work to find the link. Just put it in the post.

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The Bibliographical Society @bibsoc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

2026 is the 550th anniversary of England's first printer, William Caxton, establishing his printing press in Westminster, London. To celebrate, the Bibliographical Society is hosting a series of videos from libraries in the UK and around the world introducing viewers to items printed by Caxton ...

youtube.com

Caxton 550 - YouTube

2026 is the 550th anniversary of England's first printer, William Caxton, establishing his printing press in Westminster, London. To celebrate, the Bibliogra...

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

We apologize to our phones and threaten our printers, so maybe it's no surprise that we call ships "she," but why do we do it even when they're named Hercules or Henry? We look at the theories in this week's show! APPLE: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w... SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/episode/3yo7...

A thumbnail featuring a smiling woman with long brown hair on the left side, who is pointing her index finger toward the center of the frame. In the background, a large white cruise ship sails on the ocean under a cloudy sunset sky. A bright pink ribbon bow is digitally superimposed near the upper right section of the ship. Overlaid across the center of the ship's hull is the word "'She'" in a large, white serif font. In the top right corner, the title "GRAMMAR GIRL" is displayed in a bold, stylized white and teal font.

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Ben Zimmer @benzimmer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Come join the livestream for the Grammarpalooza Game Show, celebrating 20 years of @grammargirl.bsky.social's podcast! Thurs. 9/24 at 8 pm EST, w/ @emilymoyers.bsky.social + Kyle Imperatore + me vs. @jesszafarris.com + @valeriefridland.bsky.social + Gabe Henry. www.quickanddirtytips.com/ggliveevent/

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Sarah Terry @spellegance.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Sometimes typos are too brilliant to resist sharing. #AmEditing and so far I've had some absolute gold on this job: - barley a year in - pouring over a map - string of peals - gold or sliver and my favourite: - the library filled with scared books #SpellcheckCannotSaveYou

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Jess Zafarris @jesszafarris.com · 23/09/2026

I'm joining Mignon Fogarty on the @grammargirl.bsky.social podcast livestream to celebrate her 20th year of podcasting, and I'd love for you to join the party! It's free, live, interactive, and includes book giveaways. Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. EST Deets: www.quickanddirtytips.com/ggliveevent/

quickanddirtytips.com

Twenty Years of Grammar Girl, and You Are Invited! - Quick and Dirty Tips

Grammar Girl Live Game Show! Grammar Girl is celebrating 20 years of the podcast with a free live word-game show, hosted by Mignon! The live-streamed, interactive party will include you, your favorite...

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

There should be more songs about how nice it is to go to sleep.

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Ben Zimmer @benzimmer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Looking forward to taking part in @grammargirl.bsky.social's Grammarpalooza Game Show, celebrating 20 years of the Grammar Girl podcast. Let's go, Cruciverbal Crusaders! (w/ @emilymoyers.bsky.social & Kyle Imperatore of the Butter No Parsnips pod)

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Oh no! We're taunting you with typos — but that's just the beginning of the challenges and the fun you'll have at Grammarpalooza — The Game Show, live-streaming Sept. 24 at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET. Mark your calendar! And RSVP for a little extra treat. www.quickanddirtytips.com/ggliveevent/

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🟠 Grammarpaloozians — this one's for you. RSVP for my upcoming live-streamed game show before Sept. 17, and you can write a question for the show! If yours makes the cut, I'll read it live and give you a shout-out on air. RSVP: www.quickanddirtytips.com/ggliveevent/

A pop-art styled promotional graphic with a red and orange halftone dot background celebrating the Grammar Girl 20th Anniversary. At the top, teal badges display white text reading "GRAMMAR GIRL" next to white text reading "20th Anniversary." A yellow banner across the middle reads "Grammarpaloozians!" in bold black font, above large white text that asks "Want to participate LIVE in the game show?" At the bottom, a teal rounded box with a black border displays "THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 | 5pm PT | 8pm ET."

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Do you like words? Do you like games? To celebrate 20 years of Grammar Girl, I'm hosting a live game show with some of my favorite language lovers and past guests. We'll play with foreign idioms, fake definitions, and more. 🥳 Mark your calendar for the livestream Sept. 24, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.

A vibrant promotional image featuring a red and orange halftone dot background. At the top, teal badges display white block text reading "GRAMMAR GIRL" next to white text that says "20th Anniversary." A large yellow banner in the middle contains bold blue text reading "RSVP NOW FOR FREE DIGITAL CONTENT FROM MIGNON!" At the bottom, a teal rounded button with a black border reads "THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 | 5pm PT | 8pm ET."

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Chris Brody @chrisbrody.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

3-y.o. has interpreted the “lemon” from “easy peasy lemon squeezy” as an all-purpose intensifier. If something hurts: “Owie” If something *really* hurts: “Owie owie lemon owie”

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

@darylwriterguy.bsky.social I just finished the audiobook of WHEN WE WERE REAL and absolutely loved it! Great story; great writing; and although it wasn't the *reason* I loved the book, I was especially delighted to hear the "Ruby Tuesday" familect in the "The Nurse Chooses Her Medicine" chapter.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I'm having to answer "spam likely" calls today because we're expecting a repairman, and ... ugh! What a pain.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I had a dentist appointment first thing this morning that just got canceled because the hygenist called in sick, and I am THRILLED. Thank you!!! Stay home when you are sick. Don't make other people sick.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I’ve been meaning to post about a funny author-scam email I received a few weeks ago, and now I see I was not alone. Someone emailed with effusive praise wanting to make <checks notes> THE GRAMMAR DAILY into a movie (lol). writerbeware.blog/2026/08/28/p...

writerbeware.blog

Production Companies, Literary Agents, Foreign Languages: AI-Driven Scams Continue to Morph - Writer Beware

When I first began reporting on the aggressive AI-driven email scams that have been plaguing the Inboxes of authors everywhere for well over a year now, they were limited to marketing scams offering s...

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The clouds finally broke, and I saw the eclipse!

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Kory Stamper @korystamper.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Come for the dictionary nerd talk, stay for the EXPLOSIONS!

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Color and dictionary history is wild! I had a blast talking with @korystamper.bsky.social in today's episode, and not just because I learned that TNT was once used as a yellow dye. Check out our whole conversation about her fabulous book, TRUE COLOR. pod.link/173429229

At the top left, large white bold text framed in teal outlines reads "NEW EPISODE" above "EP #1215". To the top right, a teal oval badge displays the word "INTERVIEW" in white text.

The lower portion of the image features headshots of two women side by side:

Left: Mignon Fogarty smiling warmly, labeled below in a teal box as "GRAMMAR GIRL with Mignon Fogarty".

Right: Kory Stamper wearing glasses, a patterned sleeveless shirt, and short purple hair, labeled below in a teal box as "KORY STAMPER".

The background is an orange-and-yellow polka dot halftone.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I'm editing today, or as the kids might call it, "prose-maxxing."

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James Harbeck @sesquiotic.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Etymologically—among other ways—Dolly was a gift from God sesquiotic.com/2026/08/16/b...

Now, having talked about Barbie, we come around to dolls, or, more to the point, to Dolly. Classically, Dolly has been a pet name for Dorothy or, later, for Dolores; Dorothy comes from Dorothea, ‘gift from God’, the same roots as Theodore, while Dolores is from Spanish for ‘sorrows’, and became a woman’s name from María de los Dolores, Mary of the Sorrows – one of the presentations of the Virgin Mary. But the most famous Dolly of our times, Dolly Parton, was christened Dolly Rebecca Parton – not short for anything (rather like being named Jack or Cindy from birth: why not just go with the version everyone will use anyway?). And in that sense, Dolly is, well, like a doll.

And where does doll as in a stuffed or carved or moulded homunculus come from? Heh heh, from Dorothy. Yes, that’s right, a doll is a doll because a typical name was Doll, and dolls could have as easily been called molls or kates or barbies or any other common name for a girl.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Seconded. This was a great podcast about Dolly.

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Alex Zalben @azalben.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Here's the official announcement of Parton's passing from her reps, along with the request that in lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at www.imaginationlibrary.com

NASHVILLE, TN (August 25, 2026) – Global icon and humanitarian, Dolly Parton, known to the world as a beloved singer, songwriter, philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old.

Dolly is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 59 years Carl Thomas Dean (1942 – 2025), her mother Avie Lee Caroline Owens (1923 – 2003), and father, Robert Lee Parton, Sr. (1921 – 2000).

A rhinestone life that shone bright enough for the world to see, Dolly will forever stand as an inspiration not only through her timeless music and prolific songwriting, but also her wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family. Dolly Parton’s legacy is one of love, compassion, and resilience. With a seven-decade career, she inspired multiple generations of artists and fans with her music and an unwavering commitment to making the world a better place. Her songs will continue to resonate with people of all ages, and her philanthropic work will have a lasting impact.

At Dolly’s request, a small, private service will be held for immediate family. Dolly’s fans and friends from around the world are encouraged to pay tribute to Dolly on social media by tagging @DollyParton or by leaving a message at www.dollyparton.com.

In lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library at www.imaginationlibrary.com.

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Joshua Raclaw @joshuaraclaw.com · 22/08/2026

Optimist: The cup is half full Pessimist: The cup is half empty Linguist: What even is a cup, exactly

image from labov's 1973ish study of cups and bowls and semantic boundaries, a bunch of weird cuppy thing are illustrated including a mug with a loooong fluted stem and a triangle mug

neat bar graph of cuppiness and bowliness

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Copy editing my mom's obituary and evaluating my black dresses for the upcoming memorial. Sigh.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I guarantee it only takes one drink for me to buy more books than I planned.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

A bookbar just opened in Reno, and I have three thoughts: 1) This is the most Reno thing ever! 2) What a great idea! 3) I can't wait to visit next time I'm in town!

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Here's more: The Economist compared 1.2 million words of its own writers' writing to AI writing and found that only Claude (probably Sonnet 5) uses em dashes more than human writers now. www.economist.com/culture/2026... @junecasagrande.bsky.social @anamariecox.com

Then look at punctuation. Many believe LLMs stuff their prose with em-dashes, but that is not true after the most recent updates. Today only Claude uses more em-dashes than human writers, with ChatGPT using markedly fewer than any other writer in our study. Humans rejoice—and start using dashes again.

A better way to spot AI-generated writing would be to look for texts without much punctuation at all. LLMs are very Joycean about it: they use fewer commas and semicolons than humans (and hardly any parentheses). They use less punctuation in part because they write longer sentences—“and” is their most overused word—and in part because they do not quote experts.

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Effin' Birds @effinbirds.com · 21/08/2026

Never let a writer help you move

A cardboard moving box with EPHEMERA written on it in Sharpie

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Christina Orlando @cxorlando.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Hello, book people! I am the book content editor for Reactor Mag and I'm looking for sci-fi, fantasy, horror, romantasy, and speculative books coming out in 2027! If you have an adult or YA SFF/H book out next year (or publicist), share the link/info here!

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I've had peanut butter toast for dinner the last two nights, and I'll tell you -- the joy I felt was real when I discovered a still-good potato in the back of the cupboard tonight.

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Rachel Lapidow @editrix-rachel.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I'll be hosting this in a few hours! #StetSprint

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Type history meets weird words! My chat with type historian @glennf.com Glenn Fleishman covers printing history, comics, and his favorite printing word from the 1800s: "flong." :) Check it out on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

podcasts.apple.com

How comics are made, with Glenn Fleishman

Podcast Episode · Grammar Girl · August 6 · 27m

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

A fun history of "soccer" versus "football." Also, it reports, "Wealthy students [in the late 1800s] had 'a habit of shortening words and adding "-er" to the end' to make slang terms. For example: breakfast becomes brekker, rugby became rugger." Does anyone still say "brekker" for breakfast?

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

For my sociolinguistics friends. :)

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Is there a Chrome extension that automatically selects "decline all cookies" or whatever minimum cookie selection is allowed by every website? I have to be the only one still manually clicking those boxes for every new website I visit, right?

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Lynne Murphy @lynneguist.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Congratulations to @bethyoung.bsky.social and team on their new NEH funding for the Webster's Dictionary project! webstersdictionaryonline.com/about

webstersdictionaryonline.com

Noah Webster's Dictionary Online

Browse Noah Webster's 1806 and 1828 dictionaries online.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I checked to make sure this delightful word is real: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feestbe... context.reverso.net/translation/...

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I get to listen to this parody of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" for work today. :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwIB...

youtube.com

Actually Ironic - CollegeHumor [LD]

YouTube video by YounEnvouteuse

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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Friends! Do you know a lot of PhD-holding nerds?? I'm surveying people who came from abroad to complete a PhD in the US, after the Trump admin announced student visas will only cover 4 years and folks must then seek uncertain renewal from USCIS. Please share! www.porchpartynews.com/p/trump-rule...

porchpartynews.com

Were you an international student who got an American PhD? Take our survey!

A new Trump rule forces foreign doctoral candidates to apply mid-degree for an uncertain visa extension. What will that mean for academia and society—and people’s lives?

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Requesting your library acquire copies of a book is one of the best ways to uplift the authors you love.

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Dan Hon @danhon.com · 21/07/2026

Why do we call them datacenters when flophouse was right there

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Pat tore his Achilles tendon a couple of days ago, and dear universe, I swear I ALREADY KNOW everything can change in an instant. No further reminders are necessary.

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Mignon Fogarty @grammargirl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

THE DRAGON HAS SOME COMPLAINTS — I'm enjoying the audiobook. :)

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