Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 11/08/2026SURPRISED: by the lightweight verb in this morning’s Boston Globe headline: BC professor frets over AI bubble NOT SURPRISED: to discover that the law professor in question is a woman. 030
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 26/07/2026A message from NYT Wirecutter offered "Ideas for a screen-free summer" and I seriously thought it was about alternative ways to repel bugs. Oh. You mean this kind of screen. 000
Reposted by Jan FreemanJustin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025Folks who won't be fooled by politicized official economic statistics: - The Fed - The bond market - The stock market - Foreign investors Folks who will be flying blind in the absence of reliable econ data: - All of the above - Small biz - Big biz - Voters 581057370
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 30/06/2025Watching "Outrageous," about the Mitfords and Mosley, and the characters have uttered (versions of) "Want to come with?" 4 times in 3 episodes. Seriously doubt the Mitfords and their set ever used that locution, but willing to hear otherwise from Brits & linguists. (Does BrE do it even today?) 000
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 29/06/2025I hope we are all enjoying Justin Wolfers, one of my favorite economists (I know a few), who for some reason is allowed to say true things on TV. Watch him use the word "lying" three times about government debt claims. 010
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 09/06/2025The OED's subscription notice tells me: "If you'd not want to renew it you can untick the 'Auto renew' option." Would love comment from BrE speakers — the cites I've found use "you'd not" to mean "you hadn't" or "you didn't," neither of which fits here. @lynneguist.bsky.social 330
Reposted by Jan FreemanBoston Tom Levenson @tomlevenson.bsky.social · 29/04/2025Trump is channeling King Cnut without the slightest grasp of the point the Danish monarch was trying to make. 292
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 16/04/2025Last night's sunset illuminating the trees (and still-stormy skies) to the east. Wow. 0211
Reposted by Jan FreemanDave Nelsen @thegrammargeek.bsky.social · 01/01/2025In 2025, I might launch a consulting service wherein people tell me their grammar peeves and I remind them that the world is on fire and Trump is about to be sworn in as president again so no one cares that they hate hearing “irregardless” once or twice a year. 0131
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 31/03/2025A month ago, this foggy morning view would have been depressing. But now I can see the pink of the maple buds getting ready to pop, which changes everything. (OK, not everything. But it helps.) 060
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 19/03/2025Witch hazel isn't the most adorable spring bloom, but it's so enthusiastic! And most important, I can enjoy ours through the window, without braving wind or mud. 3855
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Google AI elbowing aside actual sources to contradict the info that's in its own calendar (and everyone else's): 130
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 05/03/2025This should have run yesterday, National Grammar Day, but better (a little) late than never. 040
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 30/01/2025Just learned that LifeStance, private equity owner of my therapist's group, wants a $70 penalty because I called to reschedule an appt. only 47 hours and 47 minutes in advance, not a full 48 hours. Mass. health care is already in crisis thanks to owners who bled Steward dry. When will we learn? 040
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 27/01/2025This is what I need to see first thing every day, just to keep my spirits up. 050
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Wow, an actual earthquake here in Boston! Takes me (way) back to my Southern California years… 040
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 12/01/2025A rare sight: Once upon a time, there was skating every winter on this little bit of the Charles River (and on longer sections of the river, too, according to local lore). But in the 20 years we've lived in the neighborhood, the number of skateable days has steadily dwindled. 050
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 03/01/2025Aiming this at @fritinancy.bsky.social because her word mavenry includes fashion mavenry, but would welcome all answers: What is the point of drop(ped) shoulders, i.e. sleeves with the shoulder seam placed several inches down the arm? Does it save money, and if so how (vs., say, raglan sleeves)? 100
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 01/01/2025 From today's comics, a good prompt for an editorial New Year's resolution: Don't fall for the notion that you have to use "fewer" (instead of "less") any time you spot a number in the neighborhood. It depends on what the number is doing there, and "10 items or less" is perfectly good English. 140
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 24/12/2024Out shopping the other day, I was greeted for the first time (and second, and third) with "Welcome in!" I asked a saleswoman how long she'd been using it, and she said maybe 10 years. Apparently it's in pockets all over the US, & sometimes employer mandated. A blend of "welcome" and "come in"?eater.comWhy Did Everyone Suddenly Start Saying "Welcome In"?The phrase took over the hospitality industry seemingly overnight, but no one seems to know where it originated. 130
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 20/12/2024"Covering about two-thirds of the ring makes an asymmetrical wreath look modern, not unfinished." 🤨 220
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 16/12/2024Halfway through "Black Doves" and not minding the implausibility at all, but … I have some language quibbles. There's Sam's signature "I'll endeavor to try," which I guess is supposed to be subtle and witty, but it just makes me wonder if the writers know what "endeavor" means. (1/2) 230
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 16/12/2024A letter to today's Globe Magazine refers to a woman who "betray[ed] those who friended her" — that is, her friends. Is anyone hearing this usage in spoken English? Are people now using the verb "friend" to mean "befriend" even when the relationship is IRL, not online? 2152
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 15/12/2024I was on a chat about a return and the rep said it the item wasn't really eligible but he could do it as a GWG. I said "what's a GWG?" and he said, Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to abbreviate that, etc. But (as many of you know), it just means "goodwill gesture," so I wonder, why the repeat apologies? 011
Reposted by Jan FreemanJon Danziger @danziger.bsky.social · 05/12/2024Each man's death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know For whom the bell tolls, The bell is out of network, And you did not get prior authorization. But your call is very important to us, So please hold for an automated survey. 621652
Reposted by Jan FreemanTom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 05/12/2024I glanced back at the prison that I’d finally escaped from. What thrilled me most was knowing that I’d ended my sentence with a preposition. 58916
Reposted by Jan FreemanBenjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 03/12/2024media.tenor.comleonardo dicaprio is wearing a tuxedo and bow tie and smiling with the words yasssss written below himALT: leonardo dicaprio is wearing a tuxedo and bow tie and smiling with the words yasssss written below him 314122
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 01/12/2024"He … makes them more present and that terrible word, relatable." I always think this is a shady rhetorical move. "I am using this bad word cautiously," it says, "but your use of it is trite and thoughtless." If you truly think a word is "terrible," maybe use a different one? 130
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 01/12/2024Boston Globe review/interview: "The F-Word" is fantastic AF!bostonglobe.comThe endless lexical fertility of the F-word - The Boston GlobeThe expletive that really gives a [damn] has blossomed so widely, it needed a new compendium from Jesse Sheidlower. 110
Reposted by Jan FreemanJan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 29/11/20243/But when Mew's poem was published, in 1916, the old rule said you express simple futurity with the forms "I shall/you will/he will." (For the mandatory sense, it's "I will/ you shall/he shall.") Mew was using the standard language of her time — as the LRB promptly learned from its readers. 011
Reposted by Jan FreemanJan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 29/11/20242/In the London Review of Books, a critic quoted a poem by Charlotte Mew with the line, “You will have smiled, I shall have tossed your hair.” Why the shift from "will" to "shall," he wondered: "I think it’s Mew’s way of not having too much style. ‘Shall’ is somehow less lyrical than ‘will.'"lrb.co.ukMatthew Bevis · A Whack of Pies: Dear to Mew 111
Reposted by Jan FreemanJan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 29/11/2024Benjamin Dreyer is correct (of course!) to say that most of us needn't worry about the archaic distinctions between "shall" and "will." But as my fellow editors know, any scrap of info may come in handy. Here's a case where knowing the shall/will thing would have been useful to an editor or writer: 101
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 29/11/2024Benjamin Dreyer is correct (of course!) to say that most of us needn't worry about the archaic distinctions between "shall" and "will." But as my fellow editors know, any scrap of info may come in handy. Here's a case where knowing the shall/will thing would have been useful to an editor or writer: 101
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 02/11/2024This monster bug is visiting and I wonder if it might have been the design inspiration for the Cybertruck. 120
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 31/10/2024Just a tiny peeve: The phrase "till death us do part" (or "do us part," if you prefer) has been around in wedding vows for more than 400 years. Apparently that's not long enough to convince some editors that the pronoun really should remain objective case, even in your clever variation. 130
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 30/10/2024Here's a Boston Globe story I definitely won't be reading: 160
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 26/10/2024One commenter on this Alexandra Petri column has an excellent idea: "We are a group of ten friends. We drew straws and one kept his subscription so he can gift YOU to the rest of us."washingtonpost.comOpinion | It has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to endorse Harris for presidentIsn’t this what a newspaper is supposed to do? 020
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 26/10/2024Some other nice distractions this week: The Morandi show in NYC, and afterward, lunch at Piccola Cucina Uptown, where they make (very tasty) individual servings of tiramisu at tableside. 020
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 26/10/2024Such a beautiful fall we're having in the Northeast. I hope I'll look back at my photos when the background vibe is no longer this pervasive anxiety about the election (and has returned to the normal pervasive anxiety about war and climate change). 030
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 17/10/2024In northern Ohio, two parties on one tree lawn.* *Or devil strip, tree strip, curb, parkway, terrace, swale, tree belt, depending on where you live. 110
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 13/10/2024Speaking of grammar books, @tomfreeman.bsky.social and @lanegreene.bsky.social, does either of you plan to review/comment on this book, in which GKP tries to simplify the New Grammar for people like me (non-linguists steeped in the confusing Old Grammar)? Makes me wish I were a student again! 200
Reposted by Jan FreemanJan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 12/10/2024Finally tracked down this great election year comic — "Christ for President" — from 1992, and am wondering why the creators haven't updated it every four years. Of course, in 2024 it would probably end with Jesus going to heaven the same way he originally did. 001
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 12/10/2024Finally tracked down this great election year comic — "Christ for President" — from 1992, and am wondering why the creators haven't updated it every four years. Of course, in 2024 it would probably end with Jesus going to heaven the same way he originally did. 001
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 09/10/2024Thanks for the reminder, @editrix-rachel.bsky.social — I also have a fall foliage photo from yesterday's #MorningWalk. Possible title: Why I Didn't Stay In California (Despite Loving Many Things about California). 170
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2024Is it dumber than Grammarly? I searched for the traditional usage advice on "like" vs. "such as," and Google's AI topped the results. It explained that "such as" introduces examples, while "like" is for making comparisons: "For example, I like Sarah but I don't like her brother much." 161
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 11/09/2024Was a bit surprised to hear Gary Oldman say "step foot" in today's season opener of #SlowHorses, though there's no reason it should be just an American thing. (I know, for many of you it's the default, but it only took off in the 1980s. Us olds, we say "set foot.") 020
Jan Freeman @janfreeman.bsky.social · 05/09/2024You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who is coming to save you? I think I'm in luck, but I won't know till there's been a bunch of laughing/shooting/running/cursing. (The scheming and killing have already begun.) 020