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| English Usage on the Net |
| | Dictionaries (**) |
| | Grammar (**) |
| | Phrase and word origins (**) |
| | ESL/EFL resources (**) |
| | Language history (**) |
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| Recommended Books |
| | Books on words (**) |
| | Dictionaries (**) |
| | Online dictionaries (*) |
| | General reference (*) |
| | Books on linguistics (*) |
| | Grammars (*) |
| | Books on usage (*) |
| | Online usage guides (*) |
| | Online language columns (*) |
| | Books that discriminate synonyms (*) |
| | Style manuals (*) |
| | Book on mathematical exposition (*) |
| | Books on phrasal verbs (*) |
| | Books on Britishisms, Canadianisms, etc. (*) |
| | Books on phrase origins (*) |
| | Books on "bias-free"/"politically correct" language (*) |
| | Books on group names (*) |
| | Books on rhyming slang (*) |
| Speech, Accents, Dialects, Regionalisms, Sound files |
| | Basic English (*) |
| | E-prime (*) |
| | Formant Analysis (**) |
| | Speech examples (**) |
| Pronunciation |
| | How to represent pronunciation in ASCII (*) |
| | rhotic vs non-rhotic, intrusive "r" (*) |
| | How do Americans pronounce "dog"? (*) |
| | Words pronounced differently according to context (*) |
| | Words whose spelling has influenced their pronunciation (*) |
| Grammar |
| | Does English have a subjunctive mood? (**) |
| | Genitive is not always possessive (**) |
| | Plural formation (**) |
| | Thou, thee & archaic grammar (**) |
| Usage Disputes |
| | "acronym" (*) |
| | "all ... not" (*) |
| | "alot" (*) |
| | "alright" (*) |
| | "between you and I" (*) |
| | "company is" vs "company are" (*) |
| | "could care less" (*) |
| | "could of" (*) |
| | "different to", "different than" (*) |
| | "done"="finished" (*) |
| | double "is" (*) |
| | "due to" (*) |
| | "functionality" (*) |
| | Gender-neutral pronouns (*) |
| | "God rest you merry, gentlemen" (*) |
| | "hopefully", "thankfully" (*) |
| | "if I was" vs "if I were" (*) |
| | "impact"="to affect" (*) |
| | "It needs cleaned" (*) |
| | "It's me" vs "It is I" (*) |
| | "less" vs "fewer" (*) |
| | "like" vs "as" (*) |
| | "like" vs "such as" (*) |
| | "more/most/very unique" (*) |
| | "mouses" vs "mice" (*) |
| | "near miss" (*) |
| | "none is" vs "none are" (*) |
| | Plurals of Latin/Greek words (*) |
| | Foreign plurals => English singulars (*) |
| | Preposition at end (*) |
| | "quality" (*) |
| | Repeated words after abbreviations (*) |
| | "Scotch" (*) |
| | "shall" vs "will", "should" vs "would" (*) |
| | split infinitive (*) |
| | "that" vs "which" (*) |
| | "that kind of a thing" (*) |
| | the the "hoi polloi" debate (*) |
| | "try and", "be sure and", "go" + verb (*) |
| | "whom" (*) |
| | "any more" and "anymore" (**) |
| | "you saying" vs "your saying" (*) |
| | is "people" the pural of "person"? (**) |
| | "miss not having" (**) |
| | What is prescriptivism? (**) |
| | "true fact" (*) |
| Punctuation |
| | "." after abbreviations (*) |
| | spaces between sentences (*) |
| | ", vs ," (*) |
| | "A, B and C" vs "A, B, and C" (*) |
| | Quotes for emphasis (**) |
| Word Origins |
| | "A.D." (*) |
| | "alumin(i)um" (notes by Keith Ivey) (*) |
| | "bloody" (*) |
| | "bug"="defect" (*) |
| | "Caesarean section" (*) |
| | "canola" (*) |
| | "catch-22" (*) |
| | "cop" (*) |
| | "copacetic" (*) |
| | "crap" (*) |
| | "eighty-six"="nix" (*) |
| | "Eskimo" (*) |
| | "flammable" (*) |
| | "freeway" (*) |
| | "fuck" (*) |
| | "golf" (*) |
| | "hooker" (*) |
| | "ISO" by Mark Brader (*) |
| | "jerry-built"/"jury-rigged" (*) |
| | "kangaroo" (*) |
| | "limerence"/"limerent" (*) |
| | "loo" (*) |
| | "love"="zero" (*) |
| | "merkin" (notes by Michael B. Quinion and Ruth Bygrave) (*) |
| | "nimrod" (*) |
| | "O.K." (*) |
| | "outrage" (*) |
| | "paparazzo" (*) |
| | "pie-shaped" (*) |
| | "portmanteau word" (*) |
| | "posh" (*) |
| | "quiz" (*) |
| | "Santa Ana" (*) |
| | "scot-free" (*) |
| | "sincere" (*) |
| | "sirloin"/"baron of beef" (*) |
| | "spoonerism" (*) |
| | "suck"="be very unsatisfying" by John Davies (*) |
| | "till"/"until" (*) |
| | "tip" (*) |
| | "titsling"/"brassiere" (*) |
| | troll (*) |
| | typo (*) |
| | Wicca (*) |
| | "widget" (notes by William C. Waterhouse) (*) |
| | "wog" (*) |
| | "wonk" (notes by Fred Shapiro) (*) |
| | "wop" (*) |
| | "ye"="the" (*) |
| | "SOS" (**) |
| | "SOS" (**) |
| Phrase Origins |
| | "the bee's knees" (*) |
| | "beg the question" (*) |
| | "billions and billions" (*) |
| | "blue moon" (notes by Philip Hiscock) (*) |
| | "Bob's your uncle" (*) |
| | "Break a leg!" (*) |
| | "to call a spade a spade" (*) |
| | "cut the mustard" (*) |
| | "cut to the chase" (*) |
| | "The die is cast." (*) |
| | "dressed to the nines" (*) |
| | "Elementary, my dear Watson!" (*) |
| | "Enquiring minds want to know." (notes by James Kiso) (*) |
| | "The exception proves the rule." (*) |
| | "face the music" (*) |
| | "fall off a turnip truck" (*) |
| | "full monty" (*) |
| | "Get the lead out" (*) |
| | "Go figure" (*) |
| | "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste" (Desiderata) (*) |
| | "go to hell in a handbasket" (*) |
| | "hell for leather" (*) |
| | "hoist with his own petard" (*) |
| | "by hook or by crook" (*) |
| | "Illegitimis non carborundum" (*) |
| | "in like Flynn" (*) |
| | "Jingle Bells" (*) |
| | "Let them eat cake!" (*) |
| | "mind your p's and q's" (*) |
| | "more honoured in the breach than the observance" (*) |
| | "more than you can shake a stick at" (*) |
| | "ollie ollie oxen free" (*) |
| | "peter out" (*) |
| | "politically correct" (*) |
| | "push the envelope" (*) |
| | "put in one's two cents' worth" (*) |
| | "rule of thumb" (*) |
| | "shouting fire in a crowded theater" (*) |
| | "son of a gun" (*) |
| | "spit and image"/"spitting image" (*) |
| | "There's a sucker born every minute" (*) |
| | "to all intents and purposes" (*) |
| | "wait for the other shoe to drop" (*) |
| | "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" (*) |
| | "whole cloth" (notes by Ellen Rosen) (*) |
| | "the whole nine yards" (*) |
| | "You have another think coming" (*) |
| Words Frequently Sought |
| | words ending in "-gry" (*) |
| | words without vowels (*) |
| | What is the language term for...? (*) |
| | "I won't mention..." (*) |
| | names of "&", "@", and "#" (*) |
| | "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." (*) |
| | "Take the prisoner downstairs", said Tom condescendingly. (*) |
| | What is the opposite of "to exceed"? (*) |
| | What is the opposite of "distaff side"? (*) |
| | What do you call the grass strip between the road and the sidewalk? (*) |
| Miscellany |
| | What is a suggested format for citing online sources? (*) |
| | Fumblerules ("Don't use no double negatives", etc.) (*) |
| | English is Tough Stuff (*) |
| | What is the phone number of the Grammar Hotline? (*) |
| | Do publishers put false info in dictionaries to catch plagiarists? (*) |
| | How reliable are dictionaries? (*) |
| | etymologies of personal names (*) |
| | How did "Truly" become a personal name? (*) |
| | trademarks (*) |
| | Commonest words (*) |
| | What words are their own antonym? (*) |
| | Why do we say "30 years old", but "a 30-year-old man"? (*) |
| | sentences grammatical in both Old English and Modern English (*) |
| | radio alphabets (*) |
| | distribution of English-speakers (*) |
| | provenance of English vocabulary (notes by Lucia Engkent) (*) |
| | "billion": a U.K. view (*) |
| | Biblical sense of "to know" (*) |
| | Postfix "not" (*) |
| | Origin of the dollar sign (notes by Mark Brader) (*) |
| | Britain/GreatBritain/United Kingdom &C: Some common confusions (**) |
| | What is the UK? Is it the same as Britain, Great Britain or England (**) |
| | World-wide distribution of English-speakers (**) |
| | Humorous Rules for Writing (**) |
| | "a"/"an" before abbreviations (*) |
| | "A number of..." (*) |
| | When to use "the" (*) |
| | Subjunctive (*) |
| Spelling |
| | Comments on a proposal for reformed English spelling (**) |
| | Exceptions to the "i before e" rule (**) |
| | Preferences, "e-mail" vs "email" (**) |
| | Spelling reform (*) |
| | Joke about step-by-step spelling reform (*) |
| | What is "ghoti"? (notes by Jim Scobbie) (*) |
| | I before E except after C (notes by Mark Wainwright) (*) |
| | How do you spell "e-mail"? (*) |
| | Why is "I" capitalized? (*) |
| | Diacritics (*) |
| | "-er" vs "-re" (*) |
| | "-ize" vs "-ise" (*) |
| | doubling of final consonants before suffixes (*) |
| | Where to put apostrophes in possessive forms (*) |
| Recent Entries |
| | 9/11 coinages (**) |
| | SMS abbreviations (**) |
| Legacy |
| | Does the next millennium begin in 2000 or 2001? (*) |
| | What will we call the next decade? (*) |
| Legend |
| | * Original FAQ |
| | ** FAQ Supplement or other source |