Why does the U.S. have so many regional accents?
4 August - 10 mins1208. This week, linguist Valerie Fridland explains why the U.S. has so many regional accents â tracing New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, and Western speech back to where their first settlers came from, and how we can still hear "founder effects" in the way we talk today.
Valerie Fridland is a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and author of "Why We Talk Funny: The Real Story Behind Our Accents." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.
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Series Episodes
How comics are made, with Glenn Fleishman
1209. Glenn Fleishman discusses the mechanical journey of a comic strip, from the cartoonistâs ink to the final newspaper page. We look at why drawing close to size helped âCalvin and Hobbesâ creator Bill Watterson save money, and how a political resignation in 1973 led to a week of "Doonesbury" strips that never officially ran. This episode originally ran back in February for the Grammarpaloozians who support the show. To hear these episodes when they first come out, and get much more bonus content, visit http://patreon.com/grammargirl. Find Glenn at https://glennf.com/. đ Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. đ Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) đ Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. đ Subscribe to the newsletter. đ Find an edited transcript. đ Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan FeierabendDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast 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.
26 mins
6 August Finished
Why "golly" and "gosh" are going the way of the dinosaur, with Sali Tagliamonte
1207. This week, we look at the hidden linguistic history of Ontario with Sali Tagliamonte. We look at why euphemisms like "golly" and "gosh" are going the way of the dinosaur, the surprising connection between Northern Ontario and the Southern U.S., and how Canadian words like "gas bar" and "Muskoka chair" finally made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. This episode ran for Grammarpaloozians in February 2026. To get more bonus content, visit Patreon.com/GrammarGirl. đ Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. đ Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) đ Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. đ Subscribe to the newsletter. đ Find an edited transcript. đ Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan FeierabendDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast 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.
28 mins
30 July Finished
The secret language of gamers. Plus, why ducks don't âduckâ from danger
1206. This week, we look at the secret language of video gamers â including why getting "nerfed" is a bad thing and what it means to "rage quit" â and we answer a listener's question about whether the bird "duck" or the verb "duck" came first and whether real ducks actually duck for cover. The duck segment was by Karen Lunde, a career writer and editor [who spent nine years as a video game journalist.] These days, she writes I'll Go First, a newsletter where she shares her story, then hands you a weekly writing prompt and a metaphorical pen. Find her on igofirst.org. đ Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. đ Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) đ Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. đ Subscribe to the newsletter. đ Find an edited transcript. đ Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Castria CommunicationsDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast 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.
12 mins
28 July Finished
'Writing for AI' and the flaws of AI detectors, with Sean Goedecke
1205. In the bonus discussion this week, we continue discussing AI em dashes with Sean Goedecke, software engineer for GitHub. We talk about why AI detectors are often unreliable and how they can disproportionately flag non-native English speakers. We also look at the controversial idea of "writing for AI" to ensure your ideas are represented in future machine learning models. This episode ran for Grammarpaloozians in February 2026. To get more bonus content, visit Patreon.com/GrammarGirl. Find Sean at www.SeanGoedecke.com đ Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. đ Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) đ Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. đ Subscribe to the newsletter. đ Find an edited transcript. đ Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan FeierabendDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast 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.
26 mins
23 July Finished
Shark Week: 6 sayings from pop culture
1204. This week, in honor of Shark Week, we look at six fun shark sayings from pop culture, including "jumping the shark," "voodoo shark," and more. The shark segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com. đ Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. đ Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) đ Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. đ Subscribe to the newsletter. đ Find an edited transcript. đ Get Grammar Girl books. | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Castria CommunicationsDirector of Podcast: Holly HutchingsAdvertising Operations Specialist: Morgan ChristiansonMarketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah SebastianPodcast 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.
8 mins
21 July Finished
