Proper Words in Proper Places

Meditations on the English language

by Jack Lynch

Zimmer at the Helm

In The Lexicographer's Dilemma, I devote a few paragraphs to language "pundits" or "mavens." While admitting that writers like Theodore Bernstein, John Simon, and William Safire are all "fine writers," I point out that "they’re not linguists — they all have a good practical grasp of the language, but they don’t know much about the history of English or its underlying structures." And t Read More

Words of the Year

After a hiatus -- first the holiday season hit, then beginning-of-semester meshugas, and then a minor health emergency sent me to the hospital -- I’m able to return my attention to the blog. Read More

"Have the Rules Changed?"

One of the things that prompted me to write The Lexicographer’s Dilemma was a series of questions, all variations on a theme, I received by E-mail. Read More

The “Rules”: Prescription, Description, and the Quest for a Middle Ground

On the two kinds of "rules" of English. Read More

An Introduction

Why a blog on the English language for Psychology Today? What do language and grammar have to do with psychology?Plenty, as I hope this blog will make clear. In my recent book The Lexicographer’s Dilemma, I try to explain what we mean when we talk about the “rules” of language. Read More