We demand precision in devices we buy, contracts we sign, rules of games we play. Yet some people resist rules of grammar. Those rules help us to be precise — to write exactly what we mean, so that no ...

Years ago I ambled from my backyard to a neighbor's and told him I admired the trellis he was building. He wheeled toward me and said, "You work much with teak?" I erupted into laughter, but stopped ...

Why do you have to be so corrective? I think the word you’re looking for is “pedantic.” For most of my career at the Free Press, I’ve been a copy editor or production editor. Which means worrying ...