The Scripps National Spelling Bee is here, representing one of the most vigorous — and prestigious — academic competitions in America. Unsurprisingly, a competition as renowned as the national ...

Listen to WTOP weekdays (Monday-Friday) from Monday, April 20, 2015, through 8:00 p.m. on Monday, May 25, 2015, after the traffic and weather report weekdays (Monday-Friday) at 8:08 a.m., 12:08 p.m.

About a decade ago, I read a blog written by a linguistics student who proclaimed, “Prescriptivism must die!!!” He was talking about the school of thought that believes that textbooks and other ...

My 11-year-old son recently reported with horror that the word "funner" has been added to the dictionary. "What's wrong with that?" I asked. He gaped. "IT'S NOT A WORD." "Sure it is," I said. "Little ...

As any regular reader of this column can tell you, possessives aren’t as hard as they seem. Usually, if you just take it slow and remember the rules, you can avoid mistakes like “the Smith’s house” ...

Most people walk around believing they have a pretty good sense of how English works. We learn the alphabet, pick up some ...