Author(s): Mignon Fogarty

Dictionaries, Language & Reference

Millions of fans around the globe punctuate properly and communicate clearly thanks to Mignon Fogarty's practical and easy-to-remember advice about writing style and word usage. Her first book, "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing," hit the "New York Times" bestseller list, and her weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 20 million times and hailed by "USA Today" as "authoritative but warm."

Now, in tip-of-the-day form, Grammar Girl serves up 365 lessons on language that are sure to inspire. Filled with new, bite-size writing tips, fun quizzes and puzzles, and efficient memory tricks, "The Grammar Devotional" gives you a daily dose of knowledge to improve your writing and also serves as a lasting reference you'll use for years to come. Mignon Fogarty is the creator of "Grammar Girl" and the founder and managing director of "Quick and Dirty Tips." Formerly a magazine writer, technical writer, and entrepreneur, she has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University. She lives in Reno, Nevada.

Millions of readers and podcast listeners around the globe punctuate properly and communicate clearly thanks to Mignon Fogarty's practical and easy-to-remember advice about writing style and word usage. Her bestselling book, "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing," is a hit among students and educators alike, and her weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 20 million times and hailed by "USA Today" as "authoritative but warm."

Now, in tip-of-the-day form, Grammar Girl presents 365 accessible lessons on language that are sure to inspire every writer. Enhanced by quizzes, word search and scramble exercises, and the mnemonic cartoons and visualizations for which Grammar Girl is known, "The Grammar Devotional" also serves as a lasting reference and resource on grammar and style. Mignon Fogarty, perhaps better known as Grammar Girl, presents 365 accessible lessons on language that are sure to inspire every writer. Enhanced by quizzes, word search and scramble exercises, and the mnemonic cartoons and visualizations for which the Grammar Girl podcast is known, "The Grammar Devotional" also serves as a lasting reference and resource on grammar and style. Praise for "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing":
"I teach English at a small high school in Orfordville, Wisconsin. I am very impressed with the quality and ease of information on grammar at your site."--Geri Acker
"This semester, my students are teaching grammar to one another. Rules: be correct, be creative, be interactive. We've already kicked off the journey by agreeing to use sample sentences starring Aardvark and Squiggly. (If you haven't met these characters yet, I suggest you start listening to the Grammar Girl podcast with the rest of the country.) The inclusion of mullets and eye patches into our sentences may send us right off the fun scale. I know we're in college; rest assured we've reserved plenty of time for seriousness--should the need arise. Truth be told, however, it's all about the retention triggered by vivid images and good times. Can't wait to see what Aardvark and Squiggly are up to this afternoon."--Hillary Clemens, Brigham Young University, Idaho
"My mom is a language arts teacher at a lockdown facility for middle school and high school girls who have committed felonies. These are some really disturbed young ladies who have had really awful lives. One of my mom's goals is to break them out of their habits of speaking 'street' all the time, and especially to never write in slang. Her point is not to belittle colloquial speech but to impress upon these girls that there's a time and place for everything and if they want to succeed, they will need to learn to express themselves in an educated manner . . . For her birthday I gave mom your book and she loves it! It's now part of her curriculum. She says these girls are amazed that someone can become a celebrity via good grammar and if she says, 'Grammar Girl says . . . " they sit up and listen. She says your ideas for remembering grammar rules are terrific for these girls."--Karen Roth, Scottsdale, Arizona
"Your book is great. It reminds me of when I first read "Strunk and White." I will use it in my classroom."--Fourth Grade Teacher, Las Vegas Public School System
"I am a special education teacher and this year I have a cluster of kids in a self contained language arts class. It is my goal to make them decent writers. Most don't know a noun from ketchup so using your memory tricks will help!"--Samantha Jenses, Phoenix Public School System (Middle School)
"I went into my high school senior son's English class for a conference. What's on the wall? The Grammar Girl article, laminated, from the "Atlanta Journal Constitution.""--Barbara Nixon, Atlanta, Georgia

"While "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing" is true to its title, offering advice for writers for every step of the process, from generating topic ideas to effective proofreading tips, this is not merely a reference book for writers. Most of the information applies equally to our daily conversation, concisely clarifying routine language-related issues and tackling those little bits of linguistic friction that rub us the wrong way, or perhaps should rub us the wrong way. Language is an interactive art, and Fogarty's strength is her simple engagement: Her explanations sound like the urgings of a kind coworker who wants you to stop sabotaging your career by using 'then' when you mean 'than', the gentle guidance of a friend who understands the intricacies of where the comma goes in relation to quotation marks and parentheses. Her tone is easy and informative, which will be a relief to anyone who associates 'proper English' with condescending know-it-alls who think that knowledge of 'whom' separates the learned from the layperson. Best of all, she writes with enthusiasm, sometimes sounding like she's settling a bet rather than disseminating knowledge. Fogarty's writing style seems to be influenced by the podcast format: Because many of her topics come from letters from listeners, her responses are always focused on a real and active audience. There isn't any sense that she is simply explaining the rules; she seems to genuinely want her audience to learn. This is not your father's grammar book: Fogarty speaks to a 21st century audience, her short pieces steeped with modern pop culture references and a bit of retro fun: She uses "Star Trek"'s 'Borg' as an example of a singular collective noun (the Borg, she explains, are a sect with no sense of individuality, acting always as a collective); she calls out lessons from seminal language resource "Schoolhouse Rocks" (an underappreciated educational influence from a generation ago), and name drops "Coldplay" and the "Black Eyed Peas" when discussing whether band names are singular or plural. The subject matter isn't new--the crux of every clarification Fogarty offers has surely been covered by another volume in the reference section of the book store--but considering how the same issues remain (e