Tag Archives: Emily Brewster

Antique Dealers Come To Blows Over Which Spelling Is Correct: “Collectible” Or “Collectable”

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...ible, ...able?

...ible, ...able? You be the judge.

Newton, MA—In what sources familiar with the cut-throat antique seller world have said is a very common argument, two noted dealers were arrested Friday on battery charges after a debate escalated over the proper spelling of the word “collectible” or “collectable.”

Simon Devoe, 81, and his former partner Elliott Daniels, 78, were arrested when both men started feebly punching each other outside their doctor’s office over which man was correct when spelling the word in question.
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“I Argued Over The Meaning Of The Word ‘Natural’ For A Five-Hour Bus Ride:” A TDQ Q&A With Lexicographer Emily Brewster, Part 2

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Don't be fore and aft. Bottle of scotch this video that reveals the a la mode behind chitty chitty bang bang.

TDQ: What sort of feedback do you normally get from your grammar rule videos?

Brewster: Mostly it’s about the glasses. Which are actually a disguise I’ve been developing since 4th grade.

TDQ: Who are your influences?

Brewster: Grammatically, my grandmother was my biggest influence. She taught me the difference between lay and lie and to only use than as a conjunction (smarter than I) rather than as a preposition (smarter than me). I don’t subscribe to all the rules she taught me anymore (sorry, Grandma), but she made me think about language critically. My father too was an influence. He’s constantly making up words. When I was a kid he would make up a word—for instance, swiffledode—and we’d ask him what the word meant and he’d say, “Well, it’s a little like pripapitous,” and that would just go on and on. Continue reading →

“I Argued Over The Meaning Of The Word ‘Natural’ For A Five-Hour Bus Ride:” A TDQ Q&A With Lexicographer Emily Brewster

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Emily Brewster

If you looked lexicographer Emily Brewster up in the dictionary she would be found under both beauty and brains.

This week we speak to Merriam-Webster editor and internet sensation Emily Brewster. Emily tells us the best way to get our newest favorite word, “twext,” in the dictionary, spills the beans about her famous glasses and eases fears we had about the future of proper grammar use in the United States. Here is this week’s TDQ Q&A with Emily Brewster:
 
The Daily Quarterly: How did you hear about thedailyquarterly.com?

Emily Brewster: I inherited a subscription from a dear aunt in 1988. She’d been a big fan since her college days in the 1920s, and had bought herself a lifetime subscription. I remember watching her scroll through archive after archive. I’ll admit I didn’t immediately recognize the value of my inheritance, but I came to appreciate it deeply.
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TDQ Investigates: Emily Brewster And Merriam-Webster Changing The Rules As They Go Along

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Emily Brewster, Artist's Impression

Emily Brewster, Associate Editor, Merriam-Webster pictured in an unsolicited portrait in oil on canvas.

Imagine our surprise when we heard that Mirriam-Webster and their crazy-hot, glasses-wearing associate editor Emily Brewster decided to change a basic rule we were raised on. They now say, after centuries of being preached against, it’s perfectly acceptable to end sentences with prepositions, which goes completely against every lesson we were taught before.

Well, that’s something we here at TDQ will not stand for. We have standards that we strive towards. Correct grammar is what this site was founded upon.

We are not going to change our way of writing simply because a terribly attractive (did we mention the glasses?) editor at a world-renowned dictionary publisher suddenly endorses this anarchist way of writing, beauty notwithstanding.
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