Author: Karen Virag

Karen Virag, a well-known writer and editor, passed away on Jan. 11, 2014. She was a longtime EAC member and half of CBC Radio's Grammar Gals.
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Karen Virag

Revisiting Karen Virag: I Are Confused

January 8, 2019 by Karen Virag | 1 Comment on Revisiting Karen Virag: I Are Confused

In memory of Karen Virag, who passed away on Jan. 11, 2014, we are pleased to republish one of her popular blog posts from February 2013. I are confused, aren’t I? Have you ever wondered why we say, “He is, isn’t he?” and “She is, isn’t she?” but we don’t say “I am, amn’t I?” […]

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Revisiting Verbal Boobery

January 9, 2018 by Karen Virag | 8 Comments on Revisiting Verbal Boobery

In memory of Karen Virag, who passed away Jan. 11, 2014, we are pleased to republish one of her popular blog posts from November 2013. Verbal whatery? Not long ago in the Air Canada Lounge at Toronto Pearson Airport I noticed a small sign beside a tray of freshly baked cookies. It said: “For the […]

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In Memoriam

January 20, 2014 by Karen Virag | Leave a Comment

The Editors’ Weekly mourns the loss of a loved and valued contributor, Karen Virag, who passed away on Jan. 11 following a brief illness. From the EAC’s national office: A longtime member of EAC’s Prairie Provinces branch, Karen was the association’s director of publications. She co-chaired EAC’s successful 2008 national conference in Edmonton and the […]

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Plate of peanut butter cookies, with accompanied by caption with awkward wording quoted from an Air Canada lounge.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Verbal Boobery (VB)

November 19, 2013 by Karen Virag | 5 Comments on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Verbal Boobery (VB)

Verbal whatery? Not long ago in the Air Canada Lounge at Toronto Pearson Airport I noticed a small sign beside a tray of freshly baked cookies. It said:             Now, I have to say, I don’t know why so many people complain about Air Canada. Knowing how many passengers are […]

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Literally is not The word “literally” is the topic of this week’s blog, "English Can Be So Two-faced," by Karen Virag for The Editors' Weekly, EAC, Sept. 17, 2013. only word in this crazy language of ours that has opposing definitions. But it's the topic of this blog post, "English Can Be So Two-faced," by Karen Virag. The Editors' Weekly, EAC, Sept. 17, 2013.
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English can be so two-faced

September 17, 2013 by Karen Virag | Leave a Comment

My head literally exploded when I read it! What text, you are wondering, could have caused such a messy and bloody scene? (And if my head literally exploded, shouldn’t I be dead?) Well, the text in question was from an article in Salon magazine (August 22, 2013) decrying the Merriam-Webster (MW) Dictionary definition of the word literally to […]

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Close-up profile of a white llama’s head, outdoors.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: I come to praise typos, not to bury them

August 15, 2013 by Karen Virag | Leave a Comment

Summer is often called the silly season—it is, after all, generally a time of cheap escapist paperbacks and brainless blockbuster movies (Sharknado, anyone?). So, in honour of that most thought-free, indolence-inspiring and cogitation-challenged of seasons, for this posting I will neither opine nor berate; instead, I will celebrate the little language mistakes that make us […]

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Golf balls and stones on sand under water.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Taking issue with “issues”

July 11, 2013 by Karen Virag | 4 Comments on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Taking issue with “issues”

I think I remember the first time I heard the word issues used as a synonym for problems. I was watching a long-forgotten television sitcom, and one character commented on another’s weird behaviour by saying, “She has issues.” She overenunciated the word issues and at the same time made little scratching gestures with her index […]

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Mr T gazes and points with both hands directly at the camera. His sleeveless arms betray rippling biceps. This black, muscled icon stands silhouetted against a bright green back ground.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Whom—don’t leave us! We hardly knew ye!

May 14, 2013 by Karen Virag | 2 Comments on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Whom—don’t leave us! We hardly knew ye!

In the April 2013 Atlantic magazine, writer Megan Garber gleefully wrote: “Whom, I am thrilled to inform you, is dying.” And though I agree that whom seems to be going the way of the floppy disk, I don’t share Garber’s glee. Perhaps it’s because I think that grammatical inflection (when words change form to reflect […]

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Colour portrait of Dr. Edwin Battistella, dressed in a shirt and sports jacket with arms open, likely delivering a lecture.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Learning to like “like”

April 9, 2013 by Karen Virag | 2 Comments on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Learning to like “like”

One often hears complaints about how some people litter their sentences with the word like—not as a noun, verb, preposition or conjunction, but as, like, an interjection. Like that. Now I know that Canadians like to blame Americans for all the world’s ills, but we can’t really lay this verbal tic at the feet of […]

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Torso of a nude man, from neck to waist, holding a nude baby.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Things that dangle

March 12, 2013 by Karen Virag | 1 Comment on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Things that dangle

Things that dangle in the night. And in the day. Hours before giving birth, a woman’s boyfriend leaves her for her best friend and quits the talent agency they run together to start his own competing business. Now that is one amazing—and appalling!—boyfriend. First he gives birth, then he betrays his girlfriend. Typical man. In […]

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Head portrait of Irish satirist and author Jonathan Swift, best known as the author of Gulliver’s Travels.
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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: I are confused

February 12, 2013 by Karen Virag | 1 Comment on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: I are confused

Gettable Grammar is a monthly series of conjectures, opinions and postulates by Karen Virag. I ARE CONFUSED, AREN’T I? Have you ever wondered why we say, “He is, isn’t he?” and “She is, isn’t she?” but we don’t say “I am, amn’t I?” (though you might say this if you lived in certain parts of […]

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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Less is More

January 15, 2013 by Karen Virag | Leave a Comment

Gettable Grammar is a monthly series of conjectures, opinions and postulates by Karen Virag. LESS IS MORE, NOT FEWER. EXCEPT SOMETIMES. The question of when to use fewer and when to use less perplexes many people. Generally speaking, you should use fewer to refer to a smaller number and less to refer to a smaller […]

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GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Grammar class wars

December 18, 2012 by Karen Virag | 2 Comments on GETTABLE GRAMMAR: Grammar class wars

Gettable Grammar is a monthly series of conjectures, opinions and postulates by Karen Virag. GRAMMAR CLASS WARS Grammar. If it’s not your gramper’s wife, what the heck is it? Well, grammar is the field of linguistics that covers the conventions of a language; it involves morphology and syntax, phonetics, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. Still scratching […]

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