Tag: Gettable Grammar

Filed under:

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?” […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Karen Virag

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Anna Williams Karen Virag

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Karen Virag

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Karen Virag

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Karen Virag

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Karen Virag

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 […]

Read more »

Tagged