Life
Eithne Shortall: It’s not easy being a grammar pedant
We may not have asked for this job, but we are going to do it all the same
While most of us eagerly await the approaching seasonal change, spare a thought for those who will suffer. I’m not talking about the people who cannot stand the heat and light, but rather about the grammar pedants. For with summer comes renewed talk of “staycations”, a bugbear that seems to have leapfrogged ‘literally’ for sticklers everywhere.
The term ‘staycation’, a portmanteau of ‘stay’ and ‘vacation’, became mainstream about 20 years ago. Its popularity originated in ...