Thanks to gillpolack, I learned a new word today: "idiolect."

What does this mean, you ask? (You did! I'm sure I heard you.)

"In linguistics, an idiolect is an individual's distinctive and unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Idiolect is the variety of language unique to an individual ( Read more... )

One of my stepsons was recently discussing his appreciation for the explanations of grammatical terms offered by The Word Detective. The website is the online version of a newspaper column by Evan Morris, for which he answers readers’ questions about grammar and the written word. Although I often explain the correct usage of of it's and its to ( Read more... )

Over on Murderati, Cornelia Read posted Elvis Costello and Bill Frisell's "If I Only Had a Brain":

Click to view

( Watching this led me to search for other versions. )