For screenwriters, John McWhorter’s TEDTalk on texting grammar is a useful reminder of the differences between how people talk and how they write. Speech is made up of word clusters with no discrete punctuation. Because speech is almost always dialogue — you’re usually speaking with somebody — it’s structured in a way that allows interruption. […]
Words
Dialogue and dialog
Both dialogue and dialog are acceptable, but the long version still feels like the better choice when talking about screenwriting.
The Spelling Bee used to be so much easier
I finally finished watching the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which had been sitting half-viewed on my DVR for months. No surprise: the final words words were ridiculously difficult. But they didn’t used to be.
Ye Olde Shoppe never existed
That quaint “yee” was actually pronounced “the.” The confusion with the “y” sound began because Medieval scribes had to make some difficult choices.