Response to Richard A. Posner
By: Bryan A. Garner, 5 September 2012 Hardly was I surprised that Judge Richard A. Posner did not warmly embrace Reading Law, the book on textualism I coauthored with Justice Antonin Scalia. But I was unduly sanguine in thinking that my friendship with Judge Posner (such as it is—we’ve shared several meals since the 1990s …
Language-Change Index
Language-Change Index. The third edition of Garner’s Modern American Usage reflects several new practices. Invariably inferior forms, for example, are now marked with asterisks preceding the term or phrase, a marking common in linguistics. The most interesting new feature is the Language-Change Index. Its purpose is to measure how widely accepted various linguistic innovations have …
2011 in Review
The Year 2011 in Language & Writing Bryan A. Garner* January Eight-thousand literature and language professors and scholars gathered in Los Angeles for the convention of the Modern Language Association of America. The recurrent subject during the week was the economy’s effect on humanities faculty and students. The association’s executive director, Rosemary Feal, lamented that …
Star-Tribune Interview with Larry Watson
Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN) Copyright 2011 Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN December 12, 2011 Section: VARIETY Ten questions for Larry Watson The author is in town to read from his new novel, “American Boy.” Here he recalls his early inspirations: Hemingway, Salinger and Classics Illustrated comics. LAURIE HERTZEL STAFF WRITER He …
My first blog
Although I’ve been tweeting for some time, I skipped a step: the blogosphere. Don’t yet know how much I’ll do this, but I’ll try to say something interesting from time to time. BAG