(Operated by Rich Turner – Grammarian, Curmudgeon, Old Poop – aka The Mudge – located in the Trenton / Princeton area of New Jersey, USA)

Grammar and Writing Tips – Essays and Articles – Message Boards (Forums on Grammar, Punctuation, ESL, Words/Semantics, and General Topics) – Curmudgeon's Blog and Grumpy Grammarian Column – Memorabilia – Grumbles – and Much More

PHOTO LINK:  VIEW THE CURMUDGEON'S PHOTO ALBUMS OFF-SITE AT WEBSHOTS.

 The contents of this site may not be published elsewhere without my written permission or, in the case of contributors to this site, without the written permission of the author.

MESSAGE BOARDS (Grammar, Punctuation, Words Discussion, ESL) allow users to interact on this site.  The Message Boards page (for discussion of other topics) has links to these boards, contains its own General Message Board, and gives instructions for registration.

This site contains no advertising or promotional material.  Anyone who wishes to post such material here is required to pay a ridiculously exorbitant fee tor the privilege.

SEARCH THE SITE:  Many of the pages have a search box (powered by Google) in the upper right-hand corner such as the one that appears on this page.  Type the word or phrase for whatever you are seeking and click the Search button. 

MAIN DIVISIONS OF THIS SITE are accessible by clicking on the index buttons to the left.  Following are quick links to subdivisions (see the Site Map for details). 

Writing:  Essays and Articles (composed exclusively for this site); Essay Archives (earlier essays); Memorabilia; Grumbles; Pet Peeves (about language misuse); Just for Fun.
Words and Grammar:  Writers' Guide; Grammar FAQs; Word and Usage FAQs (commonly confused words); Word Trivia; Words (vocabulary); ESL Notebook.
Personal, Family, and Photos:  Adventures in Acadia; Main Photo Albums No. 1, 2003, and 2005; Videos.
Hidden Pages:  Wit and Wisdom (quotations); Clippings (items from other sources).

This is a dynamic site – in the sense that it is being constantly expanded and revised. Especially for frequent visitors, here's an update on what has been added or revised recently, usually with a direct link to the appropriate page.  Listings usually comprise the most recent 10 to 15 additions.  They appear in reverse chronological order, with the most recent revisions first.

> 3/16/10 – The most recent entries in the Mudgelog include comments on the music service Pandora and yet another entry about the reform of education.
> 2/27/10 – The February-March issue of The Grumpy Grammarian reports on another pathetic set of test results and what they mean/
> 2/13/10 – Dispassionate Politics expresses the need for reasoned debate, not the angry extremism that is endemic in today's political culture.
> 2/02/10 – The second part of "The Case Against English Composition" (now posted) proposes solutions.
> 1/26/10 – Our Grumbles section (long neglected) contains a rant about "People Who Speak to God," and the Mudgelog picks up the same theme in an entry about "God and Disasters."
> 1/23/10 – Just published:  a new article titled "The Case Against English Composition (As We Know It)."  This piece states the problem.  A second part suggests solutions.
> 1/13/10 – We have just introduced a Words Discussion Board for conversations about words and their meanings (semantics).  Boards for discussion of Education, Technology, and "Tips and Tricks" have been eliminated.  However, registered participants may introduce any topic on the general Message Boards page.
> 1/8/10 – The January issue of The Grumpy Grammarian discusses Prescriptivism Versus Descriptivism, taking the view that these labels are simplistic.
> 12/4/09 – The Mudgelog for Dec. 3 suggests the revolutionary idea of giving cash for Christmas (scroll down to the fourth entry on that page).
> 11/30/09 – The November-December issue of The Grumpy Grammarian takes a swing at the "democratizers" of the English language.
> 11/25/09 – A reminder to check The Mudgelog periodically for new entries.  This section contains short and medium-length pieces on a veriety of subjects:  commentary, observations, reflections, opinions.
> 11/12/09 – A new article:  "That Four-Letter Word Beginning with F."

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ABOUT THIS SITE

Nothing makes a confirmed curmudgeon crankier than misuse of the English language, especially if that curmudgeon has devoted his adult life to studying and teaching English – and even more so if he has spent countless hours editing bad prose. This site is an outlet for an old guy who is tired of hearing teenagers punctuate every sentence with a half dozen likes, baffled by the apparent inability of many presumably literate adults to distinguish between it’s and its, and a little tired of explaining to college freshmen why “Mary and me went to the movies” is wrong. I hope that, in the course of venting, I can also contribute some useful information – and perhaps even add a little fire and wit to that dull-as-proverbial-dust subject, grammar.

As this project has developed, I have expanded the site to include many other features.  Though my principal (that's always principal as an adjective and never principle) focus is still English grammar and usage, I have incorporated many other features, such as the photo albums and photo-essays derived from our vacation outings.  More recently, though, I tend to post photos off-site in my Webshots albums.  My essays and articles (contained in several sections) cover a variety of topics, both serious and humorous.  Indeed, humor (albeit, my peculiar brand of humor) is an important ingredient here.

I have endeavored to make this site as navigable and user-friendly as possible. The buttons to the left link to the main sections; the Site Map itself describes briefly what each section contains.  Having utterly astounded my technologically challenged self by learning how to create links, I provide internal links wherever possible.  To save regular visitors the trouble of searching for "new stuff," I am very diligent about listing the most recent entries in the "What's New?" section (above on this homepage).  The Google Site Search (above and accessible via the third button on the left side of each page) is a handy tool for conducting an internal search for specific topics.

I can't cover everything, of course.  Thus, I have incorporated a Links for Writers section that gives an ongoing listing of some of the better writers’ references on the Internet.  The Grammar Discussion Board allows visitors who register there to post or answer questions about grammar and usage; the Punctuation Board deals specifically with punctuation issues; the Words Discussion Board covers topics related to wirds and their meanings (semantics); the ESL Board is especially for questions from non-native speakers of English.  The General Message Board is a forum for general topics of interest. 

Because this is meant to be a substantive site (yes, Virginia, it is correct to begin a sentence with because), I wanted to keep the so-called eye candy to a minimum.  However, I can’t resist the temptation to fool around with a few graphics and animations.  Besides, I’ll do almost anything to make grammar appear to be entertaining.  Inside this body are two minds – one that takes language very seriously and one that asks, “What good is it if you can’t have fun with it?”

Thank you for visiting.  If you don't find what you were looking for, please post a message on the Message Board (registration required). 

My Credentials 

I hold a B.A. (1958) and M.A. (1959) degree in English from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and did additional postgraduate work at the University of Texas.  After beginning my career as a college instructor, teaching mostly writing and introductory literature courses, I moved into copyediting and editing.  I worked for a few years as a proofreader for Opinion Research Corporation in Princeton, NJ; served as a literature editor for a new encyclopedia that was later acquired by Grolier; and finally became the supervisor of research editing at a market research firm in Princeton.  I am now retired from that position, but I currently teach English Composition as an adjunct professor at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, NJ, something I have been doing for nearly twenty years.

Words and language have fascinated me all of my life.  I enjoyed writing from the start, and it has always been a hobby.  I have never been very successful with "creative" writing, finding my niche more in expository writing.  Perhaps because successful expository writing requires command of sentence structure and attention to the minutiae of grammar, I became a grammarian, a wordsmith, a verbivore. It was a self-perpetuating proposition.  The more I learned about English grammar, the more I discovered I had still to learn. Sharing the fruits of that journey is one reason for this site.

 In Memoriam -- Booper the Cat (1993 - 2009)

From the day that this site was founded, Booper had the honor of being its mascot.  More than that, she was a loving and much loved member of our family.  In the spring of 2009, she became very ill with a brain tumor.  We boarded her with the vet during our trip to Maine in early June, but when we returned. she had taken a turn for the worse.  She was mercifully put to sleep on June 14.   However, her spirit lives on within us, and she remains as the site's mascot in perpetuity.

WANT TO ASK A QUESTION OR ENTER A DISCUSSION?  The Grammar Curmudgeon offers five message boards – Grammar Discussion, Punctuation. ESL, Words Discussion (Semantics), and General Discussion (links are near the top of this page).  I check these boards daily.  Instructions for registration are on the pages themselves; registration on any board permits posting on all of them.

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