(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.

IF YOU LIKE LISTENING TO MUSIC ONLINE, THE MUDGE RECOMMENDS PANDORA.

 The contents of this site may not be published elsewhere without my written permission or, in the case of contributors to this site, without the written permission of the author.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 (General Message Board, Grammar, Punctuation, Words Discussion, ESL) allow users to interact on this site.  The General Message Board page is used for discussion of any topic (scroll down the page to access the board).  It can also be accessed via the General Message Board fourth button from the top in the index buttons on the left of any page.  Instructions for registration and links to other message boards appear on this page as well.

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.

>9/1/10 – In the September issue of The Grumpy Grammarian, we try once again to combat what we are dubbing "Swamp Monster English."
> 8/15/10 – The Curmudgeon's Horoscope (in the Just for Fun section) contains the most reliable predictions on the Internet,
> 8/10/10 – Lots of new pieces recently on The Mudgelog – about scammers and sumbags, ditzy teenagers, time-wasters, Congressional morons, highway idiocy, and more.
> 8/7/10 – An article titled "English (Should Be) Spoken Here," giving reasons why people who live in the U.S. should be at least moderately fluent in English.
> 8/7/10 – Another "Just for Fun" entry, "Yo, Mr. Geek," asking geeks to give us technologically challenged people a break. 
> 8/2/10 – The first entry in a very long time in our "Just for Fun" section:  an unsent letter to my neighbor, who complained that "my" squirrels were eating his roof.
> 7/31/10 – If you are taking English 101 (English Composition) this fall, or you know anyone who is, the August-September issue of The Grumpy Grammarian may be of value to you.
> 7/2/10 – The July issue of The Grumpy Grammarian is online.  It describes the folly of reducing use of language to merely simplistic "rules."
> 6/29/10 – We have posted Part 3 of "Teachers in America" – an essay stating what we need to do to address the crisis in the public schools.
> 6/29/10 – Links to a photo album and slideshow of sailing with the grandchildren are located in this message on the Message Board.
> 6/21/10 – In a new essay, "No Mea Culpa," we comment on the national pastime of blame-throwing, buck-passing, and excuse-making.
> 6/13/10 – The first two articles in a series, "Teachers in America," have been published:  Part  One, "Background on the Current Situation," and Part Two, "Status of the Teacher."
> 5/31/10 – In "A Geezer-to-Geezer Guide to Technology," we place our tongue in our cheek and fearlessly guide senior citizens into the brave new world of digital technology.
> 5/20/10 – The June-July issue of The Grumpy Grammarian candidly assesses the limits of writing instruction but also emphasizes the importance of doing what we can.
> 5/02/10 – My "swan song" as a classroom instructor of English Composition (I retire at the end of the current semester) appears in the May issue of The Grumpy Grammarian.
> 5/02/10 – The May 2 issue of "The Mudgelog" contains a blow-by-blow account of incredible incompetence and stupidity in Samsung's handling of a glitch that prevented its new players from loading the Blu-ray of Avatar. 
> 3/28/10 – The April issue of The Grumpy Grammarian discusses several points, including the distinction between spoken and written English and the need for flexibility in enforcing the traditions of grammar and usage.

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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, until retirement a few years ago.  I taught English Composition as an adjunct professor at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, NJ,  for more than twenty years but retired in June of 2010. 

Words and language have fascinated me all of my life.  I enjoyed writing from the start, and it has always been a hobby.  One of my current projects is the manuscript of a book of related essays to be titled The Joy of Grumbling.  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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