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How did our holidays become so 'corny'? Why do some words have accent marks in English? Cubby hole

Podcast |: Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Publisher |: Quick and Dirty Tips
Media Type |: audio
Podknife tags |: Advice,; Writing
Categories Via RSS |: Education,; Society & Culture
Publication Date |: Mar 11, 2025
Episode Duration |: 00:15:42

Description
iTunes Summary

1063. Why is it called "corned beef" when there’s no corn involved? We look at how the word "corn" evolved to mean different things over time. Then, we look at the role of accent marks in English — why some words keep them, why others lose them, and what they tell us about language.

The "corn" segment was written by Valerie Fridland, a professor of linguistics at the University of Nevada in Reno and the author of "Like Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English." You can find her at valeriefridland.com.

The "diacritic" segment was written by Karen Lunde, a former Quick & Dirty Tips editor and digital pioneer who's been spinning words into gold since before cat videos ruled the internet. She created one of the first online writing workshops, and she's published thousands of articles on the art of writing. These days, she leads personal narrative writing retreats and helps writers find their voice. Visit her at ChanterelleStoryStudio.com.

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