Shannon Andrus, EdD

Anybody remember Brexit? Before Covid it was dominating headlines around the world. I even came across a story about a comma kerfuffle related to the U.K’s departure from the European Union.

‘Tis the season for questions about pluralization and apostrophes with last names. Here’s a handy guide to make sure your holiday punctuation is shiny and bright.

In May I addressed some of the emerging linguistic questions surrounding the novel coronavirus. Now, a few months into this new non-normal, I find myself reflecting on the ways we learn, adapt, and create language to fit new realities.

I wrote in my last newsletter about the ways the pandemic is necessitating new terms and the various ways those were being used or spelled. This month my thoughts are on the protests occurring across the United States and our current national reckoning with race.

If you have taken one of my courses, you have likely heard me talk about the Académie Française, the “Supreme Court of the French language,” as I like to call it. It is a council that decrees what is officially correct in the French language. When new words arise, the council makes decisions about their use. One new term that we are all certainly using on a daily basis is Covid-19.