Anne Curzan
Contributor, That’s What They SayAnne Curzan is the Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan. She also holds faculty appointments in the Department of Linguistics and the School of Education.
As an expert in the history of the English language, Anne describes herself as a fount of random linguistic information about how English works and how it got to be that way. She received the University’s Henry Russel Award for outstanding research and teaching in 2007, as well as the Faculty Recognition Award in 2009 and the 2012 John Dewey Award for undergraduate teaching.
Anne has published multiple books and dozens of articles on the history of the English language (from medieval to modern), language and gender, and pedagogy. Her newest book is Fixing English: Prescriptivism and Language History (2014). She has also created three audio/video courses for The Great Courses, including “The Secret Life of Words” and “English Grammar Boot Camp.”
When she is not tracking down new slang or other changes in the language, Anne can be found running around Ann Arbor, swimming in pools both indoor and out, and now doing yoga (in hopes that she can keep running for a few more years to come).
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Depending where you live, the thought of football season might conjure images of shin guards and knee socks or helmets and shoulder pads. -
If you’ve been watching the U.S. Open tennis tournament during the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably been hearing a lot of “love” and “let.” But where did those terms come from?
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"Nonplussed" is one of those words that historically doesn't have a particularly complicated meaning, but it's one that people frequently misuse.
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When we inquire about something, one could argue that it doesn't really matter if we inquire with an "i" or enquire with an "e."
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The phrase “without further ado” has itself been unable to escape ado. In other words, there’s been some to-do about it.
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If you mention my verbiage, it’s no longer clear if I should be insulted.
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If you have more than one head waiter at a restaurant, you run into a funny spelling question in English.
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Coaches, referees and gym teachers are probably better authorities than we are, but we've got a feeling that whistles probably aren't very clean.
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“Off” isn’t just an insect repellant. It’s a versatile word that might not look like much, but it’s amazing how many different ways we use it.
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There’s a reason it sounds odd if we say it just got beautifuller and beautifuller.
