Grammar Quirks: How Grammar Brought Two Writers Together

Grammar Girl: What’s your favorite word and why?

Jennifer Miller & Jason Feifer: Jason’s favorite is "disintermediation." He’s a business journalist, and always had a hard time finding the right words for this particular concept. It’s like when we hired Handy to find us a house cleaner, but then we just hired the house cleaner and cut Handy out of it. Then, one day, an entrepreneur told him there’s a word for this: "Disintermediation." Perfect! This is the beauty of language—when a complex idea can so elegantly be folded into a single word, and we can all communicate better because of it.

Jen’s favorite word is “gloaming” because it so aptly describes not just a specific, fleeting time of day—that brief blue-black period between dusk and night—but evokes the melancholic feeling of that moment.

GG: What’s a word you dislike (either because it’s overused or misused) and why?

JM&JF: Jen hates, hates, hates, hates the word "panties." It’s a word that could easily have appeared numerous times in "Mr. Nice Guy," considering all the sex the characters are having. "Panties" just sounds gross. But it also infantilizes women, especially considering how important and basic underwear is for hygiene, comfort, and cultural norms. Men get boxers (tough, strong) and briefs (professional, academic). Don’t women deserve the same? "Underwear" is acceptable, as is "undies."

This is the beauty of language—when a complex idea can so elegantly be folded into a single word, and we can all communicate better because of it.

Jason hates phrases more than individual words, and his absolutely least favorite is "found himself/herself," as in, "After college, he found himself with a job in advertising." Writers use this phrase all the time in drafts that Jason edits, and he always takes it out, and then explains to the writer that, unless the subject literally went unconscious and then woke up with a job in advertising, the person did not find himself with a job in advertising!

GG: What word will you always misspell?

JM&JF: Real talk from Jason: He’s the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, but he misspelled the word “entrepreneur” in his email signature and left it there for like five months. It’s a hard word! These days, he’s perfected that spelling but still always screws up “bureaucracy.” (Also, real talk: He had to use spell check right now...

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