Grammar Quirks: Eric Kester on 'Lit' and 'Turnt'

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

Eric Kester: Lately I’ve been really digging the adjective “crepuscular,” which means “related to or resembling twilight.” To me, the sound of “crepuscular” beautifully reflects the feeling of dusk, juxtaposing its creepy, disquieting ambiance with its soothing, sibilant tranquility.  

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

EK: It’s not really overused or misused, but I always cringe when I hear the word “ponderous.” When I was in 9th grade, my crush told me that she couldn’t stop thinking about me as she studied for her vocabulary quiz; the word “ponderous,” she said, reminded her of me. I hadn’t studied for the quiz myself, so I rushed home to look up the word’s meaning, eager to see what blend of “super smart, super handsome, and supremely dateable” was to be found within the definition of “ponderous.” When I got home, I galumphed upstairs, plopped down at our family computer, and typed in “ponderous + definition” with my sausage fingers. I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that “ponderous” means “clumsy and unwieldy.”

GG: What word will you always misspell?

This is going to sound pretty meta, but I always want to spell 'grammar' as 'grammer.'

EK: This is going to sound pretty meta, but I always want to spell “grammar” as “grammer.” 

GG: Any grammar pet peeves we should know about?

EK: “Farther” is for physical distances (“ten feet farther”) while “further” is for figurative distances (“there will be no further discussion”). But don...

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