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Favorite Words Like Tintinnabulation and Fafoofian – Grammar Q&A with Author Daniel Stashower

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Favorite Words Like Tintinnabulation and Fafoofian – Grammar Q&A with Author Daniel Stashower

By Mignon FogartyOctober 31, 2022No Comments3 Mins Read
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Even award-winning authors have grammar preferences and peeves. When reading a great book by a great author, do you — like me — find yourself thinking, “You must have a word you always misspell too. What do people say that bugs you? What is your favorite word?”

I was excited to hear what Daniel Stashower had to say about his grammar loves and challenges. Daniel is a New York Times bestselling author who recently released his historical true-crime story “American Demon.” If you’re looking for a thrilling tale of a sadistic killer hiding in plain sight, check out “American Demon.”

Now, on to Daniel’s grammar quirks!

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

 A:  “Tintinnabulation.”  When I was growing up, my mother had an arsenal of favorite lines from literature that she could deploy at a moment’s notice. For instance, if one of us didn’t finish all the Brussel sprouts on his plate, she’d say, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”  We lived within earshot of a large church, and whenever the bells would ring, my mother went straight to Edgar Allan Poe:

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells

From the bells, bells, bells, bells . . .

 I still hear her voice in that poem, and especially the pleasure she took in spinning out the beats of “tintinnabulation.”

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

 A: I think “literally” is almost a given, but I also have a private grudge against “lugubrious.”  I was taught that it means mournful to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree, but it seems to have subsided into being an everyday synonym for sad.  I find that lugubrious. 

GG: What word will you always misspell?

A:  Separate.  A simple word, but I have an intense block.

GG: What word (or semblance of a word) would you like to see added to the dictionary? Why?

 A:  That would have to be “Fafoofian.”  It’s a word created by one of my sons, while writing a poem about someone who was “stuck on the roof again.”  It got him out of a jam. 

GG: Any grammar pet peeves we should know about?

A: I know this isn’t a grammar issue, but it’s been a struggle to adjust to a world in which we only put one space after a period, between sentences.  I’m a habitual two-spacer, even though I know it’s a relic from the era of typewriters.  (I’m also a relic from the era of typewriters.)

GG: Do you have a favorite quote or passage from an author you’d like to share?

A: Absolutely!  “To Sherlock Holmes, she was always the woman.”  It’s the opening line of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” the first story of “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” and I can honestly say that it changed my life. The whole opening paragraph of that story is magnificent.

GG: What grammar, wording, or punctuation problem did you struggle with this week?

 A: Forming the possessive in a last name that ends in “s” or double-“s.”  Which is a hell of a thing to admit, having just written a book about Eliot Ness.  

Thank you to Daniel Stashower for his fantastic responses. Be sure to check out his latest book “American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper.”

Mignon Fogarty
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Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and the author of seven books on language, including the New York Times bestseller "Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing." She is an inductee in the Podcasting Hall of Fame, and the show is a five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards. She has appeared as a guest expert on the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Today Show. Her popular LinkedIn Learning courses help people write better to communicate better. Find her on Mastodon.


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