Hi Sars,
I need to know if I’m wrong or just being picky.
There seems to be a trend where the word “female” is being used in place of the word “woman,” as in: “I saw the …

“More than” vs. “over.” When would you use one or the other? I tend to use “more than” instead of “over,” e.g., “these sites have more than 1,000 ports” instead of “these sites have over …

Hello, Sars!
What’s the deal
with “that that”?For example, “I don’t know that that is a reason to
break up with him.”It looks strange to me and MS Office grammar
check scolds me for repeating a word, but I …

Hi Sars,
My car is in Delaware and I’m moving to
Alaska — I have thousands of miles to cover, and I’m giving myself
about a month to make the trip. No hurry. I know you drove US …

Hey Sars,
I was in an African History class last semester and I
came across a weird question while I was studying for
the map test. Why are there so many countries that
have the word “Guinea” in their …

After arguing with my word processor’s dictionary for a while, I called
a time-out and came to you.
“Toward” or “towards,” Sars? “Backward” or “backwards”? “Inward” or “inwards”? I’m
guessing “toward” and “backward,” because ‘”he moved forwards” sounds
stupid. …

Hi Sars,
I’m so enthralled by TV shows like 48 Hours Mystery and Cold Case Files, but I often feel like they’re leaving out too many details or telling them in the wrong order or something.I …

Dear Sars:
I have a serious problem.I have the strong urge to throw the nearest heavy
object through my television when, trying to be an informed citizen, I turn
on CNN, MSNBC, or any other news channel with …

Oh wise Sars, who is far more versed in the language than I —
I was composing an angry letter to a political wingnut (exposed as such over on TINO) and realized I had a usage …

Hey Sars,
Well, I dated this guy about a year ago now, the first boyfriend. Right after
I graduated high school at 17 and suddenly there’s this 21-year-old guitar
player interested in me. (Never been on a date …