Hi Sars,
I have a grammatical question for Tomato Nation. Is “Didn’t you used to …” grammatically correct? It sounds funny but I’m not sure. A pedantic person I know says it should be “Didn’t you …

Dear Sars,
I’m a feminist, and I love your “Yes, You Are” piece. I’ve even printed it out and brought it into classes when there have been debates about feminism and misogyny. But now I’m …

Dear Sars,
I’ve been thinking about writing this letter for awhile now, but kept putting it off because, well, admitting that I needed advice from someone instead of being able to work things out on my …

I have a basic grammar question. In American English, the word “herb” is pronounced without the H, making the first syllable sound like a vowel. So is the correct usage “an herb” or “a herb”? …

Hey Sars —
After she finds some good fits, she should ask her husband to hang up the
shirts she doesn’t want shrunk, rather than just stuffing them in the dryer.
It keeps them from shrinking, and you …

Happy holiday, Sars!
An easy, quick and not too boring way to speed up typing is the game TyperShark. This can be found on Yahoo Games and other sites, I believe.
B

Sars —
I have three sheddy cats and lots of tile –- I find that the dry Swiffer cloths can get stuck in the grout and leave more white fluffy mess to clean up, so I …

Hey Sars,
How far can you allow a friend to make “stupid” decisions?
I’m sure we’ve all had the classic scenario, where a friend/sibling/parent dates someone who is “wrong” for them, at least in our eyes,
but at …

Blistex Medex in the blue pot/tube!
For very extreme cases, it’s the only thing that sinks in and works!
C in Toronto

Dear C,
Thanks!Many other readers also suggested Blistex Lip Medex.Other lip-balm suggestions appear below; if I got …

Hi, Sars —
Actually, germs do rinse off.Studies have shown that
washing with tap water alone is as effective (in terms
of the decrease in bacteria and virus counts) as
washing with soap and water.This review paper
summarizes a number …