The Times Dispatch Blogs

As a proofreader I constantly struggle with current usage questions. The English language is a living language and as such it constantly changes and reinvents itself.

The grammar that I learned as a student is still basically sound, but not all of it is still correct. Many of the taboos of a half-century ago no longer pertain and now there is a new list.

In addition to desk references we constantly browse the Internet looking for those sites that provide sound writing advice. As a college student I found myself dreading those long research papers I had to write each year. The Internet would have been a great blessing to me then.

A couple of sites I have found to be particularly helpful are dictionary.com and askoxford.com. Both of these sites deal with current usage and both have several reference tools. They are a wonderful resource for students at any level of study.

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