OK, so I’m not the Mistress of All Evil. I am a damn fine writer. But nobody’s perfect. #trudat

I recently discovered one of my grammatical pet peeves isn’t actually incorrect. This is the second time this has happened to me this year. It’s enough to make a writer-grrl question her own recollection of the AP Stylebook or Strunk + White’s Elements of Style.

Earlier this year, I saw till used as an abbreviation for until for the kazillionth time, & I grew so annoyed [till is what gardeners do to soil; ’til is a briefer version of until – fools!] that I researched it . . . & found till is a perfectly appropriate & acceptable abbreviation of until.

Cue Emily Litella: “Never mind.”
I tell you, folks, my writerly world was rocked. But hey, you learn something new every day, right?

So I was planning to preach a little grammar gospel about myriad. I see & hear it used frequently, most often as a noun, as in America has experienced a myriad of scary-ass shootings this summer. Which has been making me insane, because myriad is an adjective, not a noun [idiots! imbeciles!]; it should read America has experienced myriad scary-ass shootings this summer.

Right? Umm . . . no. Research reveals myriad may be used as either an adjective or a noun. Dang.

A helpful linguistic sidenote: Myriad is derived from the Greek term for ten thousand. So it’s probably not accurate to use it to describe the number of scary-ass shootings of the summer, but it’s OK to use it to describe the number of maniacs in a popular late-80’s band fronted by Natalie Merchant.

I know, right? Who knew? Well, now I do – and hey, you do, too!
& when we know better, we write better. You’re welcome!

P.S. It’s a good thing they didn’t let me name that band; I totally would’ve called them Myriad Maniacs. Because alliteration.