In my career as a journalist and scholar I have written about sex – a lot. I have written about religion and politics. I have written about the millennium and the Holocaust. I wrote a 29-part series ...

Apostrophes are the curly floating commas in sentences that usually indicate possession or a contraction. There are a few set phrases and holidays, however, that also use apostrophes. In fact, ...

He walks softly and carries a big stick. He uses it to make marks that look like little sticks. He prowls the streets at night, terrorizing shopkeepers and sign makers alike. But I’m betting regular ...

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Mark Twain’s encounter with a particular foreign tongue inspired an essay called “The Awful German Language.” Welcome to a new feature of this column. We won’t call it “The Awful English Language.” ...

As any regular reader of this column can tell you, possessives aren't as hard as they seem. Usually, if you just take it slow and remember the rules, you can avoid mistakes like "the Smith's house" ...

Wednesday was a dark day for the apostrophe, used in the English language to indicate the possessive case ("Joe's Pub") or a contraction ("I'm here."). In New York, apostrophes took center stage in ...