Thu
Feb
2nd
Shakespeare the Dude
We all know William Shakespeare as the maestro of medieval English, and we tend to picture him in our minds as a nerdy genius. Back in his day, however, he was seen as a bohemian artist with many controversies surrounding his life. Back then, we would have seen him more as a ‘cool dude’ rather than a ‘nerdy genius’.
Shakespeare wrote many plays during his time and even these days, he is known for his flair for the English language. Dr Jonathan Hope of the University of Strathclyde believes that Shakespeare left his legacy more through grammar skills rather than through the words he coined. For myself, I can’t fully appreciate Shakespearean English because of its abstract grammar, but I recognize Shakespeare’s genius and talent.
In fact, Shakespeare’s legacy was not due to his genius alone. Shakespeare lived in a time when the usage of English was flexible. This, coupled with the fact that Shakespeare was a playwright and not a scholar, allowed him a conducive environment to flourish in his art. Being a playwright meant he had artistic control and could be creative and ground-breaking with his grammar and words. Living in a time when the English language was more flexible meant that society would be more accepting of Shakespeare’s work and not write it off as ‘bad English’. Instead, it was known as ‘Shakespearean English’ with reference to his English grammar. Maybe one day we will add a version of Shakespearean English to the existing versions of American and British English that we have on Ginger’s grammar checker 
Today, we no longer use the English of Shakespeare but his legacy lives on. English grammar has evolved dramatically over the years and the language is not as flexible as before. In time to come, the English language would have changed even more and the English we use today may well become ‘Shakespearean’!
But for our loyal fans and friends, you don’t have to worry about such grammar changes in the English language because at Ginger, we keep up with the times and evolve in sync with current trends. You can say we’re in vogue!
Parting is such sweet sorrow,
Paul and the Ginger Team
Posted in Archive
Wed
Jan
18th
Ginger Proofreader is Going Free!
Hooray, our proofreader, which is the world’s leading grammar and spelling checker, is available for free from now on!
More information to follow, we just wanted to give a heads up to the loyal readers of our blog and to their friends. Feel free to spread the word!
To download, click here and follow the easy installation steps. Why miss out? Just a couple mouse clicks, and poof – your spelling and grammar mistakes will be gone
Wishing you a wonderful day, full of surprises,
The Ginger writing-fairy.
Posted in Archive, English writing, Grammar, Proofreading, Spelling
Thu
Dec
29th
Ginger’s New Facebook Page, and a Holiday Special!
Like Ginger? Want to be the first to know about our latest news, upcoming features, and promotions? Interested in learning a new grammar or spelling fact every day?
Posted in Archive
Mon
Dec
26th
Holiday Special! 20% Off Ginger Now!
Want error-free holiday cards? Looking to have a clean 2012, without grammar or spelling mistakes? Want to give a friend the gift of more polished texts? We’re offering our leading product, Ginger Premium, at 20% off for our blog readers/facebook fans!
Click on Ginger-Santa to buy now. Coupon code is: Xmas11.
Wishing you happy holidays and a happy new year, from all of us at Ginger!
Posted in Archive
Wed
Dec
7th
Holiday Special! Black Friday fraud, cranberry takeover, and holiday gifts for the grammatically challenged
For those of you who have celebrated Thanksgiving, we hope it was a delicious and meaningful one. For those of you who haven’t had the chance, we’re going to try and make up for it with this holiday special spelling news flash!
As Long As You Must Cheat, Cheat Properly
Cranberry or Cranbury? Who Cares, if it’s Delicious
Grammar Gifts for the Grammatically Challenged
Posted in Archive, English writing, Proofreading, Spelling
Tue
Nov
29th
Punctuation is important? Punctuation is important!
When talking about proofreading it’s common to focus mostly on grammar and spelling, and punctuation is often left out of the discussion. But don’t be fooled – punctuation is something one should pay close attention to while proofreading. Why?
Posted in Archive, English writing, Proofreading
Wed
Nov
16th
Bye Bye Auto Correct, Hello Madonna!
What do Madonna and your iPhone have in common? Both check spelling! The question is if both succeed…
Posted in English writing, Proofreading, Spelling
Tue
Nov
8th
A Spelling Dilemma, or…Dilemna?!
How do you spell ‘dilemma’? Do you spell ‘dilemma’ or ‘dilemna’?
I recently played a game of spelling bee with my friend Sam. When the word dilemma came up he was certain that ‘d-i-l-e-m-n-a’ was the correct spelling. To settle our dilemma, we ran a quick spell check online and found out that many English users had encountered the same spelling question. Fascinated by this mysterious puzzle, I embarked on a quest to get to the bottom of this common spelling mistake.
For readers who are not sure of what ‘dilemma’ means, it refers to the situation when a difficult choice has to be made between two or more equally desirable (or undesirable) alternatives. For example, ‘I’m in a dilemma. I am not sure if I should stay at my current job and get a salary increase, or move on to a more satisfying job that pays less.’
The origin of the word comes from the Greek. Some online users proposed that the mistake originated from book misprints (m and n are easily confused!) while others suggested it was colonial error. Many swear that they were taught the ‘mna’ spelling throughout their education, and posted photos of decade old dictionaries to prove it. Others simply ridicule the -mna spelling. Ginger, in case you were wondering, does not recognize it as correct spelling.
So where does this mistake come from? There are many ongoing debates online, but none of it comes close to a consensus on the origin of the mistake. As the Linguistic Society of America puts it, the English language is always evolving to adapt to users’ needs. Whichever spelling you are used to, we all have to admit that language is a beautiful, yet complex creation, isn’t it? Being complex as it is, remember to always spell check your writing…
Have more spelling dilemmas? Ask us on our facebook page!
Wishing you a dilemma-free week,
Joy and the Ginger team
Posted in Archive, English Language, Proofreading, Spelling
Mon
Oct
24th
BBQ, Punctuation, and Dyslexia
Here is a collection of things we came across this past week. What have we here? Spelling, punctuation, dyslexia and food. Fun!
Dyslexia Awareness Month
Frequent Question: One or Two Spaces After a Period?
Another Frequent Spelling Question: BBQ?
Mon
Oct
3rd
Grammar and Spelling news of the week!
We thought we’d put together a little collection of the most interesting grammar or spelling news we came across this past week. If you’re not following us on Facebook yet, check it out! There’s plenty more on our page.
So what happened in the world of grammar this week?
National Punctuation Day
Oxford English Dictionary adds the word “Kewl”
Rock and Pop spelling chaos
Google explains the grammar rules of +1
Posted in Archive