Why Aren't We "Grammar Girl"?

The Solipsist is upset.

Yesterday, as we were driving to work, listening to the KFOG morning show (104.5 FM in the Bay Area), the DJ announced that, after the commercial break, they would be joined in the studio by "Grammar Girl."

We nearly plowed into a hedge.

Grammar Girl is one Mignon Fogarty.

(Digression: When she was introduced, we thought her name was Min Yon Fogarty. Briefly, our loathing and envy was replaced by a grudging admiration that a Korean-American had achieved such heights of English fluency as to become Grammar Girl. Then we found out that her name isn't Korean--it's just stupid. EOD.)

(Additional Digression: You don't suppose Grammar Girl will read this, do you? Fingers crossed! EOAD)

Anyway, Fogarty is a podcaster who podcasts from the "Quick and Dirty Tips"site--which, we gather from minimal research, is a cyberbrothel where chronologically-heavyhanded experts from various fields (dog-training, nutrition, "modern manners") offer easy-to-digest advice to the wondering masses. Fogarty is the go-to gal for such talmudic questions as, "Can 'podcast' be used as a verb," and "Is she 'a podcaster who' or 'a podcaster that.'

But who needs Grammar Girl--that podcaster witch! (See what we did there?) You have the Solipsist.

A) Yes, you can use "podcast" as a verb: We just did!

B) It's "a podcaster who": You use "who" when referring to people and "that" when referring to things--although (cool your jets, Grammar Girl!) there is a movement now to use "that" in cases when referring to a non-specific person or group of people: "The baseball player that wins the MVP award will earn a hefty bonus." So, in the above example, you could probably say "the podcaster that," but we encourage the more elegant "who."

See? We could be Grammar Girl!

We want to know how she got her gig. Where did she sign up? Or, if we wish to avoid sentence-ending prepositions, "Up at where did she sign?"

Sloppists, you have a mission: Call your local radio stations, TV executives, podcasting pimps, speakers' bureaus--just, y'know, call anybody!

Equal time for Grammar Boy!