Category Archives: Language and grammar

German & EU Pharmaceutical Safety using Blindenschrift

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Brian Lawler

I walked into the local Apotheke this afternoon to buy a couple of over-the-counter medicines. Both were easy to find. I paid at the cashier’s counter and turned down an offer for a bag to carry the two small packages. … Continue reading →

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The advertising poster is enjoying a multilingual limelight

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Brian Lawler

(Das Werbeplakat in mehreren Sprachen) I’m doing a casual study of what I call translingual advertisements here in Germany. Germans are famous for being multilingual. They begin studying a second language in elementary school, and many students graduate from college speaking at … Continue reading →

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An obsession with words

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Brian Lawler

Though it has nothing in common with my usual posts, I want to say a few words about my obsession with the New York Times’ Spelling Bee puzzle. It’s fun! It’s cause for insanity. It’s enough to make you either … Continue reading →

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Getting the Typographic Tremors
reading historic roadside signs

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Brian Lawler

I just returned from a 2,018-mile journey up the coast of California, into Oregon, then back by a slightly different route. Along the way I visited and camped in National Parks, State Parks, National Forests, and private campgrounds. Along the … Continue reading →

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Microsoft Word and the newest Amendment to the Constitution

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Brian Lawler

In my most recent essay on Typographic Discipline I discussed apostrophes and quotation marks. Those are important, and they are the most common typographic audacity I see every day. In today’s essay I want to bring to your attention the … Continue reading →

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Introducing Typographic Discipline

Posted on May 27, 2018 by Brian Lawler

After taking several months off from blogging, I am back with a new special column called Typographic Discipline. In the coming months I will be writing and illustrating essays that describe how to create excellent typography. I feel that this … Continue reading →

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Meet Lorem Ipsum

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Brian Lawler

I’m not making this up. Three years ago I was looking at my roll sheet for my Introduction to Graphic Communication course at Cal Poly. About a third of the way down the list I stopped at the name Lauren … Continue reading →

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Why do people (people) put numbers (numbers) in parentheses?

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Brian Lawler

(An interesting note: This has become the most-read blog I have posted. It is also the most-commented blog I have posted with 75 comments. Thousands of people have read it, and it has been the subject of searches tens of … Continue reading →

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Old School typing errors corrected with GREP

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Brian Lawler

When I was 13, my dad forced me to take a business typing class during summer vacation. It was awful, except for the cute girls who were a bit older, and a lot more sophisticated than I was. The teacher … Continue reading →

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Attention all alumni

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Brian Lawler

While chatting with a fellow last night, I learned that he was “an alumni of Cal Poly.” The problem is that he’s not an alumni. He’s an alumnus. This is a problem word, one used almost universally incorrectly in our … Continue reading →

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