"Rebel With a Clause": Ellen Jovin's grammar lifeline for word nerds

By Tom Hall,

Malarie Pinkard-Pierre, Teria Rogers, Rob Sivak

Published November 18, 2022 at 12:20 PM EST

Ellen Jovin_credit Brandt Johnson_RebelwithaClause-COVER-combo2.png — Ellen Jovin is a cofounder of Syntaxis, a communication skills training consultancy, and the author of four books on language, most recently "Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian." (Mariner Books/HarperCollins). She is also the creator of a traveling pop-up grammar advice stand called the Grammar Table, whose adventures serve as the basis of this book. Ellen has a B.A. from Harvard College in German studies and an M.A. from UCLA in comparative literature, and has studied twenty-five languages for fun. (photo by Brandt Johnson/cover image: MarinerBooks)

Now, we turn to a grammarian who has written a terrific book that recounts her experience at the Grammar Table, a pop-up resource about grammar questions she set up at a card table in the park near her Manhattan apartment in 2018, and which she has since carried to all 50 states. The book is called Rebel With a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian.

We're delighted that the book's author, Ellen Jovin, is with us, and that we’re setting up the Grammar Table, virtually, here on Midday.

So, word-nerds, let’s hear from you! What are your questions about grammar and usage? How do you handle the Oxford comma? Are you a single-spacer or a double-spacer in-between sentences? And most importantly, how do feel about or my personal favorite: the distinction between the restrictive and nonrestrictive appositive?

Ellen Jovin joins us on Zoom, from New York…

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