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Barbara Wallraff

Visit Barbara Wallraff’s blog, at barbarawallraff .theatlantic.com, to see more commentary on language and to submit Word Fugitive queries and words that meet David K. Prince’s need. Readers whose queries are published and those who take top honors will receive an autographed copy of Wallraff’s most recent book, Word Fugitives. More

Barbara WallraffBarbara Wallraff, a contributing editor and columnist for The Atlantic, has worked for the magazine for 25 years. She is also a weekly syndicated newspaper columnist for King Features and the author of Word Fugitives (2006), Your Own Words (2004), and the national best-seller Word Court (2000). Her writing about language has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Wilson Quarterly, The American Scholar, and The New York Times Magazine.

Wallraff has been an invited speaker at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the National Writers Workshop, the Nieman Foundation, Columbia Journalism School, the British Institute Library of Florence, and national or international conventions of the American Copy Editors Society, the Council of Science Editors, the International Education of Students organization, and the Journalism Education Association. She has been interviewed about language on the Nightly News With Tom Brokaw and dozens of radio programs including Fresh Air, The Diane Rehm Show, and All Things Considered. National Public Radio's Morning Edition once commissioned her to copy edit the U.S. Constitution. She is a member of the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel. The Genus V edition of the game Trivial Pursuit contains a question about Wallraff and her Word Court column.

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Issue March 2009

In a Word

Laundry as lingua franca; flow stoppers… More »

Issue January 2009

In a Word

Mind control-alt-delete; liminal laundry… More »

Issue December 2008

Word Fugitives

Articles of agreement; dishwasher dictators… More »

Issue November 2008

In a Word

Eloquence contretemps; ages of fable… More »

Issue October 2008

Word Fugitives

Illustration by Greg Clarke … More »

Issue September 2008

Word Court

Wrong time to write right; expressing discretion… More »

Issue July 2008

Word Fugitives

Illustration by Greg Clarke… More »

Issue June 2008

Word Court

Plurals at the Pentagon; identifying flying objects… More »

Issue May 2008

Word Fugitives

Marking exes' spots; living in excess… More »

Issue April 2008

Word Court

Cut to the chase; dictionary dilemmas… More »

Issue March 2008

Word Fugitives

Baby making; turn off the phone!… More »

Issue January 2008

Word Court

Rules of thump; settling the score… More »

Issue December 2007

Word Fugitives

Cringe benefits; mastering drykwondo… More »

Issue November 2007

Word Court

By the pocketbook; "etymologic" debates… More »

Issue October 2007

Word Fugitives

Our cars, ourselves; affair-whether friends… More »

Issue September 2007

Word Court

The art of ant eating; another N word… More »

Issue July 2007

Word Fugitives

Toeing the line; Oh, no, you dishn't!… More »

Issue June 2007

Word Court

Dubious distinctions; the F-word… More »

Issue May 2007

Word Fugitives

Mockingbird blu; technological no-how… More »

Issue April 2007

Word Court

Fast and unloose; late-model blues… More »

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Where in the World? Part 3: A Google Earth Puzzle

May 25, 2012

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