{"podcast":{"title":"Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.","slug":"grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700","podcast_index_feed_id":159700,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/69c1476c007cdcf83fc0964b","website_url":"https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/69c1476c007cdcf83fc0964b/show-cover.jpg","author":"Mignon Fogarty, Inc.","episode_count":1044,"summary":"Five-time winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing and feed your love of the English language. Whether English is your first language or your second language, these grammar, punctuation, style, and business tips will make you a better and more successful writer. Grammar Girl is a Quick and Dirty Tips podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-21T18:19:52.384784+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700"},"episode":{"title":"Should you start a sentence with 'hopefully'? Why we might not recognize alien language.","slug":"should-you-start-a-sentence-with-hopefully-why-we-might-not-recognize-alien-language","published_at":"2026-04-21T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/should-you-start-a-sentence-with-hopefully-why-we-might-not-recognize-alien-language","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700","url":"https://shows.acast.com/grammar-girl/episodes/1178","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69c1476c007cdcf83fc0964b/e/69de47d98424efe84cc7a81d/media.mp3","summary":"1178. Do you cringe when someone says \"Hopefully, he'll pass the test\"? This week, we look at why \"hopefully\" as a sentence adverb has been controversial for decades, even though the Associated Press accepted it in 2012, and it's been common since the 1930s. Then, we look at xenolinguistics — the study of alien languages — asking what human languages have in common and why (and how) alien languages might be completely different. The xenolinguistics segment was by Natalie Schilling . 🔗  Join the Grammar Girl Patreon. 🔗  Share your familect recording in   Speakpipe  or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) 🔗  Watch my   LinkedIn Learning writing courses . 🔗  Subscribe to the   newsletter . 🔗  Find an edited   transcript . 🔗  Get   Grammar Girl books . | HOST: Mignon Fogarty | Grammar Girl is part of  the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network . Audio Engineer:  Castria Communications Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian Podcast Associate: Maram Elnagheeb | Theme music by  Catherine Rannus . | Grammar Girl Social Media:  YouTube .  TikTok .  Facebook .  Threads .  Instagram .  LinkedIn .  Mastodon .  Bluesky . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"1178. Do you cringe when someone says \"Hopefully, he'll pass the test\"? This week, we look at why \"hopefully\" as a sentence adverb has been controversial…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1086,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/episodes/should-you-start-a-sentence-with-hopefully-why-we-might-not-recognize-alien-language/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/grammar-girl-for-writers-and-language-lovers-159700/should-you-start-a-sentence-with-hopefully-why-we-might-not-recognize-alien-language.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}