educationMay 20, 202518:20pending

Why 'wake' is so confusing. The playful language of vacations.

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

About this episode

1083. Is it "woke," "woken," or "waked"? We break down why the verb "wake" is one of the trickiest in English, with four competing forms and centuries of change. Then, we lighten things up with a look at vacation vocabulary—from "staycation" to "glamping."

The "wake" segment was written by Natalie Schilling, a professor emerita of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and who runs a forensic linguistics consulting firm. You can find her on LinkedIn.

The "vacation" segment was written by Samantha Enslen, who runs Dragonfly Editorial. You can find her at dragonflyeditorial.com.

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