English speakers have a penchant for shortening words into contractions — even if the words are already brief. Take, for instance, Joan Jett’s 1980s anthem “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.” In this case, “and” is reduced to a one-letter contraction: ‘n.’  The rock legend embraced a catchy spelling variation of “rock and roll,” but this quirky twist isn’t used by everyone. The AP Stylebook calls for “rock ‘n’ roll,” but Merriam-Webster spells out “rock and roll” (with “rock ‘n’ roll as a variant), and the hall of fame for the music genre uses an ampersand (&) in its title. Nevertheless, you don’t have to be a rock star to use the contraction.

The short ‘n’ is often reserved for select phrases, especially food items, as seen in “fish ‘n’ chips” and “mac ‘n’ cheese,” or in proper names, such as the moniker of hip-hop group “Salt-N-Pepa.” Yet other famous duos, such as “peanut butter and jelly” or “Batman and Robin,” don’t share the same treatment. The decision of when to use ‘n’ isn’t about strict grammar rules but rather personal preference and what feels most natural in context.

The use of ‘n’ is far from a new trend — we’ve been shortening it for more than 150 years. The Oxford English Dictionary traces an early recorded usage back to an 1858 edition of The Atlantic Monthly: “To beat the taown ‘n’ the keounty.” The practice gained further momentum in the early 20th century as newspapers and magazines shifted to a more casual tone.

Yet, when opting to shorten “and,” there’s still the matter of apostrophes: How many are there, and where do they go? While no clear-cut rule dictates the number or positioning, the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster favor bookended apostrophes, as seen in their preferred spellings of “mac ‘n’ cheese” and “rock ‘n’ roll.” Variants with single apostrophe placement, such as “rock n’ roll” or “rock ‘n roll,” are far less common. (However, the first documented appearance of the music genre in print was in a 1938 song lyric, spelled “rock an’ roll.”)  The bookended-apostrophe convention follows a long-standing English tradition in which missing letters are replaced with apostrophes to form contractions, as seen in “don’t” (“do not”) and “’til” (“until”). In the case of “rock ‘n’ roll,” both the first and last letters were dropped, justifying apostrophes at both ends.

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While weighing the pros ‘n’ cons of using ‘n’ in your writing, consider this: The decision should be guided by context and tone. It’s best suited for informal conversations or where it’s a stylistic touch, such as on restaurant menus or in social media posts. The beauty of informal contractions is that they make language feel more fun and approachable when used appropriately.

In a world increasingly overrun with AI-generated content, a recent rumor is making the rounds: If it contains em dashes, it wasn’t written by a human. This notion is mostly unfounded — em dashes (the long dash in this sentence) and other types of punctuation marks aren’t clear AI hallmarks. However, it’s likely the AI tool was trained on writing that used em dashes a bit too liberally, creating writing output scattered with the punctuation mark. Perhaps some writers could stand to exercise more restraint when it comes to wielding the mighty em dash.

“Em” stands for the letter “M,” as the “—” is about the same width as the letter, and the en dash (–) is the width of an “N.” The em dash is the longest, most dramatic punctuation mark in the dash family. It can function as a comma, semicolon, or parentheses, creating a pause or offsetting information with flair. Meanwhile, the more modest en dash and simple hyphen have quieter roles, connecting number ranges and forming compound words, respectively. They’re typically marked safe from overuse. But the em dash? It has become a teacher’s pet among punctuation marks, volunteering at every opportunity.

Reserve em dashes for moments of abrupt thought or emphasis, as in, “She couldn’t believe it — a surprise party!” or “The new TV series — starring Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and George Clooney — is getting rave reviews.” In these instances, no other type of punctuation would garner the same pause or excitement. But remember, the more often you deploy the em dash, the less impact it will have.

While it’s undeniably popular in modern communication, the em dash has been around since 1836, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The mark first made headway in poetry, and by the 20th century, it was nearly impossible to find a poet who didn’t use it. Consider Robert Frost’s memorable lines from The Road Not Taken (1916): “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” The use of a different punctuation mark is unthinkable.

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Even Shakespeare adopted an early form of a long dash to indicate pauses in his playwriting, revealing a long-standing desire to build suspense or amplify drama by using this clever piece of punctuation. Just remember to take a page from Shakespeare’s playbook and use it only when necessary to make a lasting impression.

When it comes to pluralizing standard English nouns, the rules are relatively straightforward: Add an “-s” to the end of most words, or in some cases, “-es” or “-ies.” However, things become more complicated when dealing with words of Latin origin. For example, “focus” (from the Latin focus, meaning “hearth” or “fireplace”) follows a traditional Latin form of pluralization: Drop the “-us” and add “-i.” This turns one “focus” into multiple “foci,” as in, “The press conference identified several key foci for further investigation.” 

That said, if “foci” feels too formal or unfamiliar, there is an alternative. Per Merriam-Webster (and other language authorities), the plural version “focuses” is perfectly acceptable. This variant, which follows standard English pluralization patterns, may feel more natural to native English speakers. Consider this version: “The press conference identified several key focuses…“ This pattern tracks with other Latin-root terms ending in “-us,” such as “thesaurus.” It can be pluralized using the Latin version, “thesauri,” or in the English-friendly way, “thesauruses” (although the latter sounds like a resident of Jurassic Park, IMO).

Other Latin plurals are known to cause grammar mayhem. Some Latin terms ending in “-um” adopt an “-a” in the plural, as seen in “curriculum,” which becomes “curricula” — “The professors had their curricula ready for the new semester.” The word “media” also follows this pluralization pattern. Though “media” is often used in the singular and plural today, it was initially only plural, and the singular version was “medium.” English plural rules have been layered on top of the Latin with “media,” as we might hear a newscaster say something like: “The medias from the involved countries will be present at the closing ceremony.” 

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In the same way, a podium can become multiple podia, and more than one stadium would technically be stadia. However, we often see the plural forms written as “podiums” and “stadiums,” indicating that Latin-derived words are prone to dual plurals that better align with modern English norms.

Whether you choose “foci” and “fungi” or “focuses” and “funguses,” pluralization of Latin-derived words is often a matter of preference and context. While the Latin plural remains the more formal choice, the anglicized version is widely accepted.