Patricia T. O'Conner (born February 19, 1949) is the author of five books about the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

. A former staff editor at ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'', she has appeared regularly as a language commentator for

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and

Iowa Public Radio Iowa Public Radio is a public radio network in the U.S. state of Iowa that combines the operations of most National Public Radio member stations in the state. Its three program streams air programming from NPR, Public Radio Exchange and Ameri ...

. She has written extensively for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', including book reviews,

On Language ''On Language'' was a regular column in the weekly ''New York Times Magazine'' on the English language discussing popular etymology, new or unusual usages, and other language-related topics. The inaugural column was published on February 18, 197 ...

columns, and articles for the op-ed page and the Week in Review section. Her work has also appeared in '' Smithsonian'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', the ''

Literary Review ''Literary Review'' is a British literary magazine founded in 1979 by Anne Smith, then head of the Department of English at the University of Edinburgh. Its offices are on Lexington Street in Soho. The magazine was edited for fourteen years b ...

'' (London), and other publications. A native of

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, she graduated from

Grinnell College Grinnell College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalis ...

in 1971 with a BA in philosophy and received an honorary degree from Grinnell in 2006. She did graduate work in urban journalism at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, before beginning her career as a reporter and editor in 1973. After several years at ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

'' and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', she joined the New York Times in 1982. She and Stewart Kellerman, her husband and co-author of several books and articles, answer questions about the English language on The Grammarphobia Blog.

Publications

*''Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English'' (Riverhead, 4th ed., 2019, ) *''Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language'', co-authored by Kellerman (Random House, 2009, ) *''Woe Is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English'' (Putnam, 2007, ) *''You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online'', co-authored by Kellerman (Harcourt, 2002, ) *''Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing'' (Harcourt, 1999, ) *''The Reader Over Your Shoulder'', by Robert Graves with Alan Hodge; new introduction by Patricia T. O’Conner (Seven Stories Press, 2018, )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconner, Patricia T. Living people Grinnell College alumni Writers from Des Moines, Iowa Etymologists American women journalists The New York Times editors American copy editors Writers of style guides American broadcasters American bloggers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women bloggers 21st-century American women writers 1949 births