Why Mistake-free Writing on Your Phone Is So Valuable

Remember when phones were used exclusively for making phone calls? (Hard to believe, right?) Now we use our smartphones for all sorts of fun things . . . like sending text messages, answering emails, posting on Facebook, commenting on our favorite cat videos, and even finding true love.

While the freedom and flexibility of using a mobile device is awesome—the frustration that comes from typing on a tiny touch screen is not so great.

No matter how accurate your typing skills are on a full-size qwerty keyboard, it’s inevitable that you’re going to hit some wrong letters when typing on your smartphone. And then features like autocorrect have a way of making things extra interesting.

Text exchange with my 12 year old daughter yesterday #autocorrect pic.twitter.com/ugIuFPKlaF

— David J. Doorey (@TheLawofWork) July 22, 2015

These garbled messages are occasionally hilarious, but more often they’re confusing, and sometimes they can be pretty embarrassing.

If you’re tired of dealing with annoying typos and punctuation issues on your phone, we’ve got some good news. Grammarly has made the jump to iOS! (Don’t worry, we’re coming to Android soon.)

Typing on a tiny keyboard may always be a chore, but thanks to the Grammarly Mobile Keyboard, you can say so long to embarrassing messages and horrendous grammar. Here are three reasons mistake-free writing on your phone is so valuable.

1Clearer Communication

Being misunderstood can cause problems. If you’ve ever texted your partner a grocery list, you may have figured this out. (You needed red sauce, not red socks. How was that not obvious?)

It’s important to make your meaning crystal clear the first time around. Whether you’re texting a coworker your lunch order or creating an important event on Facebook, we think using your phone should make communication easier, not harder.

Our new mobile keyboard catches those easy-to-make mistakes in punctuation and spelling. So the next time you’re submitting a support ticket for your favorite app, the help desk will know you’re having trouble with “direct messaging” and not “dotweb meditating.”

And when you comment on your friend’s baking blog, fellow readers will understand that “carrot cake” is your favorite, not “carpet cake” (which may lead to some awkward questions).

2It Saves You Time

Don’t you love getting things right the first time? It’s hard to avoid errors when you type on your smartphone, and having to go back and fix mistakes in every message can get pretty tedious.

But when your errors are fixed instantly while you’re typing, you no longer have to waste time manually correcting them.

…Or sending multiple follow-up messages to clarify what you tried to say in your original message.

…Or apologizing for the nonsense you wrote in your original message.

With efficient, error-free writing, your message is ready to send as soon as you finish it. You won’t have to stress over missing an error in that important email to your client or worry about texting your boss something that will be embarrassing later.

3It Helps You Make a Positive Impression

Using correct grammar is essential for maintaining your credibility in business—both as an individual knowledge worker and when you’re communicating on behalf of your company.

Life and work can get busy though, and sometimes you’ll need to answer important work emails even when you’re not at your desk. Mistake-free writing on your phone will help you keep your communication at the same level of professionalism your clients and colleagues expect, despite being away from your computer.

So when a potential client needs a quick turnaround on an estimate, you can use your phone to type a detailed, error-free response on your train ride home.

Or when your boss sends you an urgent question about your TPS report while you’re out to lunch, there’s no need to rush back to the office. You can quickly respond on your phone with a well-written reply, then get back to chatting with your server about the “flair” on their vest.

via GIPHY

And it turns out good grammar isn’t just important for your professional life, it matters for your dating life too.

A Match.com study found that 88% of women users and 75% of men said grammar usage in messaging was the single “most important quality” they judged a potential date on.

Ouch.

Similarly, another survey found that almost half of all singles using the Zoosk dating site considered poor grammar to be a deal breaker. Many participants saw bad grammar as an indication that someone was unintelligent, uneducated, or “lazy,” and an impressive 72% were “turned off” by bad spelling.

So, there are some great benefits to staying on top of your grammar game when writing with your phone: greater clarity and speed when typing, showing up as the successful professional you are, and making the best impression possible when communicating with potential dates.

If you haven’t downloaded the new Grammarly keyboard for your smartphone yet, click here to try it out!

The Post-Vacation Blues: Is There Any Way to Beat Them?

You’re getting your tan on at the beach. You’re living your Lord of the Rings fantasy on a mountaintop. Maybe you’re just catching a snooze on a couch. What matters: you’re on vacation.

But then, with a sudden jolt, the freedom you briefly tasted is snatched away. Jetlag ensues. The alarm clock goes off. You’re back under the fluorescent lights of your office. How do you bounce back?

Beating the post-vacation blues isn’t an easy task. But try these tricks and self-reminders and you’ll be well on your way.

Newsflash! Feeling weird after vacation is normal

Post-vacation blues, post-vacation depression, having trouble getting back into your routine, or even crying after vacation are all very common phenomena. Don’t believe us? Just ask Psychology Today or WebMD. They’re doctors.

The main cure is time, but with a few extra boosts, you can shrink that time down and be back to waking up with a smile on your face every morning.

Okay, we can’t totally promise that. But you’ll at least get rid of that nasty feeling of wishing you were somewhere else.

Plan to beat your blues before they start

It sounds painful: all you want to think about is the glorious vacay that awaits, not the possibility that it could ever end. But do some prep, and your post-vacation self will thank your pre-vacation self.

Plan for your return before you leave

Planning for getting back can be as simple as making a list of the projects you were in the middle of before you left and first tasks to tackle once you’re back. It’s easy to push everything out of your head while you’re away, so even a gentle reminder can help you get back on track.

Come up with a recovery strategy

If jetlag is involved, plan for extra sleep, or different hours if you have time zones to acclimate to.

If thousands of emails are involved, set aside some time on your calendar to trudge through those. (And make sure you write them clearly and assertively, no matter how bleh you feel.)

If you think you might be sad when you get back from your vacation, leave yourself positive notes. If you write them while you’re still in anticipation mode, the good vibes will rub off on your future self when it’s in grieving mode.

And if you feel like grieving: grieve. It’s all part of the recovery.

Allow yourself a mourning period

What’s the point of beating yourself up about being sad about being back from vacation? Acknowledge your need to wallow for a few days. And wallow well:

Give yourself leeway

Maybe you allow yourself that chocolate bar or just stare at the wall until your brain returns to solid form. Let yourself be sad for a bit. But give yourself a deadline, and then decide to feel better.

Have methods for cheering yourself up

Candy. Music video breaks. Animal pictures. Whatever gives you comfort, get it.

Hold on to your vacation

That is, hold on to the positive memories, but don’t cling to them for dear life. Here, as in everything, it’s important to find balance.

Be grateful for your vacation

Every time you catch yourself thinking “It sucks to be back,” change your mindset: think about your favorite memories from the trip, and remind yourself how happy you were at that moment.

And no, don’t sink into the pit of thinking how happy you were then compared to how miserable you are now. Just picture that great memory, and force yourself to feel some gratitude.

Integrate your trip into your regular life

That doesn’t mean pack your bags and move to Berlin, or make backpacking Peru your day job. It means you tack a picture of your favorite spot to the wall by your desk. Or learn how to cook the best dish you discovered while away. Or take a language class so next time you go to that place, you’ll be able to have a real chat. There are lots of ways to bring your vacation spot home with you.

Suck it up and let it go

Didn’t we just say “hold on to your vacation,” and now we’re all “let it go”? They’re not as different as you think. After all, you’ve done your mourning. You ate the chocolate and revisited your favorite ’90s vids. But at a certain point, you’ve got to stop wallowing and dive back in.

Find the fun in your routine

That morning cup of extra-special coffee. The coworker who always has something nerdy and unexpected to say (weird ideas for celebrating Star Wars Day, for instance). The sense of satisfaction when you wrap up an important project.

Sure, those aren’t as fun as exploring the lake region of Uganda or the Martian landscape of Iceland, but there’s a lot to be said for appreciating the little things.

And if you truly need help getting back in the groove, here are tips to stop procrastinating, take productive breaks, get inspired to write, beat writer’s block, and clean up your writing.

Start thinking about your next vacation

Sure, it’s not the healthiest if you’re just living one trip to the next and existing as a business-casual zombie in between. But having something to look forward to can add an extra dose of motivation to where you are in the time being. Whether you start looking at flights or just do some image searches of potential spots, the daydream factor can give you a boost.

Live it up where you are

A good way to make sure you’re not just counting down the days until your next trip is to find new and exciting things in your own time zone. Crazy idea: fun and familiar things will do the trick, too.

Maybe there’s a pretty hike people have recommended, or a restaurant you haven’t tried, or a part of town you’ve never explored. On the familiar end of things, you can binge on your favorite TV show, make a reservation at a restaurant with your preferred comfort food, or schedule visits with all the friends you missed while you were away.

If you fill your calendar with things to look forward to, you could discover whole new worlds in your own backyard. Or on the flipside, find out that your yard is a pretty comfy place to be. The busier you are, the sooner you’ll get back into your routine—and actually start enjoying it again, too.

Remember Dorothy’s words of wisdom

That’s right: there’s no place like home. It’s certainly a thrill to get off the airplane and think “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” but there’s a lot of comfort in coming back to familiar surroundings. Notice the ones that make you happy, and savor them. Reminding yourself to appreciate your home can make even black-and-white reality seem like a Technicolor adventure.

Why Is Groundhog Day a Holiday? An Investigation

According to tradition and lore, Groundhog Day is when you find out whether spring is on its way or whether you’ve got six more weeks before winter runs its course. Observed on February 2, the holiday involves watching a rodent pop its head out of the ground and predicting the weather based on that.

Here’s how it works: if you’ve got cloudy skies when the groundhog shows up, then you can expect an early spring. If it’s sunny, then the groundhog sees its shadow and heads back into its burrow to keep up the hibernation, and winter sticks around for another six weeks.

At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. According to the National Centers for Climatic Information, the groundhogs get it right about 40% of the time. Still, this is a holiday about traditions, not accuracy. So to learn the full origin of Groundhog Day—linguistically and historically—read on.

Origin of the word

“Groundhog” is a compound word, and the two words that make it up give a pretty clear explanation of what it is. “Ground” means the solid surface of the Earth. Makes sense: that’s where groundhogs hang out. A “hog” is a hoofed animal, and the word is most often associated with pigs. The hefty oinkers we now think of as hogs may not be exactly twins of the rodent we call the “groundhog,” but the latter’s turned-up snout, tendency to burrow, and usually pudgy shape might have led to the use of “hog” to describe it.

If you’re not convinced by the “hog” connection, you’re not alone. Before the word “groundhog” became widely accepted, other names for the animal were also used. The most common were “whistlepig,” because of the sound they make when frightened, and “land beaver,” because of their resemblance to those flat-tailed dam builders who live in the water.

There’s also “woodchuck,” which is still used by the Brits. Even though a woodchuck can, in theory, “chuck wood,” the word actually comes from otchok or wejak, words for the animal in Algonquian (a group of North American Indian languages).

But back to groundhogs. The first known appearance of the word “groundhog” was in 1784. Less than a decade after American Independence, settlers in the United States were getting to know the lay of the land around them—including the wildlife. Over the next decades, they developed traditions and celebrations involving those critters.

Origin of the holiday

Differing accounts trace Groundhog Day to the 1840s, 1870s, or (more officially) 1887. Before any of those dates, the Christian holiday Candlemas was celebrated on February 2. Over time, and specifically in German immigrant settlements in Pennsylvania, this day came to be associated with the groundhog, too.

Burrowing through the dirt to find the earliest records of the celebration, here’s what we find:

In 1841, a storekeeper’s diary in Morgantown, Pennsylvania included the following:

Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

Thirty years later, Maximillian Schele de Vere wrote a book called Americanisms: The English of the New World. In it, he explained:

Candlemas is known as Ground-hog Day, for on that day the ground-hog comes annually out of his hole, after a long winter nap, to look for his shadow.

Even before our friends the groundhogs got involved, Candlemas was associated with predicting when spring would come. An old English song contained the lyrics:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,

Come, Winter, have another flight.

Isn’t history-hunting fun? Now we’re getting somewhere.

Things got official in 1887, when the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania started referring to a local groundhog as their official meteorologist. The tradition has only grown from there. Officially, the historical hog is named “Punxsutawney Phil,” though groundhogs of other names have also made predictions over the years.

How to celebrate today

Punxsutawney is the official home of the groundhog who has made February 2 famous, and Gobbler’s Knob is the hill where the annual shadow-observing ceremony takes place. Punxsutawney Phil is famous in his own right, but he skyrocketed to greater fame with the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray.

After the movie’s success, Gobbler’s Knob has seen an annual influx of tourists numbering up to 30,000. Not bad for an old tradition—thanks a bunch, Hollywood.

In addition to inspiring a film and spawning a hot tourist trap, Groundhog Day has kept up with the times in other ways. If you’re curious about what Punxsutawney Phil will say about the springtime this year but can’t make it to the Gobbler’s Knob festivities, you can text “Groundhog” to 247365 to find out whether you can pack away the layers.

Whether you make the trek to Gobbler’s Knob, send Phil a friendly text, or just stick your hand out the window to feel the temperature until it finally feels like spring, now you know the history of the groundhog and his weather wisdom.

Learn Your Homophones: Pear, Pair, and Pare

Pair: two of something, usually that are similar or go together. For example:

I’m going to buy a new pair of shoes.

Johnny and Sally make a cute pair.

Pear: a fruit. For example:

Rufus is eating an apple, and I am eating a pear.

The pear was ripe and juicy.

Pare: trim (something) by cutting away its outer edges; cut the skin off of something; reduce (something) in size, extent, quantity, or number, usually in a number of small successive stages. For example:

Each summer he pares a large number of branches from the trees in the backyard.

When making an apple pie, pare the skin off the apples first

.

They have significantly pared down the number of people on their team.

Now that you know the difference between these words see if this sentence makes sense to you:

Before I eat them, I will pare this pair of pears.

To learn more about confusing words, read this post about word pairs.

Funny Phrases: The Hair of the Dog

The morning after a long night out, a friend might recommend you start your day with ‘the hair of the dog.’ No, she doesn’t want you to rub your face up against her pet golden retriever. According to dictionary.com, to offer someone ‘the hair of the dog’ is to recommend that they consume a small amount of whatever caused their ailment. If you drank a lot of alcohol last night and you’re feeling hungover, the ‘hair of the dog’ might be something like a bloody mary or mimosa—a drink that has a little alcohol in it.

Where did this canine-centric phrase come from? It turns out that ‘hair of the dog’ is a shortened version of the phrase, ‘the hair of the dog that bit me.’ Back in medieval times, if someone was bitten by a rabid dog it was believed that putting some of that dog’s hair (according to some sources, burnt hair) in the wound would help heal it.

If you’re wondering about the origins of another word or phrase, let us know in the comments!