About the Grammar Hotline

"Grammar operates on the principle that if it sounds right, it is probably wrong."_-Anon

Since its inception in 1984, the UWF Grammar Hotline has responded to nearly six thousand callers' inquiries about grammar, syntax, diction, mechanics, spelling, pronunciation, and usage. The Hotline is managed by trained and experienced hotline operators under the auspices of the Writing Lab Director and UWF's Faculty of English and Foreign Languages.

Hotline callers are allowed up to 3 questions per day for which they are given a carefully researched response based on preferred usage and/or conventional wisdom. Callers may not read or fax entire documents to the Hotline operators for editing. Callers are asked to provide their names and phone numbers for Hotline utilization records.

Emailing Us Your Grammar Question

Providing you with a quick, accurate, and accessible response is important to us.

Once the Writing Lab receives your question, the response is researched and given to the Writing Lab and Grammar Hotline director for review and approval. Please allow time for this process and expect an emailed response within three to five business days. If you need a response within twenty-four hours, please contact us at the number below.

Please remember also that the Writing Lab is closed for one to two weeks between semesters and during extended breaks such as Christmas; therefore, no hotline operators will be available to research and answer your question(s).

Thank you for emailing the Write People! Remember, we don't make up an answer; we look it up.

Writing Lab Foundation Account

If you would like to donate to the Writing Lab's Foundation Account so that we can continue to provide an online and telephone Grammar Hotline service, please contact the Lab for more information, or make your check payable to Writing Lab Foundation Account #5911 and mail it to UWF Writing Lab, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida 32514.

The UWF Grammar Hotline Staff

writelab@uwf.edu

(850) 474-2129
Mamie Webb Hixon
Director

The Hotline is also listed in the "National Grammar Hotline Directory," a publication of Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In addition, the Hotline has been advertised in office newsletters and brochures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have questions like these? Then call (850) 474-2129 or email writelab@uwf.edu

1. My principal concern is your business principles. Should principal be changed to principle?
2. The clerical duties will be divided between the receptionist and (I, me, myself). Which is correct?
3. What’s the difference between brackets and parentheses, hyphens and dashes?
4. Is it all right to separate numbers like telephone numbers and zip codes at the end of a line?
5. Is the salutation of a business letter always followed by a colon?
6. Is “To whom it may concern” still correct?
7. Should a person’s name appear in the heading of a letter?
8. Is it better to use downsized, terminated, or fired?
9. Is credentialize a word?
10. Are periods placed inside or outside closing quotation marks?
11. Is it sexist to use a masculine pronoun to refer to a word with dual gender like employee?
12. Is it a historical or an historical occasion?
13. Should job titles be capitalized?
14. Is irregardless a word?
15. What’s the difference between insure and ensure?