Capital Vs Capitol...Thank You Grammar Girl!

I subscribe to a lot of podcasts. I used to listen to all of them, religiously. It was too the point that I was spending time I could have spent listening to books, or writing stories my own stories (or, participating in activities others associate with life...). My wife told me that I "didn't have to listen to every one of them."

You know what?

She's right.

Since then, I've been more selective about the podcasts I listen to. There are some--the ones shorter in duration--that I hardly ever miss. Listening to them on double speed makes it easy to hear a five-minute or ten-minute long podcast. It's the ones that are an hour or two long that I tend to skip.

It's not just podcast length that dictates whether or not I listen, topic makes a big difference. I subscribe to many podcasts to assist my writing habit. I almost never pass them up. The good news is, they're mostly short, between ten and twenty minutes. One of my favorites is Mignon Fogarty's Grammar Girl Podcast. If you haven't heard it before, give it a try. Her upbeat voice, timely topics, and humorous examples make the time listening very enjoyable.

Which brings me to Mignon's latest edition, entitled Capital vs Capitol. Even though I write daily, I have trouble with many of the little things of language. I try to think of ways to remember the rules, but it's difficult sometimes. There's so many little quirks associated with languages.

One of those quirks that had plagued me over the years is capital vs capitol. It wasn't until to day that I learned that capitol with an "O" deals with buildings, and that's it. My way of remembering the rule with these two words was capitol with an "O" dealt with government, and capital with an "A" dealt with money. Thanks to Mignon, I now know the difference.

Of course, I could have done a little research on the subject. The problem was/is, I would forget after being faced with the O vs A dilemma and I wouldn't think about it until it happened again.

I will most likely continuing listening to those writing podcasts. They are usually entertaining and by the end, you've learned something. Thanks Grammar Girl--what a capital podcast!