Paul Brians, professor in the English department at Washington State University, will be a guest on Scott Simon’s Weekend Edition on National Public Radio (NPR) July 14. Weekend Edition Saturday airs from 6 to 10 a.m.
Brians, author of “Common Errors in English Usage,” will talk to Simon about his humorous Web page, “Mr. Gradgrind’s Literal Answers to Rhetorical Questions.”
The name of the Web page honors a character in Charles Dicken’s “Hard Times,” Brians said. Mr. Gradgrind is a teacher who hates when students show any imagination and wants them to use hard facts only.
On his Web site, Brians transforms hard-fact information into humor by answering rhetorical questions never intended to get an answer in the first place. On the site, readers can find answers to questions such as “where are the snows of yesteryear?” or “what’s up, Doc?”
Here is the link to review Mr. Gradgrind’s answers:
https://www.wsu.edu/~brians/gradgrind.html
https://www.wsu.edu/~brians/gradgrind.html
