Geoffrey Pullum Professor Geoffrey K. Pullum ( born March 8 , 1945 in Irvine , Scotland ) is a linguist specialising in the study of English . ( The surname Pullum is pronounced [ 'pʊləm ] . ) Biography Geoffrey Pullum had , by his own admission , a very mediocre academic career before university , ending in his leaving secondary school early at age 16 . After working in several jobs and performing as part of the rock band Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band , he enrolled in the University of York in 1968 , graduating in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours . In 1976 he completed a PhD in linguistics at the University of London . Pullum left Britain in 1980 , taking visiting positions at the University of Washington and Stanford University . He has worked at the University of California , Santa Cruz since 1981 . In 1987 he became a citizen of the USA . As of 2004 , he is Professor of Linguistics and Distinguished Professor of Humanities . He teaches classes on English grammar ( based on his 2002 work The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language and A Student 's Introduction to English Grammar ) , Unix , and some graduate courses in addition to his research . Though somewhat unassuming in appearance , Pullum is known to have quite the sense of humour , occasionally cracking jokes in class and heckling a few of his students ( but in good fun ) . Pullum is also a frequent contributor to the blog Language Log upon which he can often be found arguing for linguistic descriptivism . Selected publications Liberman , Mark and Pullum , Geoffrey K. ( 2006 ) . Far from the Madding Gerund and Other Dispatches from the Language Log , William , James & Company . ISBN 1-59028-055-5 Huddleston , Rodney D. and Pullum , Geoffrey K. ( 2005 ) . A Student 's Introduction to English Grammar , Cambridge University Press . ISBN 0-521-61288-8 Huddleston , Rodney D. and Pullum , Geoffrey K. ( 2002 ) . The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language , Cambridge University Press . ISBN 0-521-43146-8 Pullum , Geoffrey K. and Ladusaw , William A. ( 1996 ) . Phonetic Symbol Guide , University of Chicago Press . ISBN 0-226-68535-7 Pullum , Geoffrey K. ( 1991 ) . The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language , University of Chicago Press . ISBN 0-226-68534-9 . ( See also Eskimo words for snow ) Gazdar , Gerald ; Klein , Ewan ; Pullum , Geoffrey K. ; and Sag , Ivan A. ( 1985 ) . Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar . Basil Blackwell , Oxford . ISBN 0-631-13206-6 References Pullum , Geoffrey K. Geoffrey K. Pullum : Biography . Retrieved December 14 , 2004 . See also Linguification External links Geoffrey K. Pullum 's personal home page Language Log Categories : 1945 births | Living people | American linguists | British linguists | Syntacticians In other languages : Deutsch [ 'pʊləm ] 