English is a very complicated language with hundreds of thousands of words, so it’s not surprising that many people get confused about word meanings. How many ways are there to embarrass yourself? At least 43, according to the article “43 Embarrassing Grammar Mistakes Even Smart People Make” by Christina DesMarais (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/43-embarrassing-grammar-mistakes-even-smart-people-make). I’m not going to
Between an election and the formation of a new government, we always go through a period of governance that includes people who are about to lose their jobs. We’ve adopted the expression “lame duck” for this period, as in a lame duck session of Congress. But where did this expression originate? And I can understand
The flexibility of the English language has always been a source of fascination for me. In the past, I’ve written about the origins of words and expressions, and how word meanings change over time. Recently, I’ve found another example in an article entitled “25 Words That Are Their Own Opposites” by Judith Herman (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/25-words-that-are-their-own-opposites). It’s
If you love books, be glad you live in this era. There was a time when the best available writing materials were papyrus (interlocking strips cut from reedy plants) and parchment (the hides of sheep and cattle). Since papyrus and parchment were scarce and expensive, it was not uncommon for scholars to recycle materials by scraping off
Every holiday has its own unique expressions and phrases, and Thanksgiving is no exception. This year, with its limited celebratory options, I decided to investigate two of my favorites. Why are male turkeys called gobblers? According to Merriam-Webster, Gobbler appeared in the 18th century as the nickname for a male turkey, in imitation of the bird’s
Words can come from anywhere. They especially originate from contact with other cultures and in times of stress, like wars. I experienced this firsthand during the Vietnam era, when I was stationed in Thailand and heard how many Thai words my fellow airmen were using in their everyday conversation. Since I haven’t heard any of
If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel and didn’t know where to begin, you might try looking for a formula or recipe, and simply plug in the words. Yes, there are some basic formulas for writing fiction. Recently I have found two. The first is called “The Hero’s Journey.” Various writers have put forth
There are many different ways to write poetry — free verse, limericks, sonnets, Haiku, etc. I’ve just learned of another — clerihews. According to Wikipedia, “A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. The first line is the name of the poem’s subject, usually a famous person put in an
The English language is very dynamic. Words are constantly being added and meanings change. I saw another reminder of this recently in an article entitled “25 Words That Don’t Mean What They Used To” by Paul Anthony Jones. It’s quite a surprising list. Here are some of the words that jumped out at me —
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down, especially with regard to sports. The NBA is scrambling to finish its season with a 22-team playoff scenario at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports complex, major league baseball is trying to salvage something with a 60-game schedule, and there is no telling what the