A reader questions the following use of depleting: The following headline appeared in Jamaica’s leading newspaper today: “My Savings are depleting. What am I doing wrong?” The reader suggests changing “My savings are depleting” to “My savings are being depleted.” Like the reader, I thought the headline sounded wrong. “Savings are being depleted” sounds more … Read more
Sometimes being ignorant is not such a bad thing. As widely as I read in all kinds of sources, I was ignorant of what has happened to the verb twit. I knew that it was old-fashioned of me to use it as a synonym for tease, but I like the word. I’d no inkling of … Read more
A reader asks, Could you perhaps elaborate on the use of the verbs “bar” and “debar” in the sense of “exclude from”? The sources available to me are not clear in this instance. Both verbs are figurative expressions that derive from a use of the object called a bar: “a straight piece of wood, metal, … Read more
Both words, radish and radical, derive from the Latin word for root (radix). The vegetable we call a radish is an edible root. Radical, functioning as both noun and adjective, is used with multiple meanings, depending upon context. Its earliest use in the context of politics and political thought and action dates from the late … Read more
A reader wonders about the phrase “the Argentine”: I often come across the phase “the Argentine” in older books. People are said to “go out to the Argentine” for vacation or business. Mostly, these books are by British authors. I can’t find any information about why Argentina was once called “the Argentine”—what does “Argentine” mean … Read more
My mistake with the portmanteau word Brexit brought me so many kind corrections that I feel a need to thank the readers who sent them and to apologize for making such a big gaffe. I got my information directly from the Oxford site, so there’s no excuse for such a mistake. Along with my carelessness, … Read more
A reader asks for clarification of the difference between a paraphrase and a summary: I was in a large classroom with other teachers when the science teacher told the students to read a 2-page article and then to “paraphrase it [in] three sentences.” What the teacher should have said was to “summarize” the article in … Read more
A reader asks, Would you please explain what is the difference between “definite” and “definitive.” Definite is the adjective to use in the sense of clear, certain, unambiguous. For example: Think carefully before choosing 24-bit and 96kHz, unless you have a definite reason for wanting these options. One sets out into the forest for a definite reason and with … Read more
My cumulative list of “words commonly confused” continues with ten that begin with the letter S. The confusion relates to spelling or meaning. 1. sight / site Both words function as nouns and verbs. As a noun, sight is a thing seen. Ex. The Pont du Garde is an astounding sight. As a verb, sight … Read more
A reader has a question about the word buster: Is the word “buster” ebonics or not? Where does this word come from? And how is it formed? The reader does not specify which of the several uses of buster prompted the question, but in any case, the word was in the language well before any … Read more
A reader questions the use of the term inferencing: I have seen inferencing used recently. It would suggest that inference is a verb. Shouldn’t it be inferring? Inferencing is psycholinguistic jargon for “getting meaning from a text.” My spellchecker flags the word as a misspelling and neither the OED nor M-W has an entry for … Read more
A reader questions the use of the preposition on after impede in a newspaper headline: I don’t think “on” is needed or correct [in this headline]: “Washington’s weeklong power outage impeding on Thanksgiving.” I’d love to hear your thoughts. The reader is correct. Impede does not take a preposition. Here are examples of correct usage: … Read more