Our word gymnasium comes from a Greek noun meaning “place to be naked,” or “place to exercise.” The adjective was gymnos, “naked.” Greek athletes exercised in the nude. The Greek gymnasium was for more than just working out. It was also a place for bathing and having scholarly discussions. The founder of the “cynic” school … Read more
For me, January is a time for thinking about time. The month is named for Janus, the Roman god depicted as having two faces. The double visage represents the power to see into the past and the future. Because of this attribute, Janus was the patron of beginnings. Our word time has been in the … Read more
DM wonders about the usage of words such as “cast, broadcast, and cost.” As far as I can remember the past tense and past P. of broadcast is broadcast; however recently I checked an online dictionary and it has broadcasted. Is this an American standard or has it always been like this? The three examples, … Read more
Few people now (with the possible exception of poets) write on paper. For most of us, our thoughts take shape on screen, and our words exist as magnetic patterns on disk, rendered as phosphor dots, or the flat screen equivalent. Sometimes that’s the final form of the writing. It’s destined for the Web or another … Read more
Hiriyanna Balakrishna Shetty wonders about the difference between certified and certificated: Do they mean the same ? The dictionary definitions for both words overlap. The OED gives these definitions for certified as a past participle: Made certain; assured; certainly informed; attested by certificate; furnished with a certificate.: It gives these definitions for certificate as a … Read more
A whim is a strange or capricious notion; a temporary eccentricity; a freak. A person or thing that has many whims can be called whimsical. When the Web site that he started on a whim, HOTorNOT.com, a meeting site popular with 20-year-olds, unexpectedly made James Hong a millionaire, he wanted to donate some of his … Read more
Adam Rubock asks for a discussion of the difference between saying something bluntly, and blatantly saying something. The word blunt came into the language around 1200 with the meaning “dull, obtuse.” At that time a “blunt person” would have been a stupid person. In the 1580s blunt took on the meaning “abrupt of speech or … Read more
I laughed when I read the following in a film review: Richard M. Nixon granted British playboy presenter turned journalist David Frost a series of twelve television interviews. This was the first time Nixon had spoken since his resignation in the midst of the Watergate scandal and Americans waited with baited breath, longing for the … Read more
The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is an Austin, Texas-based entity that documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language and publishes a list of the year’s most used English words, names, and phrases. According to GLM’s algorithm, 2009’s most used word, both online and in print, is Twitter. GLM’s top ten for 2009: Twitter Obama H1N1 stimulus … Read more