I first noticed the nonstandard use of the preposition of following alerted in this item on a site about uncompassionate government policies: After the city council was alerted of the free lunches, it ruled that she would have to acquire a variance to give away food next summer – or pay a fine of $600 … Read more
A reader has asked for a post on the word genius, commenting, It’s part of the word engineering but, in French, engineering is genie, which I associate with Aladdin’s lamp. Then, there is the genius spirit that ancient Romans associated with places. This comment offers much to address. I’ll begin with the Latin origin of … Read more
A DWT reader wonders about the following uses of the verb agree in a British publication: In a November white paper laying out its vision for independence, Scotland said it would expect to agree a mechanism with London, whereby it would gradually refinance its share of the UK’s debt as gilts matured. Under the proposed … Read more
Most writers are familiar with the animal adjectives canine and feline used to refer to dogs and cats, but they may not be aware of numerous others they could use in writing about both animals and people. Here are some examples that use leonine, taurine, bovine, and feline: Concluding with remarks about Toscanini’s technique, Saminsky … Read more
A reader commenting on my post about the difference between discreet and discrete was shocked by the spelling judgement in my definition of discreet (“Showing discernment or judgement in the guidance of one’s own speech and action”): Maeve, where did you find that definition of discreet?? “Judgment” is misspelled! For that reader, spelling the word … Read more
A DWT reader noticed this example of the use of penultimate as if it meant ultimate or best: …a commentator at a tv broadcast of a national dog show commented on a particular dog (a close contender for best in show) being the penultimate dog of its breed group. Penultimate means “next to last.” The … Read more
A reader asks, Would you consider a post on the difference between “try and [do something]” and “try to [do something]? […] I hear and read more people using “try and [do something]” but that doesn’t seem as logical as “try to [do something]. Is there a difference between the two terms? If not, is … Read more
A reader comments, I’ve often wondered where the “r” sound came from in colonel. I’m certain, in the original French, both Ls were pronounced as Ls–what happened? Colonel is the spelling in modern French, but when the word entered English in the 16th century, the French were spelling it coronel or coronnel. The first “l” … Read more
What is a pastime? It is an occupation that passes the time. Hobbies are pastimes. Attending sports events is a pastime. Cooking, woodworking, reading, and watching television are all pastimes. Most Americans have probably read thousands of times that baseball is “the national pastime.” Yet, when I browse the web, I discover that thousands of … Read more
Because I was taught a long time ago that either is used with or, and neither is used with nor, constructions like these bother me: “Neither Mrs Thatcher or I, would have any time for the sisterhood approach” says Ann WiddecombeNo further details have been released, and neither Kim or Kanye have mentioned any engagement … Read more
Among the most popular words in common discourse these days are personal and personally. A web search for personal brings up more than 900 million hits. Overused crazy, with 274 million, doesn’t come close. Bloggers and commenters use personal and personally with abandon: In my personal opinion, the reading comprehension section is the most difficult … Read more
While irregular verbs are often a focus of grammatical errors, regular verbs are a frequent source of spelling errors. Most regular verbs form their past tense by adding -ed to the base: accept/accepted. A few verbs form the past tense with a -t ending: build/built. Some spelling errors result from the fact that the -ed … Read more