Browsing the comments attached to a previous post, I came across this lament about two changes in pronunciation that seem to be catching on with younger speakers: I can’t keep track of how many words are being pronounced differently than when I was taught them. To me, the first “s” in “houses” has a “z” … Read more
A few posts ago, I wrote about the multitude of ways English provides for calling someone “stupid.” Now I’ll address some negative terms that target another human failing. Although cynics may equate them, innocence and trust are not the same as stupidity. Here are four words used to designate people who are seen as fair … Read more
When I began writing about English usage, I would label sentences as “correct” and “incorrect.” I don’t do that anymore because what is “incorrect” in the standard dialect may be “correct” in one of the other dialects of English. The English language is not a monolith, but a collection of “Englishes.” According to some estimates, … Read more
One of my teaching dictums about parts of speech is that “a word is not a part of speech until it’s used in a sentence.” The word run, for example, depending upon context, can be a verb or a noun. We watched her run around the bases. (verb) Sammy hit a home run. (noun) Until … Read more