Reader venqax poses a question about the use of the four-syllable agent noun supremacist in preference to three-syllable supremist. On the topic of “new” words, I’m curious about *supremacist*, as in the apparently omnipresent white supremacists. Why not “supremist”? There is often a quick response to unnecessary elongations like preventative and orientate (talking to Americans! … Read more
Semantics is the branch of linguistics concerned with meaning in language. Students of semantics trace the ways that words and phrases change meanings over time. Semantic change—also called semantic drift, semantic shift, semantic development and semantic progression— takes different forms. One type of change is amelioration: the development of a more favorable meaning for a … Read more
A reader commenting on “TV’s War on Me and I” asks, Is it your opinion that when a speaker refers to him/herself as “myself” (instead of “I”) that it is an attempt to avoid sounding conceited? Short answer: No. Speakers of Irish English often use myself where standard usage calls for I or me and … Read more
A reader poses a question about a usage that occurs in one of my posts from 2009. Calvin Coolidge was in Vermont when President Harding died in California. Coolidge’s father, a notary public, administered the oath at 2:47 a.m. Next day Coolidge returned to Washington where he repeated the oath before Justice A. A. Hoehling. … Read more