Slurry and Flurry
Almost right is not good enough. I read this in the Daily Mail during hurricane season: . . . the […]
The Half-life of Verbs
The term half-life existed before the term was applied to the breakdown of a radioactive substance. One earlier meaning was […]
Color Symbolism in Writing
Advertisers pay a great deal of attention to the colors that go into their marketing materials. There’s even a branch […]
Dropping the “of” After “couple”
This recent cry of despair from a reader has not fallen on deaf ears: You’re the only people I know […]
Endearing and Ravished
English has such a rich vocabulary, writers have little excuse to use a word that is almost right. As Twain […]
Fossil L-Words
An aspect of English spelling that fascinates me is the existence of what I call “fossil words”— words in which […]
Demise of the -er Comparative
Perhaps, like me, you were taught in elementary school that most one-syllable adjectives, plus two-syllable adjectives that end in y, […]
Calculus Etymology
I did not take calculus in high school. (I barely made it through basic math.) All I know about calculus […]
Writing the Pandemic
Since the media’s first faltering coverage of the coronavirus called COVID-19, the disease has not only embedded itself in the […]
30 Ways to Say, “You’re Stupid”
I’ve been bingeing on the Shetland mysteries by Ann Cleeves and have finished them all. The novels are set in […]
Words to Describe the Way People Talk
If there is any one interest and practice shared by every human being on earth, it’s talking—usually to other people, […]
Pandemic Vocabulary
This post was prompted by a reader who poses the following question: What is the preferred way to write Covid-19 […]