Q: I'm wondering whether you can shed some light on the phrase "a whole nother," as in "a whole nother ball of wax." I am hearing it more frequently of late. — Roselle Haas via email

A: "Nother" first appeared in written English in 1909 but was certainly common in spoken English well before then. Etymologists believe it arose when people heard "another" and assumed it was "a nother." (The word "apron" was formed in a similar way when people misheard "a napron" as "an apron.")

This misdivision of "another" becomes obvious in spoken English when someone inserts an adjective between "a" and "nother," as in "a whole nother issue."

My hunch is that people use "nother" simply because "a whole nother" is a lot easier to say than "a whole other." Our tongues are already accustomed to the word "another," and we instinctively want to separate the soft vowel sounds of "whole" and "other" with a consonant. The "n" also makes "a whole nother" sound more emphatic than "a whole other."

Is using "whole nother" correct? Most dictionaries do include "nother" as a word, though they categorize it as "informal" and note that it occurs much more frequently in speech than in writing.

Indeed, people do seem to be "nother"-ing a lot these days — "whole nother problem," "whole nother issue." In fact, "nother" is so overused that it's now a cliché, joining the ranks of other trite phrases that stress dissimilarity or intensification: "not your grandfather's (whatever)," "whole new ball game," "not so much," "(anything) 2.0."

As an informal colloquialism, "nother" has a useful place in spoken speech, but in writing, not so much.

Q: Please comment on the now popular use of "is enthused" instead of "is enthusiastic." Is there really a verbal infinitive "to enthuse"? — John H. Young via email

A: Indeed, there is. "Enthuse," a backformation of "enthusiasm," first appeared in written English in 1827.

Though we willingly have embraced many such verbs that have been backformed from nouns — including "donate" (from "donation"), "peddle" (from "peddler") and "beg" from "beggar" — we're uncomfortable with such verbs when they duplicate an existing word ("attrit" for "weaken") or seem vague in meaning. How, for instance, does someone "emote" or "enthuse"?

When it comes to trendy backformations such as these, the kings and queens of proper usage royally pronounce, "We are not enthused."

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.