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Misuse of 'Frequent' is Frequent
Q: Does "frequented" imply often? I have heard "they occasionally frequented" and even "they rarely frequented." Is that possible? — David Markowitz, West Hartford, Conn.
A: What's next? "They rarely …Read more.
'Whom' is Where the Heart is
The "who/whom" dilemma is the health care debate of grammar. The issues involved are so complicated and convoluted that no one really understands them.
That's why the late William Safire threw up his hands in 1992 and advocated a kind of …Read more.
Why Are These Sentences Loony?
What's wrong with these sentences?
1. Like the duck, the loon's nest is built near the shore.
2. The loon is a Bow Lake resident, on which several other loons live.
3. The baby loon is four times smaller than its mother.
That's right; they're loony …Read more.
Phrase Origins Served Piping Hot
Mel Kopel of Windsor, Conn., writes to ask why food is served "piping hot" and a car fresh from the showroom floor is "spanking new" (as opposed to the "clanking old" clunker you traded in for it).
You could conjure up …Read more.
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This Word Wins No Bell PrizeQ. Why are hand weights called "dumbbells"? — J. H., West Hartford, Conn. It's hard to imagine these clunky objects having anything to do with a church, but that's where the term began. The earliest meaning of "dumb," a word that appeared in English around A.D. 1000, was "incapable of speech, mute." This meaning produced "dumb show" (a pantomime), "dumbstruck" (made silent by astonishment) and "dumbfound" (a blend of "dumb" and "confound"). (The use of "dumb" to mean "dim-witted" didn't appear in English until the 1800s, but more on that later.) In medieval Europe, the ringing of church bells was an important enterprise, and learning to ring the bells properly required extensive training and practice. Because no one wanted to listen to some clumsy novice trying to master this skill ("DONG-ding-ding-oops!-DONG-ding-DONG"), novice bell-ringers practiced with "dumb bells," metal weights that made no sound when manipulated. During the "fitness craze" of the late 1700s, people started using smaller versions of these weights for exercise, and these became known as "dumbbells" as well. "Pump your dumbbells, Henry, or you'll never be able to toss those tea chests into Boston Harbor!" A short time later, someone connected two dumbbells with a bar to create a "barbell," instantly tripling the number of abdominal hernias among men trying to impress their girlfriends. During the 1800s, German immigrants to the U.S. The use of "dumbbell" to describe a slow-witted person may refer to metal dumbbells. Or, it may be a combination of "dumb," meaning stupid, and "bell," an old term for the head. Today's football announcers still use this meaning of "bell" when they say a player dazed by a blow to the head has "had his bell rung." During the late 1800s, "dumbbell" also gained notoriety as an architectural term. As immigrants poured into American cities, many were crammed into "dumbbell tenements" — apartment buildings shaped like dumbbells, with small, windowless rooms on each end and a narrow hallway in the middle. Did King Kong, while rampaging through Manhattan, exercise by picking up dumbbell tenements? 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 e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
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