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This Word Sails to Many 'Ports' of Call Jun. 19, 2019
Like a wandering sailor, the Latin root "porto" has a girl in every ... well, port. "Porto" means "c... Read More
Reworking the Language of Women Jun. 13, 2019
Earlier today, I was talking to a friend I've known for more than two decades when, twice, she prefa... Read More
Are You Booked for the Summer? Jun. 12, 2019
If you're bound for the beach, boardwalk or boat this summer — or just the back porch — ... Read More
Dogged Readers Snarl at Pet Peeves Jun. 05, 2019
Every so often, I like to unleash my readers' pet peeves, aka 'pete noires, 'cur'sed terms and 'dog'... Read More
Unzipping the Origin of 'Fly' May. 29, 2019
Why is the opening on men's trousers called a "fly"? Before your speculation starts to soar too high... Read More
Who Was That Masked Mantis? May. 22, 2019
Picture a mosquito with a musket, a mantis with a crystal ball, and a larva wearing a mask. Entomolo... Read More
Can You Catch 40 Winks? May. 15, 2019
Can you find and replace each of the 40 usage errors in this account of my spring-cleaning? (The num... Read More
Thinning Hair May. 13, 2019
Q: I've always been proud of my hair, even as it started to turn gray with age. Other women always c... Read More
Spanish Is No. 1 May. 10, 2019
DR. WALLACE: I just returned home from Santa Barbara, California. Five of us spent a fun week there ... Read More
FDR's Prose Crackled with Clarity May. 08, 2019
Jill Lepore's new book "These Truths," a delightfully quirky and informative romp through U.S. histo... Read More
Reader Bludgeons 'High Dungeon' May. 01, 2019
Q: I was watching a news program, and one of the guests said someone "was in high dungeon" instead o... Read More
Teen Misses Father Apr. 24, 2019
DR. WALLACE: My mother and father have been divorced for seven months. They divorced because they we... Read More
Blooper Patrol Laps Up Lapses Apr. 24, 2019
The ever-vigilant Word Guy Blooper Patrol has been working overtime to apprehend examples of erroneo... Read More
Being Letter-Perfect Casts Its Spell Apr. 10, 2019
Duz speling evan mattar enymore? After all, you knew what I meant, right? Companies deliberately mis... Read More
Baseball Banter Is Easy-Going ... Going, Gone! Apr. 03, 2019
Batter up and banter up! The new baseball season is in full swing, and the playful palaver of the pl... Read More
'Glide Path' Lands Smoothly on Political Runway Mar. 27, 2019
On "PBS NewsHour" last month, South Bend, Indiana, mayor and likely presidential candidate Pete Butt... Read More
Countdown to Venus Change Mar. 25, 2019
Gratitude, as a practice, isn't always a public display or a communication. Sometimes it's more of a... Read More
'Predominately' Makes Purists 'Ant'sy Mar. 20, 2019
Q: Why do some people use the adverb "predominately" instead of "predominantly"? Is this an accepted... Read More
Origin of 'Gory' Misses Bull's-Eye Mar. 13, 2019
"The running of the bulls got off to a gory start." That was the first sentence in a CBS News report... Read More
Those Roman Plurals Are Roamin' Mar. 06, 2019
Q. I've noticed that some publications are using "millenniums" in place of "millennia," e.g., "The m... Read More
