Whenever you sit back and relax in your home, you're exemplifying the origins of the word "residence... Read More
Today, some random dispatches from the Word Front ... —Dean Speak — Benjamin Ginsberg's... Read More
Q: As a former English teacher (Is one really ever a former English teacher?), I am bothered by the ... Read More
When flight attendants collect our napkins, plastic cups and cellophane wrappers before a landing, t... Read More
What do you call a lawyer who writes a book about words? A grammar-head shark. Just kidding. In "La... Read More
Q: I often hear sentences like this: "We had three times less rain this year than last." I think wha... Read More
"I couldn't finish my paper because my family is in the throes of moving," a student told me last we... Read More
"We won't let you Detroit us with taxes and debt." "Sarah Collins sunscreens husband Ryan on a Calif... Read More
I get by with a little help from my fiends (word fiends, that is) — the readers who send me de... Read More
Q: I notice that the word "hotel" is often preceded with the word "an," as in "We searched for an ho... Read More
Given the ease of slipping off a diet, it's not surprising that many phrases for easy tasks involve ... Read More
If David Letterman can devise top 10 lists, we letter men and women can do it, too. Here are today's... Read More
Q: Would you please discuss the proper usage of the word "fraught"? I had an English teacher who tol... Read More
Can you find 25 usage errors in the following story about a tug of war between the Prescriptivists a... Read More
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I coached a boys cross country running team. During practice, these run... Read More
Once upon a time, "curate" was a nice, quaint little word. Derived from the Latin "cura" (care), it ... Read More
Today, some random dispatches from the Word Front ... —Goodie-Goodies — We all know tha... Read More
Is there any connection between the phrase "egging someone on" (inciting someone to action) and actu... Read More
Should you pronounce the "t" in "often"? The "l" in "almond"? Though "often" was pronounced with a "... Read More
Readers often send me collections of funny headlines, but I don't use them in my column because I ca... Read More
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