language Archives

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November 22, 2017December 14, 2017Darren Blankenship0

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Hindi Learning Game… Take One

January 18, 2017Nivi Engineer1

You know the saying about how the journey is part of the gift? Well, I’ve been trying to use that philosophy to teach my kids Hindi.

Don’t Call Me Foreign

May 24, 2016Nivi Engineer3

Despite living in Cleveland for most of my life, I’m still considered foreign. It rankles, and made me realize I’d rather be called colored.

Today’s Word Nerd installment is a somewhat rare type, where a common word and an old and obscure one share the same origin, and the old word only survives because it’s used in a common phrase. Load and lode.

Word Nerd: Duel Identity

February 15, 2016Jim MacQuarrie0

In a recent conversation on Facebook, I saw someone discussing the current presidential campaign, in which he referred to the fact that Ted Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother is an American, and therefore Cruz has “duel citizenship.” Naturally a Word Nerd installment was called for. Dual and duel.

Word Nerd: A Tint of Rogue

January 22, 2016Jim MacQuarrie0

Today we have another one of those word pairs that gets mixed up more often than one might expect, and the mix-up seems to only go one way. “Vogue” rhymes with “rogue” and both are spelled with the same ending, but nobody ever spells it “vouge.” I suspect people see “rouge” and read it as “rogue.”

Word Nerd: Thereby Hangs a Tail

November 18, 2015Jim MacQuarrie1

Come and listen and we’ll tell a tale of tails. Today’s Word Nerd is yet another of those sets of words that autocorrect and spellcheck will completely ignore.

Language is Dead – An Emoji is the “Word” of the Year

November 17, 2015Robin Brooks1

Oxford Dictionaries have picked their Word of 2015. And it’s not Word.

Word Nerd: Opening Gamut

October 2, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s Word Nerd topic is one that’s become so ubiquitous that it even turns up among political pundits. Last month, Chuck Todd of Meet the Press suggested to Senator Bernie Sanders that they should do an interview in which they could “do the gambit of issues,” and the nation’s English teachers wept.

A woman in a comic says, "I could care less" and is corrected by her friend, starting a discussion.

I Really Could Care Less, So I Wrote This Article

September 16, 2015Michael LeSauvage12

Language changes over time, but no one should be excused for saying they “could care less.” The recent ‘xkcd’ seems to imply I’m a jerk for not letting this phrase pass. I respectfully disagree.

Word Nerd: Riding a Segue

August 9, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

For today’s Word Nerd, we have an odd one: a case of a made-up word taking the place of the word it’s meant to imitate. I can’t think of another example of a trademark taking the place of its homophone in popular usage. We’ll look at Segue and Segway.

Word Nerd: Playing Base

June 12, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s Word Nerd topic is a pair of words with several definitions and too many pronunciations. We’ll look at all the permutations of base and bass.

Word Nerd: In a Stately Manner

May 24, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today we discuss minding our manners… and our manors.

Word Nerd: It’s Inflammable!

May 19, 2015Jim MacQuarrie2

Every so often, somebody will email me about words and meanings. Sometimes it’s a suggestion for words that they’ve seen misused (most recently, invasive when evasive was meant), sometimes it’s a question. Recently, my friend Sara Mallory sent a Facebook message asking about today’s words. What’s the difference between them?

Word Nerd: A Miner Detail

May 10, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s set of words touches on a sad bit of history; often in the past (and even in the present day in some places) miners were often minors, though minors were not always miners.

Word Nerd: On the Mantle

April 26, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s Word Nerd topic is one of those cases where a single word has split into two terms, with a difference in spelling to parallel the difference in meaning: mantel and mantel.

Word Nerd: Send Up a Flair

April 18, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s words are somewhat similar, in that both are about drawing attention and both terms have to do with senses; one is a bright light, the other a strong smell. Flair and flare.

Word Nerd: Defuse Light

April 8, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

This week’s Word Nerd subject is another of those cases where using the wrong one can result in a sentence that says almost the exact opposite of what was meant. Defuse and diffuse.

Word Nerd: Accept for Me

March 29, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

This week’s Word Nerd topic is an example of that rare bird, the antonym, which is defined as “two words that are opposites,” which makes it a little comical to see this error in action. Accept and except.

Word Nerd: Amusing Antidote

March 15, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Here’s another Word Nerd pair that turns up with alarming regularity; is it possible that some people don’t know they are two different words? Anecdote and antidote.

Word Nerd: Vice Grip

March 7, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s pair of words is uniquely American; the British are sensible enough to spell both words the same way. We have vice and vise, but in England, it’s vice and vice. If you’re British, you can ignore this week’s installment if you like.

Word Nerd: Viola!

March 1, 2015Jim MacQuarrie2

For today’s Word Nerd topic, we’ll look at a word we swiped from another language and have since abused mercilessly, including a whole lot of attempts at what the academics call “invented spelling.” Viola and voila.

Word Nerd: Illicit Response

February 21, 2015January 27, 2019Jim MacQuarrie1

Today’s Word Nerd pair actually makes it into print every so often, usually with amusing results for those of us who get it. This is a case where using the wrong word can really change the meaning of a sentence. Elicit and illicit.

Word Nerd: Guilty Conscious

February 13, 2015Jim MacQuarrie1

This week’s Word Nerd is one of those that actually surprised me; I thought that because the two are relatively harder to spell than most of our frequently-confused words, fewer people would mess them up. Of course, the fact that they evolved from different conjugations of the same Latin word may have something to do with the confusion.

Word Nerd: Heroine Overdose

February 2, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

This week’s Word Nerd is another that I’ve seen recently on Facebook, and it may be yet another autocorrect failure; perhaps your iPhone would prefer you discuss Wonder Woman rather than narcotics. It’s an example of that old nemesis, the silent e. Heroin and heroine.

Word Nerd: Clearing Hurtles

January 16, 2015Jim MacQuarrie0

This week, Word Nerd looks at two words that are often mixed up; both are associated with speed, but in entirely different ways. Hurdle and hurtle.

Word Nerd: Weary of Change

January 9, 2015Jim MacQuarrie3

The New Year typically brings thoughts of change and new beginnings. Sometimes people look forward to these things, but sometimes they approach them with hesitation, and when they do, some of them use one of today’s words when they actually mean the other.

Word Nerd: Grace Us With Your Presents

December 26, 2014Jim MacQuarrie0

Merry Christmas! Today’s Word Nerd is holiday-themed because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Egg nog may have been involved. As it happens, both of these words apply to the holiday season. Presence and presents.

Word Nerd: Up a Creak

December 19, 2014Jim MacQuarrie0

Today’s Word Nerd is not a terribly common one, though it pops up from time to time. Maybe it’s due to autocorrect, or maybe it’s apathy, but it’s one I’ve seen a few times online, usually in the form of people talking about “hearing the door creek” or “fishing in the creak.”

Word Nerd: I’m a Looser.

December 12, 2014Jim MacQuarrie2

We’re back! And with three different illustrations this week. Here’s another one of those words that a lot of people get wrong simply because spellcheck doesn’t catch it, and it’s another of those in which the mistake typically only goes one way. People often write loose when they mean lose, but I’ve never seen anyone write lose when they meant loose.