Archive for Usage
In a book I’m reading, the narration uses the word nonplussed in a way that implies that it means a character is unbothered by something. I initially assumed that was a diction mistake, but I checked my dictionary just to be sure, and was astonished to find, in addition to the traditional meaning, a second […]
I like tea.
Language changes, and sometimes doesn't.
Nonscientific survey here. Question 1: In your own personal usage, can you use the word both with more than two items? For example, do the following sound okay to you? Wash both the plate, the bowl, and the cup. Wash both of the three dishes. Question 2: What about the word either? For example: Wash […]
It’s not only unique. It’s not only very unique. It’s not only the most unique. It’s the most unique ever. “Palo Alto Pizza Co. offers the Bay Area’s most unique gourmet pizza experience ever.”
Only peripherally about words, or for that matter stuff.
Half the people on my Facebook friends list have linked to an article by Megan Garber in the Atlantic titled “English Has a New Preposition, Because Internet,” about the growing...
Jim recently pointed me to the English Language and Usage Stack Exchange site. For those unfamiliar with Stack Exchange, it's a collection of websites on various topics that are designed...
The thing I find fascinating about the phrase “slow clap” is that it's used to refer to two different things that are near-opposites in meaning. On the one hand, there's...
Several years ago, I took a sideswipe at “literally” in an entry about something else. John S and Shmuel both gently pointed out that I was wrong to be fussy...