Posts
I think of November as the Thanksgiving month when people get together, so I thought it would be fitting to publish this post about expressions with two words that are joined by “and.” Some of these words are opposites and some of the words have similar meanings. Here are the ones I thought about. Let…
I thought you all would enjoy this list I compiled from a few sources 😀. From posts on Pocket Worthy and Judith Herman on Mental Floss: Here’s an ambiguous sentence for you: “Because of the agency’s oversight, the corporation’s behavior was sanctioned.” Does that mean, “Because the agency oversaw the company’s behavior, they imposed a…
Not a “words” blog post, but a travel-related post. If any of you have traveled in 2022 (this year for me includes 2 of my regular annual trips plus 1 new trip PLUS 4 trips that were previously scheduled in 2020 and 2021 that were moved to 2022 – yowza!), you may have encountered ….
The word, “brunch,” is the result of combining two words into one – breakfast and lunch. These word combinations are called “portmanteau” words or “blended” words. I just like to say portmanteau, so I’m going with that one. Here are some more examples of portmanteau words, taken from “English Language and Usage” on Stack Exchange:…
As promised from my June post, this month is more about acronyms (when the first letters of words are combined to become a new “expression”). I decline to call the result a ‘word,’ but that may be my old-fashioned-ness getting in the way 😏. My friend, Stewart, claims that the U.S. military uses more acronyms…
Have you noticed how many medical test acronyms start with E and end with G? I can never keep them straight, so I thought some of you might also have trouble knowing which middle letter goes with which test. These definitions are taken from the Internet, so if anyone sees a change that should be…
Misused words or mispronunciation of words can lead to misunderstandings. Here are some examples I have collected through the years. Some are words I have heard spoken; some are words I have seen written; and, of course, some are from friends who know I like this kind of ‘stuff’ 😉. Commonly Misused Words “He is…
Do any of you remember when parents told their kids that “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me”? I know they were just trying to make us feel better, although words can hurt. The recent Oscars ceremony just emphasized that issue. I didn’t see the event in real time,…
My Adult Literacy League students ask the best questions! Here is one from my most recent ESL (English as a Second Language) student: “What is the difference between ‘fill in’ and ‘fill out’?” Of course, I gave her my usual response to these questions: “Umm . . .” I had to think about all of…
February makes me think of red – red hearts, red flowers. I also realized that a lot of phrases use the word red. What is strange is that the phrases seem to either represent positive things OR negative things. I can’t think of another word that is used for such opposite meanings! What do you…