Words, Words, Words
Things I Think About – While Swimming . . . You all know that I like to wonder about things. Most of the time, I don’t even want to know the real reason ‘behind the curtain,’ I just like to ponder and guess at how something started, or who thought of an idea. I marvel…
Thank you to Laura Beth and Mary Pat for contributing to our first ‘cliche’ discussion. I had no idea how “fit as a fiddle” might have started – those energetic fiddle players! And Laura Beth noted that: When you die, you “pass,” “kick the bucket,” “go to sleep,” “go home,” and “give up the ghost.” …
Many of our words come from people’s names, usually because they invented the item. You have probably heard that the “sandwich” was invented by the Earl of Sandwich who did not want to leave the gambling table to eat so he asked for some meat between two slices of bread. Braille, the method of printing…
I love Reader’s Digest. It has so many interesting articles – positive and heartwarming, but also updated health information and other current topics. My favorite sections, as you might expect, are the funny comments and the puzzle sections. One of my favorite puzzles is a section called “Word Power.” In the February, 2021, issue, we…
Oops – I missed this year’s National Grammar Day (March 4th). But it’s never too late for a grammar funny: “Did you hear the one about the past, present, and future walking into a bar together? It was tense . . . 🤣”
Our language uses several made-up words, or “coined” words as they are sometimes called (why “coined,” I do not know). And more are being created every day, it seems. A recent one – “hangry” – combined two words into one, to describe when someone is angry because they are hungry. An excellent word, I thought….
Unfortunately, the events of January 6, 2021, prompted me to move this Confusing Words post to the top of the list. My first thought was sadness; my second thought was how encouraging that every headline I saw used the correct word – capitol – when discussing what happened at the building, itself! I know, I’m…
I started a Homonyms spreadsheet last year to help my Adult Literacy League students learn how the spelling of a word can impact its meaning while not impacting its sound. A shout-out to Claudia who is helping me organize the spreadsheet. She is also converting the data into a Word document so she can add…
In the season of giving, I started thinking about those words and discovered that take, in particular, is used in what might seem strange ways. Whenever we use expressions, our listeners’ or readers’ frame of reference is incredibly important. If they don’t understand the expression, we could have a lost message or, perhaps worse, a…
In these days of social distancing, I realized I would like to know more about the difference between social and sociable. According to grammarist.com, “social people like going out and being with people, whereas sociable people are easy for others to get along with.” [Yes, the definition did end with a preposition🤨]. Social is also…