Category: Misc
-
And Another Word: The Conjunction You Start Your Sentence With
Thereās this idea that itās wrong to open a sentence with a conjunction. Conjunctions are words like āandā, āorā, ānorā, ābutā, ābecauseā, āsoā, and so forth. They connect other words, phrases, or sentences. In other words, their function is to conjoin. Thatās why theyāre called conjunctions. The whole topic can get very complicated: There are…
-
One Word: The Preposition You End Your Sentence With
Thereās this idea that itās wrong to end a sentence with a preposition. It wonāt die. But itās mistaken ā the idea, I mean, not the preposition. A preposition is a perfectly good thing to end a sentence with. The notion that one canāt do this is often put forward as a āruleā of English…
-
Can Two Positive Words Ever Be Negative?
How can two positive words produce a negative meaning? Or perhaps more accurately: Is this even possible? Alert reader Mahih Pouryaghma asks about this, prompted by my recent article on āI could/couldnāt care less.ā People used to say (and some still say) āI couldnāt care lessā to mean āI have no interest in this matter.ā…
-
Vintage Words Back in Vogue
Vintage words are making a comeback. (Thanks to Richard Green for spotting an eye-opening article about this.) Words like āperuseā, āsmittenā, ābespokeā, and ādapperā are rising sharply in popularity since year 2000 ā the turn of the 21st century. The same is true of words like ātheeā, āthouā, āfortnightā, ābedchamberā, āamongstā, and others that are…
-
One Word: Could/Couldnāt
I couldnāt care less about the word ācouldā. Also, I could care less about ācouldnātā. Except when we use ācouldā and ācouldnātā ā words that profess to be exact opposites ā to mean exactly the same thing. How is that even possible? Spoiler alert: Itās possible! I didnāt think so, but I was wrong. Read…
-
One Word: Your Relationship to the Parents of Your Childās Spouse
There is no such word! In English, that is. In some other languages, yes. But not English. This word fascinates me despite the fact that it doesnāt exist. Or, perhaps more aptly, because it doesnāt exist. Either way, it speaks volumes about our English-speaking society, the relationships we value ā and those we do not.…
-
My Fascination With Fasteners
My love affair with fasteners ā glue, tape, staples, you name it ā goes back longer than I can remember. Of my many obsessions, this is one of the few with obvious practical uses. This fastener affinity probably isnāt specific enough to call a hobby. Not exactly. Hobbies are systematic. This is more a theme…
-
One Word: Pert Near
A recent article of mine uses the compound word āpert nearā. Whatās the deal there? It was my article on whistling (I canāt whistle) in which I asked whether thereās āanything you canāt do ā¦ even though pert near everyone else you know canā. Of course, āpert nearā is a slang expression meaning āpretty nearlyā…
-
Why I Never Learned to Whistle
It’s true: I can’t whistle! Never learned, despite years of trying. This article’s title is misleading — or perhaps its more accurate to say it simply reflects wishful thinking. I’d love to know why I can’t whistle. But since I don’t know, I can’t tell you. Speaking of you — does anyone else experience this…
-
One Word: Tier
āTierā is my kind of word. Itās short. It has a neat sound. Itās familiar without being overused. Best of all, itās useful. Physically, a tier is one of a series of stacked rows or levels. Rungs of a ladder, for instance, or the third row of seats in a stadium. Figuratively, a tier is…
-
One Word: This Here
Always-inquisitive reader Mahin Pouryaghma asks about the compound construction “this here”. It’s one she sometimes encounters in her home stomping ground of rural Georgia. Thanks, Mahin, for affording me a chance to reflect on this and similar expressions. I’m treating this one as a single word for reasons I explained in the article on “compound”.…
-
The Most Romantic Valentine City
Happy Valentine’s Day from America’s Most Consistently Romantic City — Knoxville, Tennessee, home of “Notes from Stonehaven”. Ā Okay, so I had to weasel-word that (with “consistently”) in order to justify the “most” boast. Technically, Knoxville was bumped this year from first to third place by the new champ, Alexandria, Virginia. Congratulations, Alexandria. Don’t get used…