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'Weeding' Out the Origins of 'Pot' Nov. 06, 2024
With the help of Tom Dalzell's deliciously wicked book "The Slang of Sin" (Merriam Webster, $20), le... Read More
Raiders of the Lost 'R' Oct. 30, 2024
The mail carrier was juggling a passel of parcels. In a way, that sentence is redundant. For "passel... Read More
Where're You At on Ending With 'At'? Oct. 23, 2024
You've probably heard the joke about a Southerner visiting Harvard for the first time. When he asks ... Read More
Why Are We So Mad at Low-Hanging Fruit? Oct. 20, 2024
There's a saying you've probably heard a thousand times: "Don't go for the low-hanging fruit." You s... Read More
Speaking of the 'Devil' Oct. 16, 2024
It's the season of Halloween, so this column is going straight to the "devil." Even though "devil" s... Read More
Tarnation! Some Words Can Be Ornery Varmints Oct. 09, 2024
What in tarnation is the origin of "tarnation"? You might be surprised to learn that "tarnation" is ... Read More
Get Thee to a 'Nonword'-ery! Oct. 02, 2024
They lurk like menacing demons on the fringes of our linguistic campfire. Watching and scowling from... Read More
Readers Offer Advice, Adverbs, Aviation Argot Sep. 25, 2024
Today, some feedback on recent columns... In a July offering on early American speech, I blithely wr... Read More
'Floundering' and 'Foundering' in the Sea of English Sep. 18, 2024
Q: What's the deal with people using "flounder" when they really mean "founder"? Has it become such ... Read More
Facile Fossils Reveal Long-Lost Meanings Sep. 11, 2024
Today, renowned paleontologist U. Stew Mean enters his laboratory to examine linguistic fossils R... Read More
What's Your Take on 'Bring' and 'Take'? Sep. 04, 2024
Several readers have asked me to clarify the proper use of "bring" and "take." Newcomers to New Engl... Read More
English Has Its 'Piques' and Valleys Aug. 28, 2024
Loyal members of the Word Guy Blooper Patrol have been scurrying around all summer to find errors in... Read More
An 'Eth'ical Approach to Old-Time Words Aug. 21, 2024
"The snowstorm cometh." "Thou goest into the night." Modern writers and speakers occasionally dust o... Read More
Southern Accent? 'Drawl' Your Own Conclusions Aug. 14, 2024
Did the 18th-century Virginians George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry speak with wha... Read More
And Now for Something Completely 'Different' Aug. 07, 2024
Is it wrong to write "different than" instead of "different from"? Several readers raised that quest... Read More
Hopefully, I've Changed Over the Decades Jul. 31, 2024
When I began writing this column in the autumn of 1992, an unpopular incumbent president was running... Read More
In the Age of AI, Let's Vet the Origin of 'HAL' Jul. 24, 2024
Q: Can you verify the theory that the computer "HAL" in the movie "2001 — A Space Odyssey" is ... Read More
Stay Composed When You Use 'Comprise' Jul. 17, 2024
"Can you discuss 'comprise/compose' in your column," writes Carole Shmurak of Farmington, Connecticu... Read More
Blooper Patrol Bags Some Beauts! Jul. 10, 2024
And now for some gaffs ... er, gaffes from newspapers and magazines as reported by the ever-vigilant... Read More
Word Guy Goes Radio-Active Jul. 03, 2024
When I discussed grammar and usage on a rather zany and offbeat radio talk show program a while back... Read More
