Puerto Rican songwriter Bad Bunny loves to meld genres—reggaetón blended with a little pop here, punk and rock there, and also soul. In a way, his music perfectly encapsulates Caribbean and Latin American music and its history of weaving and fusing together different musical styles that come together for a highly danceable mix. From reggaetón to the cha-cha-cha to the “singing newspapers” known as plena, Caribbean and …
Prone and supine are both used in medical and anatomical contexts to describe a position in which a person is lying down, but they refer to different ways of facing—either face up or face down. In this article, we’ll break down the difference and provide clear explanations of other medical positions. In medical and anatomical contexts, supine position is the body position in which a …
Fare and fair are pronounced exactly the same and have many different meanings spanning different parts of speech, including nouns, adjectives, and verbs. This can make things very confusing. Is it fare well or farewell? And when you ask someone how things turned out, should you say How did you fare? or How did you fair? In this article, we’ll break down the differences, provide …
Great things can come out of hard times — take Scrabble. During the Great Depression, architect Alfred Mosher Butts couldn’t find work. So he decided to create a board game that required the vocabulary skills of anagrams and crossword puzzles but also had an element of chance. Butts hand-drew the original board with architectural drafting equipment.
For many English-speaking folks, the odds of encountering the French names for the days of the week are pretty low. Sure, you might encounter the French Mardi (Tuesday) every year during Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday” in English), but other examples are few and far between. So, if you feel like your vocabulary is missing that certain je ne sais quoi, then maybe a tiny little …
Where did the name March come from? The name March is ultimately derived from the Latin word Martius (named after Mars, the Roman god of war). Martius was the name of the first month in the original Roman calendar. Along with January, May, and June, March is one of several months named after a god. The Roman ruler, Numa Pompilius, is traditionally credited with adding January and February to the …
In everyday life, we hear a lot about preventative care, preventative maintenance, and preventative measures… or is it preventive? Is this just a spelling difference, or do the words have different meanings? To prevent any further confusion between preventive and preventative, we’ll sort out the difference, discuss how they’re commonly used, and provide some examples so you can see both in use. Preventive and preventative …
Conscience vs. conscious is a classic question of vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. If you’re anything like us, you have to think very hard each time you spell or say each word—and double check if you’re using the right one. Luckily, we can provide some tricks and examples that will not only help you remember how to say and spell each word, but also help you …
The short answer: both gases and gasses are acceptable plural forms of gas. However, gases is much more commonly used and is often considered the standard form. The explanation: in many cases in English spelling, final consonants like the s in gas are often doubled when an ending such as -es, -ed, or -ing is added to the end of the word. For example, the …
The short answer: both buses and busses are acceptable plural forms of bus. However, buses is much more commonly used—almost exclusively—and is often considered the standard form. The explanation: in many cases in English spelling, final consonants like the s in bus are often doubled when an ending such as -es, -ed, or -ing is added to the end of the word. For example, the …
Trying to classify what’s a fruit and what’s a vegetable isn’t always cut and dry. In fact, the debate about it can get pretty juicy—seedy, even. This all stems from the fact that some things we eat are technically fruits but are almost always called vegetables (and treated like vegetables, too). Some people make a distinction based on the level of sweetness, but the difference—from …
Just after the last of the Valentine’s Day chocolates have been consumed and the season of Aquarius comes to an end, it’s time for the season of Pisces. Those born between around February 19–March 20 are fortunate enough to call themselves Pisces, which is the 12th and final sign of the zodiac. The 40 days of Lent often overlap with Pisces season. The connection between …
