Archives
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When To Capitalize “Earth”
When it comes to writing, this common English word confuses many native speakers who aren’t sure whether to use Earth or earth. Why is this an issue? Earth can be either a proper noun or a common noun. In English, proper nouns (nouns which signify a particular person, place, or thing) are capitalized.
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Cankers, Caterpillars, and Malt-worms: 3 Shakespearean Insults
Great insults pepper the comedies and tragedies of William Shakespeare. (Though the Bard of Avon is known for his terms of endearments as well.) From A Midsummer Night’s Dream to King Henry IV, here are a few of our favorites. You canker blossom! This flowery barb is delivered by the newly lovelorn Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream after her beloved, Lysander, expresses his disinterest …
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There’s A Word For Why Adele’s Music Makes Us Cry
Year after year, one thing remains constant with Adele’s music: it makes the tears flow. You may think her soulful lyrics are the reason songs like “Hello” and “Someone Like You” turn on the waterworks, but there’s a whole lot more going on in Adele’s music. What is the word for why Adele’s music makes us cry? Surprisingly, it’s not the lyrics that are really …
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Normalcy and Squirmishes: Misunderestimating the Words of Politicians
Most of the time when we talk about someone creating a new word we speak of the inventor with admiration, or even awe. We think of the linguistic creations of long-dead writers, such as Shakespeare, as signs of their genius, or evidence that they singlehandedly chiseled a new life form out of granite and bequeathed it to the English-speaking people. We applaud these people who …
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