Thanks to clicks, likes, and verified blue checkmarks, a person’s reputation can extend far beyond those who know them personally. For example, it’s widely known that Chris Evans is a real-life Captain America who holds doors open for people, and we all acknowledge that Beyoncé is a goddess among us mere mortals. Speaking of superpowers, before she passed away on September 18, 2020, Supreme Court …
The words synchronous and asynchronous have become part of our lives, especially when it comes to the forms of synchronous and asynchronous learning and working that have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The terms are also used in other contexts, including in digital technology and in general, such as to differentiate forms of communication that happen in real time from those that don’t. We’ll …
Strike and boycott may be related terms but they have different meanings. One is used to describe actions taken by a worker; the other refers to a an effort by consumer to take a stand against something. But which is which? No need to protest—in this article, we’ll describe the differences between strike and boycott and provide some example sentences to show how they’re typically used. What does …
Every year as the weather heats up, grills are dusted off and meats and vegetables are thrown on the fire. To those in the West and many northern cities, this is barbecuing. Just don’t call it that in the South or parts of the Midwest like Kansas City, Mo., because in certain regions, not everything cooked on a grill is called barbecue. The word barbecue means different …
One of the basics of tennis is you never want to hit your ball into the net. Most people won’t confuse this mesh fabric divider that runs across the court with the word gross (even if botching an easy volley straight into the net might feel gross). But when talking about money, the line that divides net and gross profits isn’t as clear. What is the …
When it comes to certain white women these days, it doesn’t matter what lovely moniker their parents may have given them. They’ve also been deigned with the name Karen, Becky, or Stacy. Why? These common names are now shorthand for a certain kind of woman who either behaves badly or others like to complain about. As viral videos of Beckys blow up and the service industry …
Although nobody wants to hear that a doctor found a tumor, it’s the word that comes next that makes all of the difference: is it malignant or benign? One of these words has the power to send chills instantly down someone’s spine, while the other can flood a patient with relief. Let’s take a closer look at which is which. What does malignant mean? Malignant …
During the US presidential election, the votes aren’t always split between two candidates: independent party candidates appear on the ballot as well. Presidential candidate Gary Johnson, a Libertarian, won 4.5 million votes in 2016, for example. But what would it actually take for one of these candidates to be elected as the next president of the United States? Does a presidential candidate simply need the plurality …
Fascist and Nazi: these two words loom large in the history books and in heated conversations about politics—conversations that have far outlasted the regimes that originally embraced them. For many of us, the words fascist and Nazi bring to mind the worst dictators and crimes against humanity. But as these ideologies make the news in 2020, used especially in the context of a growing concern about …
Capital and capitol are both commonly used in political contexts and are separated by just one letter, making them frustratingly easy to confuse. When it comes to these two terms, it’s important to note that one has a number of meanings while the other refers to a certain type of building. What is a capital? Capital has many definitions. It can mean “the wealth owned …
Trust us on this one. There’s only a slight difference between these two. In general, distrust and mistrust are considered synonyms, both based on the word trust (although centuries apart). As nouns, both words refer to a condition of lacking trust, and are effectively interchangeable. As verbs, well, it’s a bit more complicated, as you’ll see. What’s the origin of trust? The word trust is first …
It’s safe to say that most of us don’t know the entire Declaration of Independence by heart. However, many of us are familiar enough with the document declaring independence from England to know that at one point, it gets into some inalienable rights that all Americans will have. Or was Thomas Jefferson writing about unalienable rights as he was putting quill to paper? Although these …
