Words are funny things. For one thing, they are always changing. Consider lit, which, conventionally, refers to “lighting something up, e.g., a lit candle.” But, in slang, lit means something is “excellent.” It’s hot, it’s on fire—which are just more examples of how we play with words. For another, they keep secret stories of the past. Did you know daisy literally means “day’s eye,” named for the way …
Did you know that the word "muscle" is derived from the Latin word for “mouse?” And this isn't the only word in the English language that is unexpectedly inspired by animals.
Compliment and complement are commonly confused terms because they’re pronounced alike and originally shared some meanings. But over time, they’ve become separate words with entirely different definitions. What does complement mean? Complement with an E is the older of the two terms. Its noun sense has been around in English since the 1300s. The term derives from the Latin complēmentum, meaning “something that completes.” So, that means if …
You would not be wrong if you interchange loan and lend—they do in fact mean the same thing in most instance. The words loan and loaned are the present and past tenses of to loan. Lend and lent are the present and past tenses of to lend. As verbs, loan and lend are often used interchangeably. For example, “A bank loans people money to buy a home. …
Few words are as fun to say as onomatopoeia, but what the heck does it mean? Despite its complex look and sound, onomatopoeia actually has a simple function in the English language. It’s defined as “the formation of a word, as cuckoo, meow, honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent.” To put it simply, it’s a word …
When two words have the same meaning, we call them synonyms. When two words have different meanings but people use them interchangeably, we write articles about what those words actually mean. Take gender and sex. While people substitute one for the other on the regular, their meaning and usage are significantly—and consequentially—different. Because we’re most often talking about human beings when we use these terms, …
by Ashley Austrew Every election prompts arguments about which candidate is the most “electable.” The word electable seems self-explanatory. Technically, it means “capable of, or having a reasonable chance of being elected.” But, what are we really talking about when we say that someone is electable? The history of electable The first recorded use of electable was in the late 1800s, and the idea has been at …
Poor lonely Z finishes up the alphabet at number 26. But, that’s not the only insult this lonely letter suffers!Z’s history includes a time when it was so infrequently used that it was removed from the alphabet altogether. Where did Z come from? The Greek zeta is the origin of the humble Z. The Phoenician glyph zayin, meaning “weapon,” had a long vertical line capped at …
What’s the difference between i.e. and e.g.? They may be small, but their power to befuddle writers and speakers of the English language is mighty. The term i.e. is a shortening of the Latin expression id est, which translates to “that is.” It is used to introduce a rephrasing or elaboration on something that has already been stated. The term e.g. is an abbreviation of …
Who do you think would win an epic showdown like this one? We often see these words used interchangeably, but there are some subtle differences between them. An enemy is a foe who’s hostile toward the protagonist (or central character) of a story. A nemesis is an opponent or rival whom a protagonist can’t overcome. The Enemy In literature, an enemy is often referred to …
What is socialism? Socialism has three main meanings: 1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. 2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory. 3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to …
Scrabble players are acutely aware that Q is a tricky letter. To use a Q in the game, a player must nearly always find an available U. (We’ll overlook the coveted two-letter word qi that any respectable Scrabble player will know.) The fact that Q is the second most rarely-used letter in the alphabet certainly doesn’t make using Q any easier. Let’s quest toward resolving …
