Have you been overcome with wanderlust lately? If you’re antsy to travel or are already planning a trip to a faraway locale, you might want to take a moment to consider the name of your destination. It’s possible that you may not even know how to pronounce the name of this city! As it turns out, even the most well-known cities around the globe can …
You probably already know that English features many, many words with silent letters—letters that appear in the word but aren’t pronounced and often make us wonder what they are even doing there. For example, the letter B in the words debt and thumb. Or whatever the heck is going on in the words colonel, queue, and bourgeoisie. Even though you’re probably already familiar with silent letters, …
Recent news has been filled with analysis that attempts to make sense of current events by comparing them to past moments in history—and applying some of the terminology that originated in the midst or aftermath of those earlier events. Prominent examples include terms based on the combination of a place name and the ending -ization, such as Afghanization (in the context of the withdrawal of …
When it comes to spelling out numbers, knowing when and how to do so correctly might be trickier than you imagine. Many organizations and publications have their own style guides describing when and how to spell out numbers, but there are some general guidelines you can keep in mind when digits pop up in writing. Typically, you should spell out numbers below 10. Numbers over …
No doubt you know your ABCs, but do you know how to spell the names of the letters themselves? For example, how would you spell the name of the letter W? In this article, we are going to take a look at how to spell out the different consonants of the alphabet. Why just the consonants? Well, spelling the names of the vowels is unusual, …
From Valentine’s Day cards to messages from your mom, a typical sign-off to show love and affection is XOXO. The X stands for kiss and the O stands for a hug—but why? Well, the origin of these symbols is uncertain, but we can make some educated guesses about where they come from. Why is X the symbol for a kiss? The use of X as a …
COVID-19 has provided a consistent vocabulary lesson in epidemiology. Among the most important distinctions it has highlighted are the differences between the terms epidemic, pandemic, and endemic. These words have major similarities—all three end in -demic and deal with the spread of disease. But there are key differences, including those related to scale and duration. In this article, we’ll sort out the differences and answer …
If you’ve ever purchased a product, read a book, or watched a movie (read: everyone currently on this page), then you’ve likely seen four symbols time and time again: ™, ®, ©, and ℠. They can be large or close to microscopic. No matter how small, however, they are powerful and convey a lot of meaning. So what’s the deal with each, and what makes …
by John Dempsey, Writer and Editing Professional Today is National Grammar Day so it’s (not “its”) time to celebrate! Now, many of us may have bad memories of teachers correcting us on “Can I use the bathroom?” and similar common phrases all in the name of grammar. (I don’t know, can you? 🙄) So you may be surprised to learn what those of us who style ourselves …
While many languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, add specific accents to the letters or characters throughout their alphabet, the English alphabet has only two letters that include a diacritic dot. This mark is added to a letter to signal a change in either the sound or meaning of a character. What is the additional name of this curious dot that hovers over the ninth …