All In a Word
Graduation is a solemn event 鈥� so why funny hats?How many ways can one graduate? The word has many meanings beyond the typical pomp and circumstance associated with colleges each spring.
Deprecate? Depreciate? Let鈥檚 call the whole thing off.I have assumed聽deprecate聽meant 鈥渢o belittle.鈥澛燗s it turns out, I am far from the first person to have been baffled by this word.
More than a letter divides 鈥榣anguish鈥� from 鈥榓nguish鈥�It may seem that these two words must be related, but etymologically they are more like opposites than cousins.
They鈥檙e 鈥榗ows鈥� in the field, but 鈥榖eef鈥� on the tableHow did a single animal get one field name and an entirely different food name? To answer that question, our grammar columnist takes a page from 鈥淚vanhoe.鈥�
The melodious origin of 鈥榮wan鈥� and 鈥榮onata鈥�How is a swan like a sonata? This sounds like the setup for a joke, but it鈥檚 more of an etymological riddle.聽
Parler fran莽ais? What makes a fluent speaker.For many language learners, fluency feels impossible. But being fluent is more about familiarity and confidence in writing and speaking than perfection.
If life exists on other planets, we鈥檒l find the wordsAs scientists entertain the possibility of life on other planets,聽astrobiologists have had to rethink their vocabulary.
Conversation starter: Why we mirror speechWhen聽people adapt their style of speech (or texting) to that of their conversational partners, it鈥檚 what聽linguists call accommodation.
Why shanties may be just what we landlubbers needSea shanties like Wellerman聽have gone viral on TikTok recently. But where did they originate, and why are they suddenly popular now?
What does the 鈥榝ilibuster鈥� have to do with pirates?Etymologically,聽filibuster聽has more to do with conflict than with consensus. Fittingly, conflict is what filibusters tend to create in legislatures.
What to call the locals in New Zealand and IndianaSometimes there are rough rules for聽forming聽demonyms, terms that denote the inhabitants of a particular place. But in irregular cases, there are none.
What to call people from Wisconsin or DubaiSome聽demonyms 鈥� or聽words 鈥渦sed to denote a person who inhabits or is native to a particular place鈥� 鈥撀燼re obvious, but others are impossible to guess.
Learning to live with 鈥榣earnings鈥�Learnings聽is often seen as pretentious and useless business jargon, but its cousin teachings is pretty unobjectionable. What鈥檚 the difference?
When politicians resort to 鈥榳hataboutism鈥�Whataboutism聽is an old rhetorical technique. If Mary accuses John of something, John responds by accusing Mary of something: 鈥淲hat about ... ?鈥�
Can Americans reclaim the term 鈥榩atriot鈥�?It鈥檚 easy to define聽patriot聽鈥� one who loves his or her country, per Merriam-Webster 鈥� but harder to agree on what that love should entail.
Animal traits 鈥榙og鈥� the English languageMany animal names have undergone verbification, or turned from nouns into verbs. To聽parrot聽is to 鈥渞epeat by rote鈥� without understanding, for example.
Blursday, doomscrolling, and the words of 2020The year 2020 gave rise to so many new words that the editors at Oxford Languages couldn鈥檛 pick just one word of the year (WOTY).
鈥楤ring home the bacon鈥� and other tasty idiomsNo one knows how bacon became associated with money, but etymologists have fun speculating. Possible answers are county fairs and聽English traditions.
When is the proof in the pudding, anyway?The strange phrase 鈥� the clue is in the custard? 鈥� is just one of many odd and interesting food idioms in English.
Why the British are firmly set on 鈥榩udding鈥�
