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Mixed marriage: two ways to wed
Q: Should one officiate a wedding or officiate at a wedding? Or is either fine? Using it as a transitive verb sounds odd to me. A: The verb “officiate” has been used both transitively (with a...
The earliest English writing
Q: You often quote examples of writing from Anglo-Saxon times to illustrate the history of a usage. What is the earliest example of English writing that you know of? A: You’ve asked what seems ...
Left for dead
Q: I’m curious when the phrase “left for dead” became common usage. Why is the phrase not “left to die”? I saw the “for dead” version recently in an article and I began wondering. A...
Did you warsh behind your ears?
Q: Can you suss the pronunciation of “wash”? I’m from central Illinois and I forced myself as an adult to pronounce it “wawsh” instead of the colloquial “warsh.” A: In American ...
‘Dad wouldn’t have a bar of it’
Q: Can you shed any light on the origin of the (mainly) Australian phrase “wouldn’t have a bar of it,” especially what “bar” is doing in there? A: The expression “not to stand a bar ...
Wanna look like a chumbolone?
Q: Have you come across the word “chumbolone”? It’s a new one for me. I found it on John Kass’s website. He was a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and now writes a lot of angry screeds a...
How unnatural is ‘preternatural’?
Q: Why do I see the word “preternatural” all the time, especially in The New York Times? I don’t see it elsewhere. What’s the story? I had to look it up! A: The adjective “preternatur...
‘You had your will of me’
Q: James Joyce mentions “The Lass of Aughrim” at the end of “The Dead.” I looked the song up online, but was puzzled by the use of “will” here: “Oh Gregory, don’t you remember, / ...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2024/03/will.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=will
When ‘like’ means ‘lack’
Q: I’m not sure if this is all over the South or only in Kentucky, but people here use “like” to mean “lack.” Just the other day I heard a baker say of her cupcakes in the oven, “They...
A tale of tricky endings
Q: Can you please tell us the rules for using the suffixes “-tion,” “-sion,” and “-cion”? Very Interested, Busy and Confused Teachers. A: English borrowed all three endings from Frenc...
On ‘giving’ and ‘giving back’
Q: Charitable giving is often characterized as “giving back,” which has a connotation of paying something owed. My wife and I make substantial donations. I think of this as freely giving, ...
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Q: Do you have information on the origin of the phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff”? I didn’t find a convincing answer with Google search and ChatGPT. Any light you might be able to s...
A tale of two suffixes
Q: I have a question about how suffixes are chosen. Specifically, why did the noun/verb “impact” turn into an adjective by adding “-ful” instead of “-ive”? A: You’ll be surprised to...
The first exclamation point!
Q: You wrote recently about the increasing use of exclamation points. When did this overused punctuation mark first appear and who was responsible for it? A: The exclamation point or exclamation...
Wordle fancies: ‘bezel’ vs. ‘bevel’
Q: I recently encountered the word “bezel” while playing Wordle. When I looked it up, several definitions mentioned the word “bevel,” which I’m more familiar with. Do these two words co...
Bookworms, in etymology & entomology
Q: In Danger Calling, a 1931 mystery by Patricia Wentworth, it’s said that an obsessive bibliophile “will turn into one of those long, flat, grey unpleasant insects which live in the bindings...
Gob on a stick
Q: As a retiree, I often check out the website Ask a Manager to marvel at what goes on in the workplace these days. A post from a Brit described a job recruiter as a “typical gob on a stick.”...
Speaking of the silent final ‘e’
Q: I’ve long been curious about words that are spelled alike except for a silent “e” at the end: “dot”-“dote,” “fat”-“fate,” “hat”-“hate,” “not”-“note,” “w...
Some ‘randy’ thoughts
Q: I was looking up some Hindi words and noticed that “randi” is a derogatory term for a “woman of ill repute.” I assume it’s the source of the English word “randy,” probably as a r...
A note to our readers
Because of the holiday, we’re publishing our usual Monday post on Wednesday. In case you missed it, check out our Dec. 4, 2023 post about the origins of the terms “Hanukkah” and “Christma...
Something wicked this way comes
Q: “Wicked,” which used to mean evil only a few decades ago, now also seems to mean cool, mischievous, or so bad it’s good. How did it get these polar opposite connotations? A: This phenome...
Dog days: Are you pooped?
Q: How did the expression “dog days” change from meaning the hottest time of the year to a period of sluggishness or stagnation? A: When “dog days” first appeared in English in the 16th c...
Happy Chanucha & Merry Xpes mæsse
Q: Why don’t we spell it “Honica” instead of “Hanukkah”? When a word is adopted into English from a non-Latin language, wouldn’t the change be toward the closest pronunciation? What e...
When ‘stopping’ means ‘staying’
Q: I’m an old movie buff who likes to research some of the forgotten usages in pre-1950 movies. One usage I’ve noticed is “stopping” at a hotel (or a friend’s home or whatever) where to...
Why we’re in cahoots
Q: I don’t know if you care about older columns, but you may want to update your 2011 item about “cahoot.” It seems silly to say, as your source does, that this Western Americanism descends...
The rustle of a print dress
Q: Sometimes in books set in the 1920s and ’30s, mainly in Agatha Christie’s books, I’ll see a reference to a maid wearing a “print dress,” but the dress actually seems to be a solid co...
The purple haze of autumn
Q: I’ve always assumed that the expression “purple haze” (a variety of marijuana) comes from the 1967 Jimi Hendrix song “Purple Haze.” But I recently saw the phrase in Booth Tarkington...
Why ‘sightseeing,’ not ‘siteseeing’?
Q: Since both “sight” and “site” can refer to a place, why do we use the first one, not the second, in the term “sightseeing”? A: The word “sight” in the sense of something worth ...
When a diet is a journey
Q: Is it my imagination or has “journey” become a ubiquitous term for going mentally or spiritually between points A and B? Is this one more example of making ordinary things seem precious, s...
A chorus of exclamation points
Q: I’m seeing a lot of exclamation points in greetings (“Good Morning!” … “Hello!”) and in expressing gratitude (“Thanks!” or “Thanks!!!”). Is there an overuse of exclamation ...
Caesar’s wife in Shakespeare
Q: I’m researching Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and came upon your 2022 posting on the use of “ph” as “f” in classical imports. I assume the “ph” in “Calphurnia” (Caesar’s ...
Upon my word!
Q: In the 1940 movie of Pride and Prejudice, the phrase “upon my word” is used repeatedly to mean “I can’t believe what I just heard.” How did those three words amount to a statement of...
Why a ‘beef’ is a complaint
Q: How did the word “beef” come to mean a complaint? A: The use of “beef” in the sense of a complaint or a grievance first appeared in American English as a verb in the late 19th century ...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2023/09/beef.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beef
How ‘chintz’ became ‘chintzy’
Q: I assume “chintzy” (gaudy, cheap, trashy) is derived from “chintz” (the multicolored cotton fabric). But chintz isn’t necessarily gaudy, cheap, or trashy. How did “chintzy” get i...
Is this ‘which’ dead?
Q: I’m curious about this use of “which” in a US Supreme Court opinion from April 30, 1934: “Upon the submission of the cause the appellant made a motion to amend its assignments of error...