Save the Semicolon

“A person shooting a moose should make sure that their gun has more than one round in it.” “A person” is singular, but “their” is plural. Honestly? I don’t mind. English speakers have been doing the “they” trick for a long time, and complaining about it is actually the more recent development. But it is [...]

I only use the word aggravate to mean “make worse.” When I hear people use it to mean “annoy,” I always, always, always, notice it and make a small mental translation. But, although this is true, I want you to know that I’m not “correcting.” I’m “translating.” That’s because I know that aggravate has been [...]

Seen on the train in Melbourne, Australia. They could have said “passengers” instead of “passenger.” The sign would have worked just fine that way, while avoiding the awkwardness of the verb-subject disagreement. But I don’t really mind. We don’t have a good way to say he-or-she, so I’m ok with “they.” I do present heorshe [...]

I just read an article that said: “Get-rich-quick” schemes are usually just that – schemes. Are schemes a bad thing? My American Heritage Dictionary (Third Edition) defines a scheme as: “a systematic plan or action” So… a get-rich-quick scheme is a systematic plan or action to get rich quick. Doesn’t sound bad, really.

photo credit: RLHyde Words that mean “VERY GOOD” but also mean (or used to mean) “Not to be Believed”: Fantastic: I.e., fantasy, i.e., not true. Incredible: I.e., not credible, i.e., not believable. Unbelievable: I’ll let you work this one out. Fabulous: From a fable, i.e., not true. Other types of “Very Good” words: Amazing: Shares [...]