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Feeling Trapped? That's the First Step Toward Freedom Aug. 15, 2025
Do you sometimes feel like you're trapped? Are you ever haunted by the sense that the walls are clos... Read More
Why the Letter 'B' Is Deeply in 'Debt' Jan. 24, 2024
Have you ever wondered why we don't pronounce the "b" in debt, the "c" in indict, the "p" in receipt... Read More
Bank 'Bail Outs' Reflect Every Sense of the Term Sep. 08, 2021
Q: When we talk about bailouts of banks, does "bail" refer to bailing out a boat with a bucket or to... Read More
Loons, Moons and Loony Toons Jul. 28, 2021
As I write this, I'm watching two loons float calmly across a mountain lake in the northern Adironda... Read More
July 6, 2021 Jul. 06, 2021
Dear Annie: I am a 47-year-old woman, married almost 30 years, and I have two grown sons. For the pa... Read More
I'll Have a Quarantini; Better Make That 40 Jun. 02, 2021
As many of us have discovered during the past year, being in quarantine can really do a number on yo... Read More
Wordcestery.com -- Which Words Share a Common Lineage? Jan. 13, 2021
Is "spray," meaning "an arrangement of flowers," related to "spray," meaning "particles of water"? B... Read More
'Cisgender' Has Roots in Latin, Biochemistry Sep. 23, 2020
Several readers have asked me about the meaning, origin and use of "cisgender," an adjective for a p... Read More
From Prison to Purge: The Linguistic Origins of 'Cancel Culture' Sep. 02, 2020
The term "cancel culture" has been batted around like a volleyball during the past few weeks. It ref... Read More
Latin Abbreviations: The Seven 'Hells' of Rome Jul. 08, 2020
Seven-up! Can you spot an error involving the use of the Latin abbreviations "e.g.," "etc.," "et al.... Read More
'Gregarious' and 'Ruminate' Share Beastly Origins Jun. 10, 2020
Whenever a minister speaks of a congregation as a "flock" — the last time this happened, by th... Read More
Nuts About Squirrels Jun. 04, 2020
This is not a column about antibodies, cops, COVID-19, killer wasps, missing bees, vaccines, ventila... Read More
How a Virus Got Its Name Mar. 18, 2020
As the current coronavirus disease spreads, several readers have asked me about the origin of its na... Read More
Iowa Caucus 'Debacle': Worse Than We 'Thaw't' Feb. 19, 2020
Well, we finally found something that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on: The Democratic Io... Read More
Grinding Out the Origin of 'Emolument' Sep. 11, 2019
President Donald Trump's recent suggestion that the G-7 hold its next meeting at his Doral golf reso... Read More
This Word Sails to Many 'Ports' of Call Jun. 19, 2019
Like a wandering sailor, the Latin root "porto" has a girl in every ... well, port. "Porto" means "c... Read More
Who Was That Masked Mantis? May. 22, 2019
Picture a mosquito with a musket, a mantis with a crystal ball, and a larva wearing a mask. Entomolo... Read More
Origins Breathe Life Into Words Apr. 17, 2019
Studying the origins of words can seem like an esoteric enterprise, relegated to nerdy scholars poki... Read More
Those Roman Plurals Are Roamin' Mar. 06, 2019
Q. I've noticed that some publications are using "millenniums" in place of "millennia," e.g., "The m... Read More
This Quiz Leaves No Room for Error Feb. 13, 2019
"Roominate" on the choices posed by this usage quiz as it races from the classroom to the emergency ... Read More
