In English Vocabulary ‘Martial Law’ or ‘Marshall Law’? A listener question about a spate of misspellings led us to investigate the meaning and history of “martial law” and George C. Marshall. One of our listeners wrote in to say that he’d been seeing this phrase misspelled quite a lot, as M-A-R-S-H-A-L-L law. It should be spelled M-A-R-T-I Written by Nadia 2020-04-14 (Tue)2020-04-14 (Tue) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык What Is a ‘Skeleton Crew’? A lot of companies that are still operating are operating with a skeleton crew these days. When you’re working with the bare minimum of people necessary to keep a project going, you’re on a skeleton crew. The idea of a ‘skeleton’ crew started in the military According to the Written by Nadia 2020-03-31 (Tue)2020-04-09 (Thu) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals How do you express numbers in your writing? When do you use figures (digits) and when do you write out the number in words (letters)? That is, when do you write 9 and when do you write nine? 1. Number versus numeral. First things first, what is the difference between a number and a numeral? Written by Vladimir 2020-03-19 (Thu)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык Troops Is an Unethical Euphemism Linguists are famous—or perhaps infamous—for our tolerant attitude toward language and how it changes. Given the widespread misconception that we are professional grammar police, we often disappoint people in saying that it is not scientifically “wrong” to say “less books” rather than Written by Vladimir 2020-03-13 (Fri)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык The History of the Word ‘Woman’ Both “woman” and “queen” have interesting origins. International Women’s Day is March 8. On this day, people around the world celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The first celebration was held in 1911, and the event was recognized Written by Nadia 2020-03-08 (Sun)2020-04-02 (Thu) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary Sumptuous If they are, they must not know the meaning of sumptuous. English-speaking cooks who use unctuous to describe pork roasts are referring to taste, texture, and juiciness. The word sumptuous, although often used to describe a meal, has nothing to do with the taste of food. The word sumptuous derives f Written by Vladimir 2020-02-13 (Thu)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary Unctuous, A Humpty Dumpty Word A reader alerted me to a new use of the word unctuous that has escaped me until now: When did “unctuous” start having a positive connotation? Watch any cooking show lately and it’s likely you’ll hear someone describe a dish as “unctuous,” as if that’s a good thing. Many celebrity chefs Written by Vladimir 2020-02-12 (Wed)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary Bare or Bear With Me? Commonly seen on the Web is the misspelled phrase “bare with me.” The correct expression is “bear with me.” It means, “be patient with me.” One of the many meanings of the verb “to bear” is “to tolerate.” The verb bare, on the other hand, means “to reveal” or “to uncover. Written by Vladimir 2020-02-11 (Tue)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык Warranty vs. Guarantee We guarantee you’ll find this interesting A warranty is a guarantee of the integrity of a product and of the maker’s responsibility for it. In a sense, guarantee is the more general term and warranty is the more specific (that is, written and legal) te Written by Nadia 2020-01-30 (Thu)2020-04-03 (Fri) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary Impeachment Latin: 8 Terms Related to Politics The phrase at the heart of the current impeachment process, quid pro quo, is unaltered Latin, but several words less obviously Latin have been sharing the spotlight. Their etymology is interesting. castigate More than one person involved in the hearings has been reported as “castigating” someone Written by Vladimir 2020-01-28 (Tue)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
