As my mantra is “Words Matter,” I’m fascinated by the etymology of words, how different cultures use language, and when people accidentally/purposefully misuse English. I’ve covered spelling bees, written about mondegreens and eggcorns, and advocated for the banishing of overused words. So, it’s probably not surprising that a friend caught my attention when he recently…
People have been hacking the English language for years but, at the end of the day, most of the attempts don’t slay. Instead, they are – wait for it – cringe-worthy. Since this is my side hustle, it’s time to obsess about the 2024 banished words. Since 1976, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has compiled…
I’m not gaslighting you. We’re at an inflection point of people quiet quitting irregardless if everything is amazing and moving forward. Does that make sense? Absolutely! Since 1976, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has compiled an annual list of words to be banned. For years, it was described as words to be “banished from the…
Have you ever heard of Nordstrom’s? It’s a trick question. The name of the store is actually Nordstrom. There is no letter ‘s’ in the name. The same is true with Kroger and JCPenney. Even the president made the mistake with supermarket chain Meijer. So why do people add ‘s’ to store names? The most…
If you tell a brazen untruth, is it called a bald-faced lie or a bold-faced lie? 100 years ago, the answer might have been neither, as the phrase barefaced lie was in fashion. Barefaced literally means beardless but implied bold or even brazen, perhaps because it was unacceptable for a man not to have a…
One of the advantages of living in Silicon Valley is you get to meet some amazing people. A recent meet-up with a friend reminded me of the time we got to meet Robert Joss, Dean Emeritus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. During his career, Professor Joss researched how people can be developed into…
The phrase ‘your ears must be burning’ tells someone you were talking about them when they were not around. But where did the phrase come from? It appears to goes back to Roman times. In Naturalis Historia, the 37-volume encyclopedia of fact, myth, and speculation, Pliny writes: Those absent are warned by a ringing of…
Sometimes I’m directionally accurate but not precise. My lack of precision isn’t an attempt to mislead or misinform. After all, my motto is words matter so I usually choose my words carefully. Instead, this imprecision stems from the desire to tell a compelling story or when my memory is cloudy. Here’s a recent real-life example:…
Recently a colleague sent me an email which said “since you’re a lexiphile, you might like these phrases and use them in a future blog”. He included a list of 10 punny sentences like this one: Police were called to the daycare center, where a three-year-old was resisting a rest. He was right – I…
Even though my mantra is “Words Matter”, I’m constantly learning new things about language. Last week I received an email which contained the phrase “for all intensive purposes”. Of course, the correct phrase is the similar-sounding “for all intents and purposes.” The mistake struck me as both amusing and intriguing, so I tweeted that it…