The Carly Simon paradox is inspired by her 1972 song lyrics, “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.” Carly claims the subject of the song is vain for thinking the song is about them. However, assuming the song is about them, they aren’t really vain – are they? And if the…
Have you noticed there’s less color in our lives? Vibrant colors like bright reds, blues, and greens seem to be fading from popular use and are being replaced by more subdued grays, beiges, blacks, and neutral tones. This is happening in almost every industry – from automobiles to interior design, fashion and makeup, and even…
Yes, this is a very unique blog about redundant extra words. As a words matter guy, I’m often struck by seemingly common phrases which don’t make logical sense. The phrase ‘I could care less’ is five times more prevalent in American English than the correct phrase ‘I couldn’t care less.’ Lately, I’ve been hearing a…
I recently met with a former close colleague to catch up and celebrate the birth of his first child. During a wide-ranging 4-hour (!) conversation, my friend dropped an intriguing nugget: First born girls look more like their fathers than their mothers so their fathers are more likely to accept them, as historically men have…
As my mantra is “Words Matter,” I’m fascinated by the etymology of words, how different cultures use language, and when people 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 I’m fascinated with jokes that contain a play on words. Here’s one I heard recently: A woman was…
According to neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, author of How Emotions Are Made, emotions aren’t hardwired in your brain but are instead “made in the moment.“ Historically, scientists believed your brain triggers an evolutionary response to external factors, causing your body to act in a predetermined way. For example, if you saw a bear in the woods, you…
Since 1976, Lake Superior State University (LSSU) has compiled an annual list of words that should be banned with the goal to… uphold, protect, and support excellence in language by encouraging avoidance of words and terms that are overworked, redundant, oxymoronic, clichéd, illogical, nonsensical—and otherwise ineffective, baffling, or irritating. Over the last 50 years, LSSU…
Growing up in Virginia, I often heard stories about verbal jousting between Sir Winston Churchill and Lady Astor, who was also born in Virginia. One of the most memorable is the following: Lady Astor: “If you were my husband, I’d give you poison.”Sir Winston: “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.” Amusing, but not…
Having more oxytocin receptors in the brain might be the key difference between mean people and nice ones. In a study published in Biology Letters, researchers analyzed seven different closely related lemur species, noting which ones were egalitarian, which ones were male dominant, and which ones were female dominant. While the animal kingdom has many…
This weekend I heard a podcast mention the concept of a kangaroo word, so decided to have some fun dreaming up some derivative concepts. Kangaroo words contain letters of another word with the same or similar meaning, in the correct order but not necessarily consecutively. For example, the word chicken has the word hen in…