Let’s be honest: desert vs. dessert is a spelling issue, not a definition issue. It’s easy to tell the difference between the Sahara and a chocolate cake (even a dry chocolate cake). But when should you use one S and when should you use two? That extra S could be the difference between mounds of sand and mounds of ice cream—and that’s an important difference! …
By Ashley Austrew, Journalist and Writer Spring has arrived. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and the due dates for those all-important end-of-term assignments are fast approaching. So far, we’ve provided some tips on getting ready for final exams and acing those final papers, but what if you’re taking a class that requires a final project? The scope of a final project is …
The short answer: both buses and busses are acceptable plural forms of bus. However, buses is much more commonly used—almost exclusively—and is often considered the standard form. The explanation: in many cases in English spelling, final consonants like the s in bus are often doubled when an ending such as -es, -ed, or -ing is added to the end of the word. For example, the …
Just after the season of Capricorn comes to a close, the age of Aquarius is upon us. It usually runs from around January 20–February 18. In addition to claiming one of the best songs about an astrological sign ever (“This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius …”), Aquarians are a special bunch. Aquarius is the 11th sign of the zodiac. Common characteristics often …
Black Lives Matter is a powerful political and social movement aiming to ensure basic human rights for Black people. Many people are familiar with the name of the movement as it is used amid protests against violence inflicted on Black people involving police officers, including the death of George Floyd in 2020. As the movement has expanded all around the world, many may not know …
Heterozygous and homozygous are terms used in biology and genetics to indicate whether a living thing has two of the same copies of a gene for a particular trait, or whether it has two different ones. For example, let’s say one parent has black hair, and one has brown hair. One of their children might get two copies of the black hair gene, while another …
As with many legal and political terms, recuse and resign are often confused with each other. The differences between these terms are important to understand. What does recuse mean? To recuse means “to withdraw from performing legal duties because of potential bias or a conflict of interest.” This can apply to judges, jurors, lawyers, and so on, but it’s specific to the prejudice those individuals may exhibit. Although the …
“So long, farewell …” This catchy tune from The Sound of Music is just one of many artistic reflections throughout the years on the ways we say goodbye. And it’s no wonder this parting word and its synonyms have been the subject of much rumination over the years as saying goodbye has become an integral part of our interactions with people, places, and things. We …
From Valentine’s Day cards to messages from your mom, a typical sign-off to show love and affection is XOXO. The X stands for kiss and the O stands for a hug—but why? Well, the origin of these symbols is uncertain, but we can make some educated guesses about where they come from. Why is X the symbol for a kiss? The use of X as a …
We often attribute emotions and other human characteristics to animals. This is called anthropomorphism. Similarly, we also describe people using animal characteristics. You might, for example, say my teenage son “eats like a horse,” meaning he’s a growing boy and consumes a lot of food. This is called zoomorphism. Zoomorphism also includes assigning animal-like qualities to gods and inanimate objects. The term comes from the Greek …
Forget Thanksgiving, New Year’s, and Fourth of July—for some people, no other holiday comes close to Halloween. For those who are all about “spooky season,” they’re breaking out the pumpkin spice and brainstorming creepy costumes at the first hint of fall. But are those who savor the haunting side of this holiday all about the terror that ghosts and skeletons bring? Or is it horror …
