Let’s say you’re in a thorny situation, and you find yourself wanting to offer comfort. Do you have a word or two in your back pocket for this moment? Do you assure your friend it will be alright? Or do you ensure them they’ll feel better soon? … Or is the word you’re looking for insure? Confused? This is a tricky one. Assure, ensure, and insure ultimately derive …
Some people seem to be born with a special intuition to always know things before they happen. Others seem to have a special gift allowing them to see ghosts or talk to the dead. But are people with these unique talents psychics or mediums? And can the words psychic and medium be interchanged? The answer is… sometimes; psychic and medium aren’t always synonyms, and despite both …
Quick: when you hear the word doctor, what do you picture? Most would probably describe someone in a white lab coat with a stethoscope hanging around their neck or someone in medical scrubs—someone you would seek out if you have a deep cut that needed stitches. That word doctor, however, is a title assigned to many who don’t come close to that description, many of …
Thanks to clicks, likes, and verified blue checkmarks, a person’s reputation can extend far beyond those who know them personally. For example, it’s widely known that Chris Evans is a real-life Captain America who holds doors open for people, and we all acknowledge that Beyoncé is a goddess among us mere mortals. Speaking of superpowers, before she passed away on September 18, 2020, Supreme Court …
Ever been worried, apprehensive, or even panicky at times? Yes? We thought so. We all have. Suddenly, you feel a knot in your throat, your heart starts pounding, you’re short of breath, shaky, drenched in sweat, and a bit dizzy. Brace yourself. Your body’s fight-or-flight response is switched on and is quickly taking over. You are in survival mode. We hope there are no imminent dangers or …
When we communicate with others using words, we’re using language. We’re also using a dialect and an accent, whether we’re aware of it or not. But what do all of these words mean? How are languages, dialects, and accents different from each other? In this article, we will talk about the differences between languages, dialects, and accents while providing examples of each. The word language …
We know all too well that the internet isn’t all fun memes and hamster videos. The darker side of online life is home to trolls, spammers, and many varieties of toxic behavior, spanning from tactics intended to harass one person to nefarious attempts to spread harmful disinformation as widely as possible. For many of the practices that play out exclusively online, specialized terms have emerged, …
Every May in the United States, Americans observe Older Americans Month, a month-long observance devoted to celebrating older Americans and their contributions and raising awareness about issues related to age and aging. This makes May an important time during which to consider language used to talk about older people and ageism—which we should be doing every month of the year, too! This topic matters because …
The world of movies delivers a lot of memorable words in the form of classic quotes and witty one-liners. Sometimes, though, the big screen also debuts entirely new words or casts an existing word in an entirely new role. Some words, of course, were created with certain movies in mind. For this article, we put out a casting call for words that got their big …