When it comes to making a new friend, would you say she has proven trustworthy or she has proved trustworthy? The common phrase innocent until proven guilty may come to mind—so does this mean proven is acceptable and proved is not? The answer may surprise you. Although we sincerely hope you don’t have reason to use this particular legal phrase in your own personal life, you should …
October is here, and in the Northern Hemisphere, that often means the days are flush with falling leaves, chilling weather, and growing anticipation for the holiday season. The tenth month by our Gregorian calendar, October shares a root with octopus and octagon—the Latin octo and Greek okto, meaning “eight.” According to the original Roman republican calendar, October was the eighth month of the year rather than the …
Do I accept an invitation or except it? If someone is left off of an invitation list, has she been excepted or accepted? What’s the difference between these two terms, and how can we keep them straight? What does accept mean? Accept is a verb, and it means, most broadly, “to take or receive (something offered) or receive with approval or favor,” as in I accept this trophy. What does except mean? Except …
Kids’ letters to Santa Claus are one of the most magical parts of the season. They help Old Saint Nick decide just what to deliver, and they give his helper elves on the streets the insight they need to make Christmas wishes come true. The tradition of writing letters to Santa dates back to the 1800s. Originally, it was Santa who wrote letters to the …
Conscience vs. conscious is a classic question of vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. If you’re anything like us, you have to think very hard each time you spell or say each word—and double check if you’re using the right one. Luckily, we can provide some tricks and examples that will not only help you remember how to say and spell each word, but also help you …
The difference between undergraduate and graduate is a difference of degrees (*throws graduation cap in the air to celebrate the pun*). The level of education that each word involves varies depending on how the word is being used, and there are situations in which both words can be used in the same situation. For example, you can become a graduate student after graduating with an …
by Alyssa Pereira Historic protests against racial inequality. National debates over offensive names of sports team names and conflicts over the place of Confederate monuments in our culture. Arguments about border walls, language barriers—rising tensions over immigration despite an increasingly diverse populace. In this cultural moment, the concepts of race and ethnicity have never been more important to grasp. They’ve also never been so complicated …
“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” This pithy quote by famed science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein (among earlier variations) nicely frames the basic difference between climate and weather: climate refers to average, long-term conditions, while weather refers to specific, short-term conditions. Of course, it’s more complicated than that. We talk a lot about climate these days, especially in the context …
Wobble. Bumpkin. Goulash. Some words are just funny. There’s something about certain combinations of sounds and syllables that just makes us giggle. But why—and which ones? We want to know: what are the secret ingredients that make some words funnier than others? Luckily, linguists have been asking the same question, digging into the data and producing the kinds of studies that have subtitles like “On …
They are Leos, hear them roar. People born under this most majestic zodiac sign arrive into this world between July 23–August 22, and once they do, they’re ready to take it head on. The Leo sign comes after Cancer in the calendar and before Virgo. Represented by a lion, the term Leo stems from the Latin word for “lion,” which is spelled the same: leo. Leo …
In politics, having a catchy nickname will go a long way to help you stand out from the crowd and be remembered throughout history. After all, we still recall how much people liked Ike and how they loved listening to the Great Communicator. But a nickname doesn’t have to be that fancy to stick in people’s minds. Sometimes, all you need are a couple of …