Brandon from Lewes, Delaware, is eager to move up the career ladder, and has been telling people he seeks a path to ascension within a company. Is ascension the right word to use in this case? A better choice would be advancement. Generally Ascension refers to the biblical story of the ascent of Christ into Heaven. Ascension was adapted into English from Latin ascensio, meaning “a going up.” The word ascent came later, formed by analogy with descent, which came into English via Old French descente, meaning “genealogical lineage,” derived from Latin descendere “to go down.” This is part of a complete episode.
A Winter Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) by Paul Anthony Jones includes some words to lift your spirits. The verb whicken involves the lengthening of days in springtime, a variant of quicken, meaning “come to life.” Another word, breard, is...
Rosalind from Montgomery, Alabama, says her mother used to scold her for acting like a starnadle fool. The more common version of this term is starnated fool, a term that appears particular to Black English, and appears in the work of such writers...
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