An amateur herpetologist in Tucson, Arizona, notes that there’s a raging debate among his fellow reptile enthusiasts about the term in situ, which is Latin for “in place.” Is it “in SIT-too,” “in SITCH-yoo,” “in-SYTE-too,” or “in-SEE-TOO.” The English Pronouncing Dictionary (Bookshop|Amazon) from Cambridge University Press cites nine different pronunciations in North America alone, and several more in the UK. This Latin expression has never been completely anglicized, so speakers of English have never settled on one single pronunciation for it. This is part of a complete episode.
When you’re talking about the location of an inanimate object, is it okay to say that it lives there, as in The peanut butter lives in that cabinet or The flashlight lives on that shelf? Strictly speaking, of course, that object isn’t...
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...
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