I think of "dude" as referring to a male, or to be used when speaking to a male, but apparently the younger generation does not have such a limited in...
Examples of using a definite article (or not) can be kind of funny, both in the sense of "peculiar" and in the sense of "humorous." For instance, I've...
1. GENERATION GAP: Years ago an item appeared in Readers Digest humorously defining "thong" as "what Thinatra things."[Yes, it included the final "s" ...
Your example of whether something is countable reminds me of the discussions about "fewer" and "less." Let me avoid the words "exact" and "precise"...
I used to be a systems analyst/programmer, so I have some understanding of your situation, and empathize with your frustration. I concur with Glenn...
I feel the same way. Even on my PC, Microsoft labels things such as "My Computer" and "My Documents." Philosophically, I wonder if this is related t...
A side-trail from the original subject, but responding to "Ultimate Pedant": I don't know if "veterinarian" and "veterinary surgeon" would necessaril...
Kids' talk is often unknowingly funny. Sometimes they misunderstand words, sometimes their limited vocabulary or experience means they express things ...
A word I always have to look at twice is "miniseries." Sometimes it looks like a plural - would "minisery" be a variant form of "misery"? Or could i...
Here is what I think is a similar situation. Sign on highway: WATCH YOUR SPEED - WE ARE Message understood, but not what I consider to be true "par...
Reminds me of a story in Readers Digest about an invoice for VIAGRAFIX. The accounts payable clerk was embarrassed because she thought it meant Viagra...
Reading tunawrite's post, this thought just flashed through my mind: If MLB means Major League Baseball, would/should a minor league baseball organiza...
From what I've seen and heard, common usage seems to treat an acronym/initialism as a singular noun [1 run batted in = 1 RBI], then creates the plural...
And "piano quintet" normally implies two violins, viola, cello, and piano. Schubert's "Trout Quintet" (mentioned by the caller) was unusual in that i...
Can we construct a new word with a meaning similar to non-pescatarian? Here's what I'm thinking: 1. Martha mentioned this term comes from the Lati...