British broadcaster, comedian, and logophile Stephen Fry offers a helpful if tongue-in-cheek suggestion in his newsletter The Fry Corner: Let’s all write AI, the shortened form of artificial intelligence, as Ai. Fry reasons that the upper-case...
Frederick from Valdosta, Georgia, wonders about the term galley-west. To knock something galley-west means to “knock it into confusion” “send everything in all directions.” In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry...
A listener in Park City, Utah, says she and her fellow ski enthusiasts are having heated debates about the word nonplussed. It originally meant “at a loss,” from Latin non plus, meaning “no more,” suggesting a situation in...
When a youngster misreads cooking instructions, the slash mark in the notation for the fraction 1/4 turns out to be a recipe for confusion. This is part of a complete episode.
walk-a-cise n.— «Confusion ensues, slowing down the furious bikers and dragging into the mix City Hall-area office workers who are just trying to get in a little lunch break walk-a-cise but are now risking loss of limb.» —“The Wild...
mento adj.— «I feel mento…. but the worst part is, I replied to Denise and go, “Hi Debbie.” ok, am I losing it?!» —“From Debbie… hahahha… I mean, Denise!!” by Jen Young Pieces of...