Trace, used for locales like the Natchez Trace, refers to an informal road, like a deer trail or an Indian trail. This is part of a complete episode.
For all intents and purposes, the phrase all intensive purposes is just plain wrong. It’s an example of what linguists call an eggcorn. This is part of a complete episode.
Is it time to replace the expression “the mentally ill”? Some argue the term unfairly stigmatizes a broad range of people. Also, the winter sport of… skitching, which involves snowy roads, leather shoes — and car bumpers...
The part of a church known as a foyer, vestibule, or lobby is sometimes called the narthex. This word appears to go back to the ancient Greek term for “fennel,” although beyond that, its etymology is unclear. This is part of a complete...
In Zen Buddhism, the term all one refers to a state of enlightenment that’s the opposite of isolated and alone. The word alone, however, comes from the idea of “all on one’s own.” The word alone also gives us lone, lonely and...
I have a new neighbor, and I’ve been electronically snooping on him or her. I say “him or her” because the surveillance device is the PandaCam at the San Diego Zoo, which welcomed a bouncing baby panda a few weeks ago. And as the...