U.S. President Thomas Jefferson has been credited with the first use of belittled in print. The word appears in his 1785 Notes on the State of Virginia. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Belittled and Jefferson” As far as we know...
The new Downton Abbey movie is a luscious treat for fans of the public-television period piece, but how accurate is the script when it comes to the vocabulary of the early 20th century? It may be jarring to hear the word swag, but it was already at...
Strictly speaking, the verb insure means to “pay a third party to protect against financial loss,” and ensure means “to make sure” or “make certain” that something occurs. For centuries, however, these words were used interchangeably. The hair...
Scott, in Cincinnati, Ohio, notes in his work as a technical writer for a software company, that his colleagues use the word as instead of what he believes is the correct word, because. For example, in the sentenceYou must enter the customer’s name...
Jeff in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is married to a woman from Barcelona who grew up speaking British English. She pointed out to him his use of the word of with the preposition off, as in Take the book off of the table or Let’s get off of the highway...
The People’s Tongue: Americans and the English Language (Bookshop|Amazon) reflects 450 years of English as it has been spoken and written in what is now the United States. Edited by Ilan Stavans, this anthology of original texts—essays, articles...