There’s no difference in meaning between center and centre, but there is an interesting story behind the change in spelling. In the early 19th century, independence-minded lexicographer Noah Webster campaigned for a new American orthography...
Ron in Grand Rapids, Michigan, grew up hearing relatives ask for a receipt when they wanted a recipe, as in getting the instructions for a good cake. That usage is old-fashioned but well established. Both receipt and recipe go back to Latin...
In China, dogs say wang wang instead of woof woof. Wikipedia has a great list of such cross-linguistic onomatopoeias. Of course, we all know what the fox says. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The Dog Says “Wang...
Insure in the US Constitution’s preamble, as in to insure domestic tranquility, isn’t a mistake. Tim from Nashville noticed that modern usage often reserves insure for financial protection against loss and ensure for making certain something...
Does penultimate mean the very last? No! It means second to last, taking from the Latin word paene, meaning almost. It’s the same Latin root that gives us the word for that “almost island,” a peninsula. People misusing penultimate...
Stet is the editor’s way of saying, “Let it stand.” Adrienne in Plattsburgh, New York, found it in crossword puzzles. On paper, it’s a practical mark: after a deletion or correction has been proposed, stet tells the typesetter or editor to leave the...