Julianne in San Diego wondered why people say desert island instead of deserted island. In that phrase, desert keeps an older sense, meaning “wild and uninhabited.” A desert island can be lush and green, like the island in The Swiss Family Robinson...
Swarthy doesn’t mean hairy. Christian from Austin, Texas, used the phrase swarthy-eyed dog, and his wife, an English teacher, insisted the word meant hairy. It actually describes someone who is dark-complected, with dark skin and dark hair, the kind...
Tom from Phoenix still remembers losing a seventh-grade spelling bee over dilemma, because he had been taught there was a silent n and wrote dilemna. The standard spelling is dilemma, and the dictionaries checked don’t list dilemna. Still, Tom isn’t...
