The words cushy, cheeky, and non-starter all began as Britishisms, then hopped across the pond to the United States. A new book examines what happens when British words and phrases migrate into American English. Also, if you speak a language besides...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...
Is the TV show Hawaii Five-0 named for Ford Mustang 5.0 engines in police cruisers? No, and it’s correctly typed with a zero instead of the letter “O.” This is part of a complete episode.
An Alabama high-school teacher observes that one of his fellow teachers tends to write words that should be plural as singular, such as “I graded all 50 test” instead of “I graded all 50 tests.” The reason for this locution...
Bloke Coke n.— «Similarly, Coca-Cola saw sales soar by 21 per cent to £205 million with its new no-calorie Coca-Cola Zero, the black- packaged drink dubbed “Bloke Coke” as it is targeted at men who might be resistant to buying...
World War Zero n.— «The Russo-Japanese War “is easy to overlook because it was not a lengthy one,” said Kurk Dorsey, an associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. “But the treaty was really...