Category Archives: Language

Go ahead, call me a Grammar Nazi. But, actually, t’s not grammar. It’s vocabulary. Here’s a heading for a story I read recently on CNN.com: “Man breaks in to rob a Florida Wendy’s but stops to make himself dinner first.” … Continue reading →

Not long ago, I wrote a somewhat depressing philosophical screed that included concepts and phrases I’ve never used before. Phrases like “tetanus fog” and “smothering with a cellophane pillow.” I didn’t post the discourse on my blog, but I kept … Continue reading →

On occasion, I slog through writing I’ve posted here or stored in directories on my hard drive. I’m looking for words that have merit, writing of which I might one day be proud. I’m afraid I rarely find those gems … Continue reading →

Here’s how it happened: I went looking for the etymology of “skin in the game.” What I found was a set of words that describe some concepts I never knew existed or, at least, I’d never thought about. A word exists, I learned, … Continue reading →

Komorebi, as I came to learn recently, is a Japanese word meaning sunlight filtering through tree leaves.  If I am to properly describe the dim, non-illuminated areas on a wall next to the komorebi coming through the window, I need a … Continue reading →

I have added another word to my vocabulary, though I can’t guarantee it will stay.  Thanks to my friend, Trish, I now know that psithurism (a noun) means, according to various sources, the sound of wind in the trees and … Continue reading →

I stumbled across something intriguing this morning.  It was of sufficient interest to warrant the further investigation which followed.  My fascination with language and its role in the human condition prompted my search and what, ultimately, might be considered morbid … Continue reading →

The concept of human language is fascinating to me.  How is it that the sounds constituting Japanese and English and Arabic are so remarkably different, for example? And, quite apart from the differences in spoken words, how and why did written … Continue reading →

木漏れ日 The symbols above constitute a Japanese phrase for “sunlight filtering through tree leaves.” The English spelling of the phrase is komorebi.  I see no need to reinvent the wheel, or create a new word in a language that already has some … Continue reading →

Repetition has the interesting effect of making perfectly normal words sound like nonsense syllables.  Try it. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Prong. Eventually, perhaps already, the word has begun to sound like gibberish. It will work equally … Continue reading →

Question: What is a powerful narcotic one might find in Addis Ababa? Answer: Ethiopiate. Question: What statement about a word cannot easily and simply be made in written form without using non-alphabetic symbols? Answer: There are three ways to spell the word whose sound is best … Continue reading →

April 17, like all other days, provides me with an opportunity to exhibit random curiosity. Today’s random curiosity found itself exploring the meaning and origins of the word “crimson.” I can’t say with even a shred of certainty why that … Continue reading →

If you make a point, every day, of thinking about and then learning about something of which you know little, you will expand your intellectual horizons.   That’s what I say. Today, I explored the etymology of the term “red herring.” … Continue reading →

A few years ago, my wife introduced me to a term I’d probably heard before, but did not quite understand: amuse-bouche. She introduced the term to me as we sat in a Mexican restaurant and were served a very nice … Continue reading →