ontin n.— «But he also likes to come up with new words to describe cultural patterns, acknowledging that at breakfast he invented a new word—ontin, meaning the ostensible usage of something—which he has already used a few times to much...
We recommend books that make great gifts for language lovers, talk about footwear called go-aheads, and look further into going commando. Also, was the 2008 election a historic event or an historic event?
peaker plant n.— «Our natural gas fueled electricity generating facilities are commonly referred to as “peaker” plants. Our plants are used to balance unexpected short term surges in demand, making them critical to the...
The second edition of the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus is chock-full of synonyms, of course, but what makes it special are the essays and usage notes by authors such as Simon Winchester, David Lehman, Zadie Smith, and David Foster...
sickler n.— «On a matter of semantics, the use of nomenclature derived from the names of diseases, such as “diabetics,” “epileptics” and, in this case, “sicklers,” may be viewed as pejorative and...
Hello, everybody, it’s another newsletter from A Way with Words. Over the weekend, our latest episode concentrated on the ever-popular topic of words people mispronounce on purpose, the pronunciation of “beaux arts,” and the...