Lexical Vexations Loath adj. disinclined; not willing to take an action. Loathe v. to violently dislike; to hate. Words in the Wild: Though he loathed heights, he was loath to back out of his skydiving lesson. If you follow the link to loath in Merriam-Webster online, you’ll see that it offers loathe as a third […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Car’ny, v. to throw in hypocritical terms. The OED further explains that to carny means to “act in a wheedling or coaxing manner,” to “wheedle, coax, cajole.” Word in the Wild: The delinquent student blustered and carnied her way to a higher grade. You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s […]

Lexical Vexations adverse adj. 1. antagonistic or actively hostile 2. unfavourable or detrimental. averse adj. 1. opposed to or disinclined 2. feeling of repugnance. Words in the Wild: I’m averse to taking prescription drugs because, with my allergies, they often have adverse reactions. I’ve often find that writers use the word adverse when averse is […]

Questions Answered Thanks, Cheryl, for submitting the Word Blog’s first question: “I recently have heard news stories and such that refer to coronate as in ‘the conference is being held to coronate the new leader.’ Is this now a verb and a noun?” Although it isn’t a verb that’s in wide currency—after all how many […]

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Battol’ogy, n. useless repetition in language. Word in the Wild: His writing suffers from ornate description and battology, but hidden beneath all that he’s got a valid point. You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.

To italicize (punctuation) or not to italicize, that is the question. The Rule (According to CMS 6.3): Punctuation should appear in the same font or typeface as the general body text of a document. So if you have a roman sentence that contains an italicized word followed by a comma, the comma should appear in […]

Lexical Vexations assure* v. to make certain or to state confidently. ensure* v. to take steps so that something will happen. insure* v. to accept payment of premiums against an unlikely, but foreseeable financial damage. Words in the Wild: I can assure you that insuring your belongings will ensure your peace of mind.

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Altil’oquence, n. pompous language. Word in the Wild: Once I’ve read a few more Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries, I’ll be able to speak with an assured altiloquence. You can find a complete listing of the Word Blog’s Vest-Pocket Vocabulary entries and learn more about where they come from here.