Twists & Turns of Phrase When something is as rare (or scarce) as hen’s teeth, it is very rare to find it, perhaps even impossible. This phrase first came into use in mid–19th century America, where anyone with a chicken coop could see that birds have beaks, not teeth. Interestingly, though, some researchers at the […]
Lexical Vexations This lexical vexation is for Colette, who understands the weighty responsibility of using wait and weight correctly. wait 1. v . to remain somewhere in anticipation of an event, to employ (varying degrees of) patience in anticipation of an event. 2. n. the duration of time that must elapse before an event takes […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Writ’ative, a. inclined to write as an author. Word in the Wild: Vicki used pencils to put up her hair so that she could write at any time whatsoever. She wrote while riding the bus, wrote in her dreams, wrote her own vows, and wrote with the alphabet noodles in her soup. She […]
Lexical Vexations Lee requested this classic lexical vexation, one that trips up the best of us from time to time. Thanks, Lee! their adj. the possessive form of the pronoun they. there 1. adv. a word used to designate a location that is at a distance, near or far, from the one using the word. 2. […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Via’tic, a. relating to travelling. Word in the Wild: She’d always been powerless to resist the lure of the faraway. First it was leaving the neighbourhood on her own, then it was biking to the next town over, and now it was the viatic call of a investigative journalism. She just couldn’t hold […]
Vest-Pocket Vocabulary Ubica’tion, n. relation as to place; whereness Word in the Wild: Ilya often had trouble determining his own ubication, which is why three of his birthday gifts turned out to be compasses. The fourth was a GPS. This word has wandered over to English from the modern Latin ubicātio, meaning in “a determinate […]
Lexical Vexations I don’t know how I’ve missed the grandaddy of lexical vexations for so long, so thank you, Susan, for requesting this post. its the possessive form of the pronoun it. it’s a contraction of the words it and is or it and has. Words in the Wild: It’s my intention to see to […]