Like many four-letter words, poll is versatile. Where did it come from, and how did it come to be associated with voting?
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Like many four-letter words, poll is versatile. Where did it come from, and how did it come to be associated with voting?
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Watch out — there's a new candidate for Euphemism of the Year! And this one just might be one of the sneakiest snakes.
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Language Lounge
A Monthly Column for Word Lovers
A Recipe for Time Travel
October 6, 2020
I was delighted to learn recently of The Sifter - A Food History Research Tool, which is a gigantic online database of historical cookbooks. What I've been doing in The Sifter initially is a kind of time travel via language.
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Word Count
Writers Talk About Writing
Why You Should Consider Back-And-Forth Writing
September 24, 2020
Three reasons why you should take a step back and consider "back-and-forth" writing.
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Automatically create lists of vocabulary from any text
using the Visual Thesaurus VocabGrabber.
January 18th is celebrated as Thesaurus Day to honor the birthday of the author of the first thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget. Get into the spirit by reading our two-part interview with Roget biographer Joshua Kendall here and here. Also check out an ode to the thesaurus penned by Franklin P. Adams here and Johnny Carson's hilarious "Funeral for a Thesaurus Editor" sketch here.
On the first Monday in September, the United States observes Labor Day, while Canadians celebrate Labour Day. If you want to know why labour is the accepted spelling in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries like Canada, while Americans prefer labor (and color, favor, honor, humor, and neighbor), check out this classic Word Routes column by Ben Zimmer.
Article Topics:
Dreaming of Warm Lines and Patriot Pay
July 9, 2020
- 3 Comments
Finding Distraction in the Historical Dictionary of American Slang
June 10, 2020
- 4 Comments
Why do the best writers have the most emotional intelligence?
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May 27, 2020
- 4 Comments
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RECENT COMMENTS FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Hokum in the Vault of Hope
E H. said,
"Bohunkus is a great word, thank you for bringing it to my attention. To me it sounds like one of those words that can mean anything depending only on..."
- Sunday October 18th, 10:37 AM
A Recipe for Time Travel
David C. said,
"Thanks, Orin, for sharing. The turpentine treatment shows our heritage includes poisoners. Should we disavow our past and throw out the cookbooks. Or,..."
- Monday October 12th, 10:54 AM
Hotse L. said,
"What a wonderful and unexpected commentary on the seemingly unrelated themes of cookbooks and time-travel. I collect books and manuscripts, preferably..."
- Saturday October 10th, 6:25 PM
Orin Hargraves said,
"Thanks, Jan. I am the worst proofreader of my own writing!"
- Tuesday October 6th, 8:15 PM
Jan S. said,
"A nice window into the past, Orin. But you don't make due; you make do. (If you're a cool summer morning, you make dew.)"
- Tuesday October 6th, 4:12 PM
Why You Should Consider Back-And-Forth Writing
Daphne Gray-Grant said,
"Thanks for the comments! I'm also a big fan of deBono, William! In fact, I even attended a thinking hats workshop many years ago and I still have a..."
- Monday September 28th, 7:42 PM
c G. said,
""fairly" .. I'm so opposed to this word. its a cringe an roll-eye word. usually. But so glad I read on past that. I LOVE this idea of back-and-forth..."
- Monday September 28th, 6:29 PM
Judy said,
"Back-and-forth writing can be done in another way. Write a paragraph, a page, whatever amount is comfortable for that day. Put it aside as though..."
- Monday September 28th, 10:33 AM
William A. said,
"I am a disciple of Edward DeBono’s “Lateral Thinking.” Applied to writing pieces of substance, you hand-write three to four topic headings across the..."
- Friday September 25th, 10:24 AM
A Slogan in Every Pot!
roger D. said,
"I like Nancy."
- Friday September 18th, 7:33 AM
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Put the VT to work in your classroom
Stage Directions: the Vocabulary of Theatrical Delivery
November 1, 2013
How can interpreting the language of stage directions enhance students' comprehension of drama?
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