Max Crittenden writes: "I'm seeing some peculiar usage (misuse, to my mind) of the phrase 'out of pocket.' 'My housekeeper has injured her leg and will be out of pocket for a while.' 'Sorry, I've been out of pocket and haven't gotten to your request." Is anyone else noticing this? To me, 'out of pocket' means only 'short of money.'"  Continue reading...

A couple of students at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design came up with a clever project: helping foreigners learn how to pronounce local street names by hooking up street signs with some electronics that play audio recordings of the tricky Danish words. But why should expats in Denmark have all the fun? Could the same be done in the English-speaking world?  Continue reading...

We welcome back James Harbeck for another installment of his "Word Tasting Notes." This time he mulls over a fanciful word that combines "floor" and "wardrobe" into a new droll creation: "floordrobe."  Continue reading...

Online since 2005, the Eggcorn Database is a repository for non-standard reshapings of words and phrases that make sense in a new way, like writing the word acorn as eggcorn. There are currently 641 entries in the database, many of them contributed by Visual Thesaurus editor Ben Zimmer. Three of his recent entries are signal out (for single out), new leash on life (for new lease on life), and when all is set and done (for ...said and done).  Continue reading...

"Jamie Dimon: JPMorgan Will Likely Claw Back Pay From Responsible Executives," the headline said. Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, was telling the Senate Banking Committee that the firm would probably seek to reclaim some pay and bonuses from those involved in the firm's $2 billion trading loss.  Continue reading...

One way to help students grapple with more complex texts is to be more transparent about measurements of readability in the classroom. Reveal to students the readability of a text before reading it, and engage in meaningful discussions about what makes a text difficult.  Continue reading...

Imagine you're naming a new brand — an alcoholic beverage, say. You know the standard marketing dogma: a brand name should promise romance, adventure, well-being, financial success, sex appeal. What are the odds that you'd ignore that advice and instead choose a name that says … death?  Continue reading...