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  1. Word Count

     Usage Deltas
    Wed May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2011
    Terms from mathematics have a habit of working their way into common usage, especially among business types. Mike Pope, a technical writer and editor at Microsoft, takes a look at what happens when math terms with precise meanings turn fuzzy in extended use. The deltas (changes) can be significant.

  2. Word Count

     The Power of Assonance
    Tue Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2012
    Michael Lydon makes an eloquent case for the central role of assonance in the craft of fine writing: "More than a device we can apply by rule or rote, assonance comes to us as a gift from language itself, from our deep animal urge to communicate with our voices."

  3. Word Routes

     Eco-Speak: An Earth Day Glossary
    Fri Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2011
    Today is Earth Day, the annual celebration launched 41 years ago to raise environmental awareness. What better time to get up to speed with the latest in "green" lingo? Here are ten eco-friendly words that have gained prominence over the last few years.

  4. Department of Word Lists

     Words About Words
    Sat Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2007

    You may remember an interview we did last year with Katie Raynolds, a remarkable 10th grader and dedicated linguaphile from Seattle, Washington. Well, Katie just spent a busy week with us here at the VT's New York office as our editorial intern! She graciously put together this word list:

    I discovered when I searched through the Dept. of Word Lists that they're based on a subject a person is passionate about. So I thought, what is my passion? The answer clearly is: words! I found the following words that serve to describe other words, and I explain how we use them. For some I also included interesting stories about their origins.

    Eponym, a name derived from the name of a person (real or imaginary). Examples: Achilles tendon (Achilles the Greek hero), Freudian slip (Sigmund Freud), Louisiana (King Louis XIV).

    Onomatopoeia, words that imitate the sound that they denote. Examples: Pow! Bam! (a type of onomatopoeia that was made popular in comic books), chickadee, meow.

    Sibilant, a consonant characterized by a hissing sound (like s or sh). The word sibilant comes from the Latin word sibil (hiss), which is actually onomatopoeia for the sounds that a snake makes. Example of sibilance: Sally sells sea shell by the sea shore.

  5. Backstory

     Beryl Singleton Bissell, Author of "Scent of God"
    Fri Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2008
    As a child, my favorite pastime was sitting under the Ping-Pong table, over which I'd draped a cloth tent, reading. When puberty hit, I sequestered myself in my room, preferring to read about others' lives rather than living my own. Entering a cloister when I was 18 put a real crimp in my reading activities. Our reading was limited to lives of the saints and books on prayer or asceticism. The monastery library, however, held an astounding collection of Stoddard's Lectures. I read the entire series, traveling round the world with Stoddard on early 20th century journeys. When I left the monastery I crashed the local library and seized every book the staff recommended.

  6. Language Lounge

     Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
    Thu Apr 01 09:00:00 EDT 2021
    The language of road signs is intended to be helpful but it sometimes misses the mark.

  7. Word Count

     The Power of Expressions
    Wed Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2016
    As a general rule, we think of writing as being built from words and words being built from letters. True enough: words and letters are writing's basic building blocks. Yet the more I read and write, the more I sense the power of expressions.

  8. Language Lounge

     Let There Be Light
    Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011
    The 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible does not pass without notice in the English-speaking world. David Crystal's book on the subject has received widespread media attention. The particular ways in which the famous translation has influenced the course of English are fascinating and well-documented by Crystal and others; this month, we'll look at some of the other features that give the KJV its enduring appeal.

  9. Word Count

     Sounds Like...: All the Ways We Misspeak and Write
    Thu Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2013
    For two weeks we highlighted phrases that are written from what people hear, sometimes with amusing results. A reader asked: "Aren't all those [examples] mondegreens, like 'very close veins' when 'varicose veins' is meant?" Yes and know.

  10. Word Count

     How to Demolish Your Deadlines
    Thu Jul 14 00:00:00 EDT 2011
    More than 30 years ago, when I was completing my undergraduate degree, I found myself in an "open-book" final exam. Talk about the magic of threes... I had to write three essays on three different books in three hours. As allowed, I had lugged into the exam an impossibly tall stack of books.
146 147 148 149 150 Displaying 1471-1480 of 3460 Results