When I'm looking for rare euphemisms to include in this column, I don't turn to drink, but I do turn to Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary. Paul Dickson's amazing collection of 2,964 terms for being tipsy, lubricated, guzzled, or uncorked is a euphemism-palooza.  Continue reading...

We love to "range." When describing a new shopping mall, for example, an article might say: "It has everything from a roller coaster for the kiddies to high-end boutiques for fashionistas." The "from" and "to" implies a "range," and a range implies that "everything" will be along that line. But the only thing the roller coaster and boutique have in common is that they are inside this new mall. It’s a "false range."  Continue reading...

Via Twitter, theatre director Jen Bender posed a question that had recently come up in conversation: "A married man's lover is his mistress. What's the name for a woman's illicit lover?" Searching for an answer to that question points to the many gender-related asymmetries in English.  Continue reading...

We welcome back James Harbeck for another installment of his "Word Tasting Notes." Here he considers the subtle distinction between a "bookstore" and a "bookshop."  Continue reading...

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...

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...