‘That’s not a word!’ ‘Well, actually it is. The writer wrote it – and, as far as we can tell, a good portion of her readers understood what she meant in using it. So, for all practical purposes, it’s a … Continue reading
Back in the dim distant days of the fifth form, we had an English teacher who insisted that nice – in the sense of ‘pleasant or agreeable’ – could only apply to food. A ‘nice day’ or ‘a nice broad-brimmed … Continue reading
Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a plethora of verbs that just didn’t exist back in my school days. And most of these verbs are formed from nouns. Back in those pre personal-computing days, we certainly didn’t email, text, … Continue reading
A friend phoned the other day to ask if I thought that prognose was a real word. I assured her that it was. But I also said that she was unlikely to find it in an everyday dictionary. And her … Continue reading
Words have always fascinated me. Even before I could read I wanted to know why certain words were the way they were. Unfortunately, there has never been any shortage of people ready and willing to provide answers. Take bloody – … Continue reading