Now The Dictionary Is Speaking My Language

by Kevin Burton    At one of my newspaper stops I was introduced to readers as speaking “fluent Spanish” That wasn’t, and isn’t, quite true.    But I do speak some Spanish and it has done me some good over the years.    How much Spanish do I speak? I once described it as “enough …

What’s Playing At The Movies This Weekend?

by Kevin Burton    “Do you want to see a movie?” my wife Jeannette will ask me, thinking of  a fun diversion. “What’s playing?” I will ask.    “I don’t know,” she will say, exasperated.    “If I don’t know what’s playing, how do I know if I want to go?” I will say, as …

Autumn Begins Monday, Bring On The Colors!

by Kevin Burton    Autumn is the time of year when the greenery explodes into myriad colors. It’s a feast for the eyes, an art show by God, defying description.    Meriam-Webster is in the business of descriptions, so the dictionary is going to have its say.  Yesterday we went with them, beginning a list …

Fall Colors Are Part Of What I Want To See

by Kevin Burton    I have at times, felt sorry for those Americans who live in places that do not have four discernable seasons.    Spring, summer, fall and winter.    I have lived in the Midwest most of my life and have experienced times when those four seasons all came within the same week.  …

Our Brains Demand Certain Word Orders

by Kevin Burton    If you start talking about the fauna and flora of a certain environment, people are going to be weirded out. Why?    Well, we usually say flora and fauna, not the other way around. Is there a good reason for this? Maybe not, but don’t buck the trend, unless weirdness is …

“Zoomies” And Other Peculiar Animal Behavior

by Kevin Burton    As a baseball fanatic growing up I learned that a bunt is a purposely short hit, made to surprise the defense or to move the runners along.     Leave it to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, as it defines the strange things animals sometimes do,  to teach me that “bunt” has another meaning and …

These Ten Words Emerged From the Military

by Dictionary Scoop.    Most nations in history have taken great pride in the strength and honor of their military. So it seems logical that something as valuable for any society has a profound and direct impact on the way we communicate with each other. We have selected  a few words we use every day that have military …

Making The Case For Ten Underused Words

by Dictionary Scoop     English is full of beautiful terms that we use every day, but it also holds many other gorgeous words that, unfortunately, we have stopped using over time.     Here are ten 10 beautiful English words that we don’t use much anymore -but definitely should. 1-Murmuration    “Murmuration” is a beautiful word in our language that …

A River Of Words, Words About Rivers

by Kevin Burton    Residents of one Alaska neighborhood in my newspaper’s coverage area sought to correct a flooding problem by putting rocks in a river.    Riprap, they called it, which is, as I would learn, “a foundation or sustaining wall of stones or chunks of concrete thrown together without order.”    From that …

Conquering Mathematics By Definition

by Kevin Burton    Fear not, dear reader. Easy does it. This won’t hurt a bit.    For your attention today we bring terms and definitions from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for elements of mathematics. But there will be no test.    Or, if you consider it a test, you are auditing this one. Take from …