by Kevin Burton I say “Jane you ignorant slut,” and you of a certain age know exactly what I am talking about. It’s an old Saturday Night Live bit from the 70s, Point/Counterpoint, a sendup of the political opinion shows and a similar segment on 60 Minutes. Jane Curtin spoke in favor of …
Category Archives: dictionary
Ten Hard-To-Explain English Language Quirks
by Kevin Burton I went to college to become a journalist. But before I got there I was, briefly, an English teacher. And I had to defend some of the nonsense you will see below. English got to be the dominant language of the world (the lingua franca for aviation, among other industries) …
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Our Love Of Words Includes Words Of Love
by Kevin Burton Yes, today’s list of words about love from Merriam-Webster Dictionary comes just in time for Sweetest Day which is coming up Saturday, but these words are not all cuddle-worthy. This list looks at love “from both sides now,” like the Joni Mitchell song made famous by Judy Collins. There’s some …
Thirteen Words That Are Happy Accidents
by Dictionary Scoop Some of our everyday vocabulary was never supposed to happen. From pronunciation blunders to translation mishaps, these words made it into the English language completely by accident. Grab your coffee, settle in, and enjoy these amusing little mix-ups that stuck around longer than anyone expected. 1-That’s not how you spell ‘expedite’ …
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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. …
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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 …
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