All words are unique. Each has its very own spelling, meaning and purpose. But some words are unique in other ways as well. Maybe it’s a word’s length, or its combination of letters, or even symmetry. Whatever, such words are good to know if, for instance, you ever find yourself in a word trivia contest […]

Some of the best writers I know were never English majors; one is a forester and another owned a bike shop, but they were both careful writers nevertheless, always proofreading what they’d written and not relying on spellcheck. But since English majors are expected to be good writers and know their words — and I […]

Just between you and I, this time I’d like to take a look at hypercorrectness. And I’ll start with the previous sentence. Of course old English teachers everywhere will tell you that, because of the preposition, it should be, “Just between you and me.” And they would be right. Usually. You see, the problem is […]