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peterluykx
Jul 5, 20202 min read
Heterographic Homophones
different - writing - same - sounds “I’m in a good mood today,’ he said. “This morning on the second tea I got a whole in won!”...
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peterluykx
Oct 14, 20192 min read
Down with nicknames!
Examples of how to eliminate nicknames and restore words to their proper form: Just don’t call me by my nicholas-name; I hate it! From...
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peterluykx
Jul 10, 20196 min read
More Words With Unexpected Origins
Many modern words have had their original meanings and forms modified or even lost over the centuries. Here are eleven additions to my...
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peterluykx
Mar 24, 20194 min read
Words with Unexpected Origins
Some English words have fairly obvious origins, such as the word SYMPATHY, which comes from the Greek σύν (sym-), “with” + πάθος...
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peterluykx
Oct 5, 20182 min read
Greek Non-Plurals
A number of words ending in -os have been borrowed directly from the Greek and incorporated unchanged into the English language, although...
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peterluykx
Aug 29, 20185 min read
Insects on the Tongue
ant, bee, beetle, bug, butterfly, cocoon, flea, fly, gnat, louse, moth, nit Not counting bacteria, insects make up at least half of the...
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peterluykx
Aug 18, 20183 min read
Automobile names
The names of makes of automobiles often come from the family names of company founders, manufacturers, automotive designers, or other...
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peterluykx
Feb 20, 20181 min read
The alphabetical aardvark
Argh! says the aardvark, as he dribbles accidentally some reddish ackee juice offhandedly and aggravatingly onto his vest while relaxing...
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peterluykx
May 23, 20171 min read
Body Parts
Among the first things an infant learns are the names of parts of the body: head, face, hand, foot, mouth, eye, and so on. When human...
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peterluykx
Sep 26, 20161 min read
The forgotten parthenogenotes
To the tune of “When Johnny comes marching home again,” the counting nursery-rhyme song starts out . . . The animals went in two by two...
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peterluykx
Feb 11, 20162 min read
Cardinal
When a thing is named, its name seems to capture something of its inner nature. The name – cardinal – of the bird now singing its...
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peterluykx
Jan 14, 20161 min read
Birthday present
“What do you want for your birthday?” she asked. He said, “Nothing.” “I don’t know of any stores where they carry nothing.” “Try amazon,”...
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peterluykx
Dec 14, 20152 min read
Quarry and Quarry
Sometimes two words have different origins and different meanings but end up being spelled the same way . . . as if they had wandered...
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peterluykx
Oct 9, 20152 min read
Positive forms of negative words
We should resurrect the positive forms of some words that are usually used only in their negative forms. The sentences below are...
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peterluykx
Aug 8, 20152 min read
Bird words seven
There are many expressions with direct references to birds: jaywalking, mudlarking, crow’s nest, pigeon-toed, pigeon-holed, stool pigeon,...
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peterluykx
Aug 8, 20151 min read
alphabetical-order words
Some English words have three adjacent letters in the same order as they occur in the alphabet; e.g., a word containing a-b-c in that...
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