It’s a classic catch-22; there’s too much traffic in a particular area, so they build more roads. Then traffic increases because now there are more roads to use. This isn’t the only unexpected effect seen in connection with roads and car travel. For one thing, a traffic jam can happen for no apparent reason. You… Continue reading

Alexander Graham Bell, who was awarded the first US patent for the telephone (fourteen years after Johann Reiss demonstrated a working telephone), thought that what you ought to say when beginning to speak into one was “ahoy!” This caught on in a small way for a while, but was quickly replaced with “hello,” a relatively… Continue reading

When something happens, it “occurs”. When it happens again, it “recurs.” When a media program is broadcast the first time, it’s “run” or “aired.” When that’s repeated, it’s “rebroadcast,” “rerun,” or “reaired.” And when you surrender, you “capitulate.” Then when you “recapitulate,” you…sum up a topic? Wait, what’s going on there? “Capitulate” and “recapitulate” are… Continue reading

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who lived in England in the late 1700s and early 1800s, is mostly remembered for his writing – long poems like The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. He was eccentric, even for a member of the 18th century British intelligentsia. Among other things, he came up with his own… Continue reading

Throughout the entire history of humanity, it’s been possible in many places around the world to locate water by simply digging a deep enough hole. Getting the water up out of that hole, though, there’s the problem. But it was a problem that began to be solved at least 4,000 years ago when the “shadoof”… Continue reading

At present we shall present, as a present, the puzzling past and present of “present.”  The origin of the word “present” is not presently known for sure. It might have come from French, or it might have been formed all on its own in English. There was an Old French word “present,” but there was… Continue reading

It’s perfectly acceptable today to use contractions. In fact, throughout the history of English it’s usually been fine. But there was a time… Contractions go back at least as far as Old English, which included “nis” (ne is, meaning “is not”), naes (ne waes, meaning “was not”), nat (ne wat, meaning “does not know”), and… Continue reading

If you attend a classical music concert performed on “period instruments,” which are the types that were in use when the music was composed, you might see and hear a “clavichord.” It resembles a piano, which is a more recent version of the same thing; an instrument in which strings are played via keys. The… Continue reading

We can read English, which means that we can also read Middle English, although it takes quite a bit of getting used to. Reading Old English, though, can be just about impossible without a bunch of studying. For one thing, it’s “inflected,” which is what you call a language where the words change depending on… Continue reading

If you want to make sure you don’t have a smear of grease across your nose after working on your car, or check to see that your meticulously-applied clown makeup is in good shape just before the Halloween party, you might use a pocket mirror. Sometimes the folding versions of these are called “compacts.” But… Continue reading