Addresses seem like they should be simple, but there are a lot of fine details involved. Is the address for a building? A P.O. Box? How do you properly abbreviate “court”? What name should you use for the recipient? The situation has only gotten more complicated as email and websites have changed the meaning of …
The phrase “Cat’s in the cradle” is most popularly used in reference to Harry Chapin’s 1974 song of the same name. The song is about a father and son’s broken relationship, and is popularly interpreted as a warning against not investing enough time in one’s family. The song’s chorus references a series of children’s stories. …
A wise man once said that to truly learn a language, we must always learn two: The formal, written one, and the informal, spoken one. Of course, this is an oversimplification. The point stands, however, that language is a living thing. You can spend as many hours as you want in a library in front …
Have you ever seen a dainty-looking ant walking along carrying a huge insect carcass on its back? Whether they have a scrunched-up spider or a long, rigid centipede on their backs, ants are the world’s most adept weightlifters. Even though they have tiny, thin legs, slim waists, and disjointed, node-like torsos, ants can carry over …
There are very few words in the English language that feature three consecutive vowels. Lieu is an exception in this regard and stands out quite starkly on the page because of it. “Ieu,” is not a commonly occurring sequence of letters, and many people struggle to pronounce the word “lieu” as a result. So why …
Sometimes, it seems like the English language goes out of its way to be contradictory and strange. In part, this is due to the tendency of English to borrow from as many other languages as it can. Other reasons include the gradual shift in language over time. To make things worse, technology like the internet …