Beyond the Rhetoric

I’ll admit it. I’ve used the word “workaholic” on more than one occasion, both spoken and written, but I also recognize that the term is technically incorrect and inaccurate to use. It’s one of those neologisms that was created at some point along the development of the English language, but its origin really doesn’t make [...]

The “spell check” feature built into word processors, web browsers, and other pieces of software can come in very handy. However, it is partly because of the ubiquitous nature of the “spell check” that we are seeing, ironically enough, an increase in the number of spelling mistakes.
That’s because when you run the “spell check” function, [...]

For the longest time, I even had trouble determining whether it was correct to say “ever so often” or “every so often.” They both sound right when you say them and, as it turns out, they are both correct. However, they have nearly opposite meanings altogether. Weird, right?
After a little bit of research, I have [...]

When you have two words with seemingly similar meanings and remarkably similar spellings, it’s very easy to confuse the two. As such, it can be quite challenging to know when to use “farther” and when to use “further.” They mean the same thing, right?
Well, that depends on who you ask. Whereas hoard and horde have [...]

Several years back, I remember I was watching an episode of Friends when the Joey character made a variation on a very common mistake. You can watch the scene on YouTube, but here’s the gist of it:
Rachel asks Phoebe and Monica how much time she should wait before it is appropriate to “make a move” [...]