A duck is an aquatic animal, found in freshwater environments around the world.
I probably haven’t blown your mind by telling you that. Nor, I’m sure, will I do so by telling you that to duck is a verb meaning to quickly dip your head. I may, however, surprise you slightly by telling you which word came first.
This is kind of a companion piece to yesterday’s post, being about obscure words none of us really use.
I’ve seen a lot of lists on social media and various websites about obscure words people need to be made aware of, or obsolete words which need to be brought back. For example, here’s a story I came across this morning on the BBC Culture website: Twenty-six words we don’t want to lose.
Here’s the full list of words from the article; see if you guess what one of my issues with the list might be:
Watching Roland Garros this summer, I learned a new French term: Le Grand Chelem. Not that it was very new, as it’s not different from an English term I was already aware of.
I’ll tell you before the end, I promise (I bet he just says that both are correct, he always does). But you can see already, can’t you, how the letter H isn’t so simple even for native speakers.
In fact, it can be quite a controversial letter, sparking more arguments than perhaps any other.
Or trousers for that matter, if you’re from the UK. I went with pants for the title simply because most of you, dear readers are American. Anyway, the burning question: why are these words so brazenly plural when they clearly refer to a single garment?
English-Language Thoughts 