Remuneration

That’s right. Not renumeration: remuneration.

This is probably among the most-commonly misspelled words in English, and it’s easy to understand why.

Continue reading →

Astronomy and Astrology

You may already know the difference between these two words, but I think that they can be easily confused, so it’s useful to make a distinction. To put it most simply: astronomy is real, and astrology isn’t.

Continue reading →

To Coin a Phrase

Without checking, I can safely say that I refer to words and phrases being coined a lot in these posts. I’ve long wondered why we use to coin as a verb in this way, so different, apparently, from how we use coin as a noun. So I decided to look into it.

Continue reading →

Blurb

You may know that a blurb is any text on the back cover (or occasionally inside the dust jacket) of a book. The word is generally associated with quotes from authors or reviewers praising the book, but it can also refer to any text, like a plot summary, author biography, or information about the series the book belongs to. Continue reading →

What do you Call a French Muggle?

Un non-magique, apparently.

Before I go any farther, I should explain that I’m talking about Harry Potter.

Continue reading →

Breaking News

This is one of those terms that’s become so common that its original (and, after some thought, fairly obvious) meaning has become a little lost to time.

Continue reading →

The Latin Quarter

Why do we use the word quarter to refer to an area of a town or city, usually one with a large population of a certain ethnicity, nationality, or cultural identity?

Continue reading →