Peter Luykx 

different - writing - same - sounds “I’m in a good mood today,’ he said. “This morning on the second tea I got a whole in won!”...

Examples of how to eliminate nicknames and restore words to their proper form: Just don’t call me by my nicholas-name; I hate it! From...

Many modern words have had their original meanings and forms modified or even lost over the centuries. Here are eleven additions to my...

Some English words have fairly obvious origins, such as the word SYMPATHY, which comes from the Greek σύν (sym-), “with” + πάθος...

A number of words ending in -os have been borrowed directly from the Greek and incorporated unchanged into the English language, although...

ant, bee, beetle, bug, butterfly, cocoon, flea, fly, gnat, louse, moth, nit Not counting bacteria, insects make up at least half of the...

The names of makes of automobiles often come from the family names of company founders, manufacturers, automotive designers, or other...

Argh! says the aardvark, as he dribbles accidentally some reddish ackee juice offhandedly and aggravatingly onto his vest while relaxing...

Among the first things an infant learns are the names of parts of the body: head, face, hand, foot, mouth, eye, and so on. When human...

To the tune of “When Johnny comes marching home again,” the counting nursery-rhyme song starts out . . . The animals went in two by two...

When a thing is named, its name seems to capture something of its inner nature. The name – cardinal – of the bird now singing its...

“What do you want for your birthday?” she asked. He said, “Nothing.” “I don’t know of any stores where they carry nothing.” “Try amazon,”...

Sometimes two words have different origins and different meanings but end up being spelled the same way . . . as if they had wandered...

We should resurrect the positive forms of some words that are usually used only in their negative forms. The sentences below are...

There are many expressions with direct references to birds: jaywalking, mudlarking, crow’s nest, pigeon-toed, pigeon-holed, stool pigeon,...

Some English words have three adjacent letters in the same order as they occur in the alphabet; e.g., a word containing a-b-c in that...