Towing Lines and Hoeing Roads … What ARE We Coming to?
Two quick little corrections for some frequently misquoted idioms. One does not “tow the line;” one “toes the line.” This idiom refers to runners at the beginning of a race. They line up on the start line with their toes on or slightly behind the line. It may also refer to sailors standing in formation. […]
If Only… Only if….Hunh?
It is a strange fact that the position of certain words in a sentence can affect the meaning of the sentence drastically. The word only is one such word. Consider the following examples. Only I love her. I only love her. I love only her. I love her only. Do you see the differences in […]
Do Not Exacerbate My Exasperation
Two frequently misused words which can make you sound very foolish when you mix them up, or quite brilliant if you get them right, are exasperate and exacerbate. The problem is really quite simple, as the words have nothing at all in common except the prefix “ex-.” Exasperate (/eks ASS purr ate/) means to make […]
The Past Has Passed ….
Emergency beacons in my Inbox — a concerned blogger wants us to clear up the difference between “passed” and “past.” Actually, this one’s really easy, because the two words are completely different parts of speech. Past is either a noun or adjective. It means “previous times.” noun: His past is a closed book. adjective: That […]