by David | Jul 29, 2015 | reading & writing
Answering a random call for SEO help – actually it turned out to be canonical URL help – I happened to notice that the site in question referred so something as a “seemless way” to do something. My inner autocorrect went, “hmm” and...
by David | Jul 8, 2015 | reading & writing
When I first heard this word used – just last month – I thought it was spelled “kattywompous” perhaps in adjectival rhyme with “pompous.” Alternate spellings are many but catawampus appears to be a close second. As words of the...
by David | Jan 14, 2015 | culture, reading & writing
Let’s not dwell on why I was looking up the word callipygian, or, for that matter, why I checked the Google books ngram graph for it. Let us instead wonder, who, or maybe what, a century and change before Minaj, before Kardashian, even before Mix-a-Lot, inspired...
by David | Sep 17, 2014 | reading & writing
I’ve long been irritated when people mix up “principal” and “principle” in job titles and elsewhere. If you’re unsure about this yourself, please read Grammar Girl’s estimable explainer on the subject. Recently, while doing...
by David | Aug 20, 2014 | culture, reading & writing
From Welcome to Germany comes today’s word of the day, Backpfeifengesicht. And what a welcome it would be: The word Backpfeife means “punch/slap” (on the cheek/face) and Gesicht means “face” So a Backpfeifengesicht is pretty much a face...