Spelling differences like disk and disc can be frustrating. They make us writers ask: Why!?!? In this case, the etymology takes us back to a word that refers to something flat and round. In Latin, the word was discus (for quoit, disk, dish). Meanwhile, the Greeks spelled it diskos (coming from the verb dikein, meaning [...]
You've seen both dietician and dietitian. So, which is correct? In the U.S., dietitian is the preferred spelling, with dictionaries typically including dietician as an accepted variant. The AP Stylebook echoes the dictionary, and those in the profession opt for dietitian as well. In the U.K., however, dietician typically shows up in dictionaries as the [...]
We trust you know the correct spelling of "carrot" for the orange root vegetable. But what about carat, karat and caret? Those get a bit more confusing — for most of us, they show up in content less frequently. Carat and karat both have applications in the jewelry world. Carat refers to the weight of [...]
Are our ideas born out of thin air? Or borne? Really, who can care when staring at this cute newborn baby, amiright? For this often-confusing word choice, we turn to the dictionary. (Fun fact: For most of those words you can't figure out, Merriam-Webster has your back.) Both words originate from the verb bear. Born [...]
Happy Hanukkah/Chanukah — you're not wrong! You've probably seen both of these spellings for the Jewish holiday that celebrates the miracle of a one-day oil supply lasting eight days after the Maccabean Revolt in the second century B.C. While Hanukkah is more common, both are used frequently, thanks to the unclear English transliteration of a [...]
This idiom, or a word or phrase that can't be understood outside its cultural context, frequently trips people up. See what we did there? The commonly used phrase comes from track and field, where athletes are required to put their foot behind the starting line and wait for the start signal, with their toe just [...]
In October, we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and in November, we honor Native American Heritage Month. So it’s a good time to brush up on certain terms, as it’s important to understand key distinctions and definitions. To help give you an overview, we’ve pulled some key points from the Association Press. But we encourage you [...]
You likely order your adjectives without thinking about it. It feels natural to say "a big, Irish wolfhound." You wouldn't say an "Irish big wolfhound." That's because if English is your first language, you naturally adopted, and were taught, an order of adjectives. Here it is, with some examples of adjectives to go with it: [...]
Love them or hate them (our proofreaders love them!!!), the semicolon is a tool in your grammar arsenal. This punctuation — ; — can be used to join two independent clauses together without using a conjunction such as "and." You do not use a capital letter after a semicolon unless it's a proper noun. They [...]
Jell-O is a gelatin dessert. Put that on your proofreading plate and eat it. Sometimes the English language is full of grammar surprises, like this homophone: jell/gel. Jell Jell is only a verb. It can mean to set or become more solid, as in a liquid or semiliquid substance. "Watching the Jell-O jell felt like [...]
