Essays
Occasional postings on topics related to American English
How will the language survive when people insist on inventing bizarre words like pants and jeopardize?
Webster was best known as a grammarian during his lifetime, but he was far from stuffy in his views.
Jumping on the Bandwagon for Snollygoster
Politics must have been a lot more fun back in the days when parties had nicknames like the Loco-Focos.
The Almighty Dollar and Other Coins
The word dollar comes from German and originally referred to a Mexican or Spanish coin, but the "almighty dollar" is all-American.
The Whole Nine Yards, but of What?
All we really know is that the first uses in print are connected with Vietnam.
What if the Democratic headquarters had been housed in a building called the Potomac Apartments?