Q: My boss has a catchphrase, “I’ll tell you what,” and it’s driving me nuts. Is this something new? Where does it come from? A: No, it’s not something new. In fact, the usage dates back to the 1500s and can be seen in the works of many respected writers. When the expression first appeared, […] The post We’ll tell you what first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: I often hear the term “tuckered out,” but not in any other tenses. My dictionary says “tucker” is a dress. I’m confused. What does “tuckered out” mean, where did it come from, and what are its other tenses? A: The story begins back in Anglo-Saxon days, when the verb “tuck” (tucian in Old English) meant […] The post ‘Tuckered out’ and ‘tucked in’ first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: I’m curious about the use of “even” here: “Bill knows it’s the right thing to do. Even Tom knows it’s the right thing to do.” It seems that “even” suggests our expectations for Tom are lower than for Bill. How does “even” do that? A: The adverb “even” here indicates a special or exceptional […] The post Is this an odd use of ‘even’? first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: I’m accustomed to seeing “as such” refer back to a specific word or phrase. Lately, I’ve noticed it where the referent is unspecified or absent. Example: “He broke his leg, and as such he missed work.” I’m curious about the history of this term and its changing usage. A: Yes, “as such” traditionally refers […] The post On ‘as such’ and its ‘as-suchness’   first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: I hope you can help me in my research. I am trying to find out what “generally” meant when this sentence was added to the Book of Common Prayer in 1604: “Two only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.” Is this saying the two […] The post ‘Generally’ speaking first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: When I encountered “orthogonal” years ago in geometry class, it meant perpendicular. In recent years, I hear it used in everyday English to mean “irrelevant.” How did this happen? A: Yes, the old mathematical meaning of “orthogonal” has evolved over the years, but the sense you describe as “everyday” is not all that common, and […] The post A new angle on an old word first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: In Can You Forgive Her (1864-65), one of Anthony Trollope’s Palliser novels, a character complains about the “wretched cheeseparing Whig government.” How did “cheeseparing” come to mean penny-pinching? A: When the term first appeared in the 16th century, it literally meant a paring, or shaving, from a rind of cheese. The earliest citation in the Oxford […] The post Cheeseparings from the moon first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: When did using the “royal we” become popular among writers of fiction and nonfiction? A: Writers have been using the pronoun “we” to refer to themselves since Anglo-Saxon days. But the usage was primarily seen in nonfiction until the 18th and 19th centuries, when Fielding, Dickens, Thackeray, and others began using it in fiction. In […] The post ‘We’-ism in fact and fiction first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: Halloween being just around the corner, I am curious about the history of the word “scary.” In standard American English, it means inspiring fear, but I often hear African-Americans and white Americans from the South use it to mean easily frightened. A: Those two senses of the adjective “scary” (fearsome and fearful) have been […] The post Is a scaredy-cat scary? first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more

Q: I am wondering why one pronounces “w” at the beginning of some words and not others. Those not pronounced seem to be paired with “r” (“write,” “wrong,” “wrist,” “wry,” etc.). And then there are pronunciation pairs like “wrap”/“rap,” “wrest”/“rest,” “wrote”/“rote,” and “wring”/“ring.” I assume they are unrelated. A: The short answer is that the […] The post Why is the ‘w’ silent in ‘write’? first appeared on Grammarphobia ..read more