Organize is the American and Canadian spelling of the verb meaning to put together or to arrange systematically. Organise is the preferred spelling outside North America. Other than the spelling, there is no difference between the words. [Read more...]
In investing, a bull market is one in which trends are positive and most investors are optimistic. A bear market is the opposite—a time of downward trends and pessimism. The corresponding adjectives, bearish and bullish, describe either market conditions (falling or rising, respectively) or investors’ attitudes toward the market or certain investments. [Read more...]
Most edited publications do not capitalize the seasons of the year, and we know of no major style guide that recommends doing so. Spring, summer, autumn, fall, and winter are common nouns like any other. Think of them as similar to morning, afternoon, and night—terms that denote clearly defined periods of time but are not capitalized because they are not proper nouns. [Read more...]
In modern English, people is the de facto plural of person. The words have separate Latin origins, and they came to English at different times by different paths, but there are examples of people used as a plural of person from as early as the 14th century. Persons was the original plural, and it is possible to find examples of its use in all types of writing up to the present, but it prevails only in a few contexts, most notably law and law enforcement, and in a few set phrases (e.g., persons of interest, displaced persons, missing persons). [Read more...]
To wander is to move about with no destination or purpose. It is a physical activity, though the word is sometimes used figuratively for nonphysical actions that are aimless (e.g., a movie or a conversation might wander). To wonder is to feel curiosity, to be in doubt, or to have a feeling of admiration. It is a mental activity. [Read more...]
In English-language news publications that publish online, interpretive is about three times as common as interpretative. The longer form has the edge in British publications. The shorter form prevails everywhere else. [Read more...]
Hummus is the creamy, chickpea-based dip. The word has a few alternative spellings, including houmous, hommus, and houmos, but these are rare. Humus is fully decomposed organic matter. It’s sometimes used in gardening to improve the fertility of soil. [Read more...]
In its figurative senses, a red herring is either (1) a piece of information meant to mislead investigators, (2) a lead that turns out to be false (not necessarily based on an intentionally misleading piece of information), or (3) something that diverts attention from the main issue. [Read more...]
In American and Canadian publications, kickoff is a noun and an adjective, and kick off is its corresponding phrasal verb. So, for instance, it is one word in “the kickoff time is noon” and “you missed the kickoff” because it is an adjective in the first example and a noun in the second. And it is two words in “the kicker is ready to kick off” because here it functions as a verb. [Read more...]
For the distinctively flavored Mediterranean plant, its root, and candies and confections made from the root, North American English speakers use licorice. In Ireland and the U.K., liquorice is preferred. We find both spellings used about evenly in Australian and New Zealand publications. Other than the spelling, there is no difference between the words. [Read more...]
Raison d’etre is French for reason of being. In English, we use it to mean a reason for the existence of a person or thing. In reference to people, it often describes one’s driving passion. For example, if the reason you get up in the morning is to work in your garden, then gardening is your raison d’etre. [Read more...]
Whiny is an adjective meaning habitually complaining or of or like a whine. Whiney is the same as whiny, but it appears about a fourth as often. Whinny is the sound horses make. It’s synonymous with neigh. Whinney is (1) a surname, (2) an unusual spelling of the female first name usually spelled Winnie, and (3) a component of a few place names (e.g., Whinney Hill, Whinney Banks). [Read more...]
Gymnasium is a Latin word (with origins in Greek), and its plural in Latin is gymnasia. But gymnasium is an English word when English speakers use it, so we can pluralize it in the manner of our own language. Most writers understand this, and gymnasiums outnumbers gymnasia by a ratio of about 100 to one in current news sources. [Read more...]
Modus operandi, often abbreviated m.o. or MO, is Latin for way of working. In English, the loanword is usually used to mean a way in which someone routinely does something, but it can also be used more generally to mean mode of operation. [Read more...]
We are American, so we use vacuum cleaner, or just vacuum, for the electrical appliance that cleans surfaces through suction, and we use vacuum as the verb. If we understand correctly, Britons use hoover as a verb meaning to clean with a vacuum cleaner. And by metaphorical extension, the word also means to consume completely. For the appliance itself, both hoover and vacuum cleaner are used. [Read more...]