A Word on Vocabulary

Do you see what I see? We live in a world where truth and falsity are now more intertwined than ever before. It seems people are getting better at disguising falsehoods as truths. It could be something fun, like using CGI or makeup in a movie. Alternatively, it could be[…]

Whoever sits atop a high horse has further to fall. Isn't it great how different we all are? It's nice when we get along. Unfortunately, there are some who love to sit on high horses and look down on everyone. Well, there's a word for those people, and we're going[…]

You may not use the word, but you definitely use its meaning. In today's world, there are so many groups, organisations, sects, subcultures, bodies, cliques, and so on. Each has their own unique vocabulary that means a lot to its members, but not much at all to outsiders. Meaning: a[…]

This is Sir Humphrey to a tee! Some people take forever to get to the point. Others avoid answering our questions altogether. And then there are some who want to impress us with big words. Today, we have a fairly large word that is quite ironic in and of itself:[…]

Don't call your wife or girlfriend this unless she's a professor of English or linguistics. It's nice to use sweet words to described our loved ones. No doubt many men have called their wives "beautiful", "pretty", or "captivating". There are many sweet ways of describing a person's physical beauty, and[…]

No, it's not a wet sea creature. Have you ever mispronounced a word? We all have. But when it's just one letter you're getting wrong, it can be doubly embarrassing. Today's term has done just that, conjuring up images of wet squids. But we're going to set the record straight.[…]

Last time, we discussed an "honourable" word. This time, we look at the opposite. It is a sad fact that not everything can be honourable in this world, but at least that lends itself to the creation and use of yet another word: ignominious. Meaning: someone or something marked as[…]

It's a monster. Be afraid, be very afraid! There are some words that are so undoubtedly ludicrous in length and pronunciation that you can't help but take note of them. This time, we're looking at a word that I bet you can't pronounce first go. That being said, if you[…]

Some words may look and sound a little funny, like this gem. Added to that, some words, also like this gem, have ambiguous origins ... Meaning: an irascible person who is difficult to deal with; the word is stereotypically applied to a cranky old man, but anyone can be described[…]

I wanted to note as early as possible that this ongoing series of vocabulary posts will not be limited to words and phrases of the English language. Sometimes, there is a non-English word that is so deep, it cannot be directly translated. Such a word is presented today: Meraki. Meaning:[…]