Etymology
The difference between ‘sliver’ and ‘slither’ is a piece of cake
When people say a slither of cake, do they not remember that snakes slither? ‘Slither slide; sliver small piece,’ says…
Are we overusing ‘overhaul’?
Last week, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer were overhauling their stores. Football clubs were madly overhauling teams and we…
How the Great British Bake Off inspired Great British Railways
‘Why didn’t they call it Very British Railways?’ asked my husband. Unwittingly (as in most of his remarks), he had…
‘Level’ has a bumpy history
‘I must level with you, level with the British public, many more families are going to lose loved ones.’ That…
The dirty truth about ‘sleaze’
‘Sleaze, sleaze, sleaze!’ exclaimed Sir Keir Starmer in Prime Minister’s Questions last week, hoping that a triple serving might stick.…
What’s so great about ‘super’?
‘Wizard,’ said William. ‘Super,’ said Ginger, in William and the Moon Rocket (1954). More recently we have had Alex Salmond,…
The uncomfortable truth about ‘shonky’
A reader sent in a television preview from the Daily Star for Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds in which ‘Brad Pitt leads…
Where did Alex Salmond’s ‘Alba’ party get its name from?
‘What, old monkey-face!’ said my husband with unnecessary lack of gallantry. He was referring to the 18th Duchess of Alba,…
‘Sacred space’ has become a crowded marketplace
‘This is the book that horses wish every equestrian would read,’ says the blurb for Sacred Spaces: Communion with the…
The concrete truth about ‘Formica’
If I ever again accompany my husband to a medical conference in Spain, and want to tell my hosts that…
The word ‘like’ is in crisis
‘Blame Kingsley Amis,’ said my husband, with the carelessness of one defying a man out of earshot. The blame, such…
‘Espouse’ has become divorced from its meaning
What do people think espouse means? It looks fairly plain, since spouses are to have and to hold, or indeed…
Beware the linguistic Trojan horse
It’s the bane of many an author these days: those newspaper-filler Q&As. One I recently filled out included the question:…
From bread to Kate Bingham: the evolution of ‘nimble’
‘I’ll stick to being Brazilian,’ said my husband. It was a family joke. Every time a politician on the radio…
The rudeness of calling Jane Austen by her surname
I agree with Charles Moore (The Spectator, 6 February) that it is a shame the Times is dropping its use…
The dark roots of ‘grim’
‘Thus I refute Bishop Berkeley,’ said my husband, multitasking by kicking the stone and slightly misquoting Samuel Johnson at the…
What should you put at the end of an email?
Suzanne Moore, the Telegraphcolumnist, found it ‘deeply annoying’ when perhaps five years ago she noticed people putting ‘Kind regards’ at…
The small world of Polari
In discussing the German low-life cant called Rotwelsch, Mark Glanville (Books, 9 January) referred in passing to Polari, ‘the language…
Boris Johnson’s face can’t be ‘performative’
Veronica brought me a hundred newspapers so that I could check on one word. Well, she didn’t bring a wheelbarrow,…
Why oranges don’t have ‘segments’
In the aisle of Tesco I stood like one thunderstruck. It was not the print of a man’s naked foot…
The word of the year (whether we like it or not)
In 2015 smombie became the Youth Word of the Year in Germany. In January 2016 a survey found that 92…
The unfortunate misuse of ‘fortuitous’
‘Try the sports pages,’ said my husband, stirring in his armchair. I was looking for examples of fortuitousused as though…
The strange language of this year
‘Forget coronavirus,’ said my husband, ‘the word of the year is strange.’ The strange thing is he’s right. This wasn’t…
Do civil servants need to be 'robust' or 'resilient'?
‘Why do they keep saying they need Brazilians?’ asked my husband, coming up for air from a hazy mixture of…
The dark art of playing world-class Scrabble
How to win at Scrabble
