The Swot's Corner

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• What term describes words like "I scream" and "ice cream"? "Some others" and "some mothers"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Oronym. "...In the case of Toyota and toy Yoda, our brains are faced with oronyms virtually identical speech that can be interpreted in different ways. English is full of these devilish duos. For example, I scream versus ice cream, a notion versus an ocean, and some others versus some mothers..." (extract from the CBC's Words, Woe and Wonder site)
  
  http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/

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• What is the difference between "pidgin" and "pigeon"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Pigeon refers to a bird. A "pidgin" is a simplified language used for communication between people with different languages.
  
  http://www.m-w.com

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• Recommended usage for abbreviations and acronyms

  (Grammar)
  
  
  1. On first reference to a mnemonic (e.g., NCR) or acronym (e.g., LASER), use full spelling of term, followed by shortened form in parentheses. For subsequent references use the mnemonic or acronym.
     
     Example:
     
     The early diagnosis of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infants born to infected mothers is essential for early treatment, but current tests cannot detect HIV infections in newborns.
     
     
  2. Be sure to distinguish proper names from acronyms:
     
     Examples:
     
     I use Pascal.
     
     I use FORTRAN.
     
     
  3. Form plural of all-capitalized mnemonics and acronyms by adding lowercase s; no apostrophe is necessary.
     
     Example:
     
     ATMs
     
     
  (extract from the "Hypertext Guide to English Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage Rules")
  
  http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs5014/courseNotes/5.TechnicalCommunication/tc_2_Usage.html#4.1

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• What is the difference between "prescriptivist" and "descriptivist"

  (Definitions)
  
  Linguists can generally be divided into two groups: prescriptivists, or those who hold that language is governed by fixed rules of grammar, and descriptivists, or those who believe that patterns of actual usage reflect the way the language is used. In extremely broad strokes, if prescriptivists are anal retentive, then descriptivists are free-to-be-you-and-me.
  
  Descriptivists often accuse prescriptivists of being overly wedded to arcane rules of grammar, continuing to insist on tortured parsings like ''It is I'' or ''Whom shall I say is calling?'' Prescriptivists are loath ever to split infinitives (Captain Kirk be damned). And a sentence ending in a preposition is a grammatical transgression up with which they will not put. The usual author of this column is often accused of being a prescriptivist.
  
  Prescriptivists, on the other hand, believe that descriptivists are paving the way to a linguistic hell, one in which English teachers will have no more say over correct usage than surfer dudes. The prescriptivists worry that giving up on ''whom'' is a step down a slippery slope that will ultimately have us all speaking ebonics, and they won't stand for it.
  
  For years, when it came to settling language disputes, the prescriptivists have held the upper hand. Their thick volumes contained unequivocal rules of grammar, which they could look up at any time. Descriptivists, meanwhile, typically have had to rely on what ''sounds'' more natural. They have used ''the English you hear on the nightly network news'' as their polestar.
  
  But with the advent of the computer, the balance of power is shifting. That's because the computer now makes it infinitely easier to track patterns of English usage and catalog them for use as reference material. Finally, the descriptivists have an empirical source of verbal ammunition: concrete examples of how the language is actually used.
  
  The collection and study of millions of such examples of actual usage is known as corpus linguistics, a body of language. The idea of a corpus is nothing new. Samuel Johnson used a corpus of English texts in the 18th century to compile his dictionary, and linguists around the world have relied on corpora since the 1960's in their efforts to document hundreds of languages.
  
  ...
  
  Smaller-scale corpora are already shedding light on the English language, a development that the American National Corpus is sure to accelerate. For example, linguists have long known that people don't edit themselves for grammar when they speak. But the University of Michigan's Corpus of Academic Spoken English also reveals that ''um'' and ''uh'' are the 14th and 15th most common utterances around Ann Arbor.
  
  Corpus linguistics is also giving descriptivists the most powerful weapon of all: the ability to thumb their noses at rules of grammar nobody uses any more. ''Nobody owns the language,'' Conrad says. ''Most of these prescriptive rules are really arbitrary. Why not end a sentence with a preposition? It was just somebody writing a book who made that rule up.''
  
  (extract from the "New York Times" site, article "Corpus Linguistics" by John Rosenthal)
  
  NOTE: use yaelf and yaelf for login id and password
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/magazine/18ONLANGUAGE.html

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• Analemma

  (Definitions)
  
  If you took a picture of the Sun at the same time each day, would it remain in the same position? The answer is no, and the shape traced out by the Sun over the course of a year is called an analemma.
  
  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020709.html

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• What's the Plural of `Virus'?

  (Other)
  
  The plural of virus is neither viri nor virii, nor even vira nor virora. It is quite simply viruses, irrespective of context. Here's why.
  
  First off, the OED gives nothing but viruses for the plural. Here's its abbreviated entry:
  
  Etymology: a. L. virus slimy liquid, poison, offensive odour or taste. Hence also Fr., Sp., Pg. virus.
  
  1. Venom, such as is emitted by a poisonous animal. Also fig.
  
  2. Path. a A morbid principle or poisonous substance produced in the body as the result of some disease, esp. one capable of being introduced into other persons or animals by inoculations or otherwise and of developing the same disease in them. Now superseded by the next sense.
  
  b Pl. viruses. An infectious organism that is usu. submicroscopic, can multiply only inside certain living host cells (in many cases causing disease) and is now understood to be a non-cellular structure lacking any intrinsic metabolism and usually comprising a DNA or RNA core inside a protein coat (see also quot. 1977). [ Formerly referred to as filterable viruses, their first distinguishing characteristic being the ability to pass through filters that retained bacteria. ]
  
  Other sources that support viruses include Birchfield (n Fowler :-) in Modern English Usage (3rd Edition), and also the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.
  
  (extract from the "O'Reilly Perl" site, article by Tom Christiansen)
  
  http://www.perl.com/language/misc/virus.html

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• What is the word to describe people with no sense of smell?

  (Definitions)
  
  Someone without a sense of smell suffers from anosmia and can therefore be called anosmiac. The word "osme", originating in the Greek language, means sense of smell, and the prefix "an" means absence or lack.
  
  (extract from the "Sydney Morning Herald" site)
  
  http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/05/1025667054289.html

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• Which is correct: "among" or "between"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Among and between. Some sticklers insist that, where division is involved, among should be used where three or more are concerned, between where only two are concerned. (So The plum jobs were shared among the Socialists, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, while the president and the vice-president divided the cash between themselves. ) This distinction is unnecessary. But take care with between. To fall between two stools, however painful, is grammatically acceptable; to fall between the cracks is to challenge the laws of physics.
  
  (extract from the "Economist.com" Style Guide by John Grimond)
  
  http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673903

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• What is the difference between "convince" and "persuade"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Some writers and editors urge us to preserve the following distinction between these two words:
  
  
  • We convince people of something
  • We persuade people to act
  
  
  Convince, according to this logic, focuses on beliefs only, and is never followed by to. ("I convinced her that the symphony needed financial help.") Persuade, on the other hand, refers to action and may be followed by an infinitive. ("I persuaded her to donate $100 to the symphony.")
  
  Since the 1950s, however, convince has been commonly used as a synonym for persuade in North America. The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) suggests there is nothing wrong with the trend:
  
  
  
  Some traditionalists deplore the blurring of distinction between convince and persuade, maintaining that convince should be reserved for situations in which someone's belief is changed but no action is taken as a result ("he convinced me that he was right"), while persuade should be used for situations in which action results ("he persuaded me, rather than he convinced me, to seek more advice.) In practice, the newer use is well established and used by well-respected writers.
  
  (extract from the CBC site)
  
  http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/quick/queries/convince.html

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• Which is correct: "bated breath" or "baited breath"?

  (Phrase origins)
  
  Bated breath is correct...
  
  The coiner [of "bated breath"] was Shakespeare in his 1596 "Merchant of Venice,", in which Shylock says to Antonio, "Shall I bend low and in a bondsman's key, With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this: 'Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last?"'
  
  http://www.iht.com/articles/56747.html

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• What is the difference between "disabled" and "handicapped"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Disabled" and "handicapped" are not the same thing. A disability is a functional limitation or restriction of an individual's ability to perform an activity. A "handicap" is an environmental or attitudinal barrier that limits the opportunity for a person o participate fully. Negative attitudes or inaccessible entrances to buildings are examples of handicaps.
  
  (extract from the Government of Canada's "SchoolNet" site)
  
  http://www.schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/disabl12/index-e.html

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• What word describes redundancies like "PIN number"? "Advanced planning"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Pleonasm.
  
  A pleonasm consists of two concepts (usually two words) that are redundant. What does "redundant" mean? Well, how about "more than enough; overabundant; excess; and superfluous"? Still having a problem understanding what pleonasm means? Some pleonastic expressions are also known as tautologies. Tautology means, "needless repetition of an idea in a different word, phrase, or sentence; redundancy; pleonasm." What about pleonasm? It means, "the use of more words than are necessary for the expression of an idea; redundancy." So it is that we go around in circles: pleonasm means tautology, which means redundancy, which means pleonasm, which means tautology, ad infinitum.
  
  (extract from John Robertson's "Word Explorations" site)
  
  http://www.wordexplorations.com/

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• What is the plural of "oxymoron"?

  (Definitions)
  
  The plural of "oxymoron" is "oxymora".
  
  

  Main Entry: oxymoron 
  Function: noun
  Inflected Form(s): plural oxymora 
  

  
  
  (extract from "Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary")
  
  http://www.m-w.com

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• Which is correct: "Geneva Convention" or "Geneva Conventions"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  In general, we should use the term "Geneva Conventions." It's OK to mention a specific convention, like [the third Geneva Convention], but not if the story implies there is only one Geneva Convention governing protection of rights during war.
  
  (extract from the CBC site)
  
  http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/letters_latest.html

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• He, She, or They?

  (Grammar)
  
  People are increasingly using the plural pronoun they to refer to one person if they do not know whether that person is male or female. Until quite recently, he was generally used to refer to a peson of either sex, as in `Every child needs to know that he is loved', but nowadays many people feel that such a use is sexist. He or she is possible, but is rather awkward. They is generally accepted in sentences using words such as someone or anyone, e.g. 'Anyone can join if they are a resident'. More people object to they being used after a single noun, as in 'Ask a friend if they can help'.
  
  Interestingly, use of they in this way is not a modern invention: it was first recorded in the 16th century.
  
  (extract from "AskOxford.com")
  
  http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/classicerrors/grammartips/hesheorthey

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• How should the apostrophe be used on plural nouns?

  (Grammar)
  
  If you are using a regular plural noun ending in 's', you simply add an apostrophe ('):
  • 'Both boys' toys had been broken by their elder brothers.'
  • 'He was sentenced to ten days' prison.'
  Otherwise, if the plural noun is irregular, like 'children' or 'women', you add apostrophe s ('s), as you would for singular nouns:
  • 'The children's party was cancelled because so many were away on holiday.'
  • 'The child's illness was so severe that he remained in hospital for four weeks.'
  However, if the singular noun ends in 's' as in your example, Everson, you can either just add an apostrophe (') or apostrophe 's' ('s):
  • 'All of Dickens' novels have now been adapted for television.'
  • 'All of Dickens's novels have now been adapted for television.'
  
  
  (extract from the BBC site, article by "Roger")
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/learnit/learnitv57.shtml

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• What are the differences between "Highway", "Freeway", "Expressway" and "Turnpike"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Roadway - that portion of a highway improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel and parking lanes, but exclusive of the sidewalk, berm, or shoulder even though such sidewalk, berm, or shoulder is used by persons riding bicycles or other human-powered vehicles. In the event a highway includes two or more separate roadways, the term roadway as used herein shall refer to any such roadway separately, but not to all such roadways collectively.
  
  Highway - a general term for denoting a public way for purposes of travel by vehicular travel, including the entire area within the right-of-way.
  
  Expressway - a divided highway with partial control of access.
  
  Freeway - a divided highway with full control of access.
  
  "Turnpike" and "tollway" and not listed as such -- these are more in the realm of regional names and usages assigned by state and local transportation authorities. The Feds provide guidance, not absolute control, over naming of road features designed and built by local agencies. "Freeway" is a functional design term which may or may not be used to label a route.
  
  (extract from the aue archives, article by Bob Stahl)
  
  http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl2917665949d&hl=en&selm=Uflr8.1128%24it4.433615965%40newssvr21.news.prodigy.com&rnum=24

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• What is the difference between "catachresis" and "metaphor"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  In catachresis, the tenor is a misused word or out-of-place reference. "Be careful or he will punch your ticket". Unlike metaphor, catachresis may not necessarily make a comparison. See the entry below.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "simile" and "metaphor"?

  (Definitions)
  
  The simile makes a comparison where there are shared attributes between the tenor and the vehicle ("He is like a snake"). A simile contains "like" or "as". The metaphor makes a direct equality, or identification, between two things ("He is a snake"). Frequently, the metaphor will contain a form of the verb "to be".
  
  

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• The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy

  (Pondial differences)
  
  Since the earliest research into the the English Language as spoken in North America was begun by Noah Webster in the early 18th century, the regional variations in dialect have always been the most challenging and difficult to explain field. Since the development of carbonated beverage in 1886, one of linguistic geography's most important and least investigated phenomena has been the sharp regional divisions in the use of the terms "pop" and "soda." Due to the domination of hard-line conservative lingusitic geographers in such leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of the West Indies, this dilemma has been swept under the rug . . . until now. Using the new technologies of the Internet and the World Wide Web, I and my colleagues at the California Institute of Technology and Lewis & Clark College are undertaking a bold new research into this fascinating area.
  
  CONCLUSION: People who say "Pop" are much, much cooler.
  
  (extract from the "Pop vs. Soda" page)
  
  http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~almccon/pop_soda/

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• What is the difference between "gibberish" and "gobbledegook"? "gobbledygook"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  "Gobbledegook" is stilted, unintelligible, pompous language commonly associated with the civil service. "Gobbledegook" can be ultimately deciphered by those armed with layman dictionaries. "Gibberish" is language that cannot be understood in a rational context (ie, nonsense). Some language termed as "gibberish" can be deciphered with specialist glossaries.
  
  The etymology of "gobbledegook" is thought to come from a memorandum published in 1944 by Texas congressman, Maury Maverick (grandson of the eponymous Sam Maverick). A complete article on the etymology of "gobblegook" can be found on Martha Barnette's "Fun Words" site. "Gobbledegook" may appear in some dictionaries as "gobbledygook".
  
  The etymology of "gibberish" is unknown, but thought to be onomatopoeic.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "adverse" and "averse"

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Both words may be used as adjectives. "Adverse" means unfavorable, acting against, or hostile to. "Averse" means disinclined, unwilling, reluctant, or opposed to. "Averse" does not carry the notion of threat or harm that "adverse" does.
  
  "Adverse" comes from the Latin, "to turn (against)". "Averse" has the same etymology.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "euphemism" and "euphuism"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Both words have a connotation of indirectness. "Euphemism" is highly specific and is used avoid mentioning something vulgar or unpleasant. "Euphuism" is general in scope and does not seek to avoid mentioning something specific, rather it is an affectation in style.
  
  "Euphemism" comes from the Greek words for "speaking well"; "euphuism" comes from an Elizabethan character given to flowery speech, elaborate metaphors, and similar verbosity.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "elude" and "evade"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Both words mean to escape or to avoid something and carry a sense of premeditation.
  
  "To elude" suggests that something is avoided by dexterity, adroitness, or some similar artifice ("...his survival training helped him to elude his would-be captors...").
  
  "To evade" carries the same meaning but includes the notion of an immoral or illegal intent in avoiding something.
  
  "Elude" comes from the Latin word for "to play". "Evade" comes from the Latin words for "to go out".
  
  

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• What is the difference between "allegory" and "parable"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Both of these use a fictional narration to communicate a "moral", which is not openly stated. The "allegory" is lengthy and contains a large number of characters, the "parable" is short and takes place in a familiar situation.
  
  "Allegory" ultimately comes from the Greek words for "other speaking" (ie, figurative language); "parable", from the Greek "placing side by side" (ie, comparison).
  
  

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• Which is correct "deep-seeded" or "deep-seated"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Both Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and the OED2 (Complete) agree that the correct term is "deep-seated", having its seat far beneath the surface.
  
  "Deep-seeded" does not have an entry in either dictionary.
  
  

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• What are the correct usages of "to lie" and "to lay"?

  (Grammar)
  
  "To lie" means to rest, be at rest, repose, or just exist on or in some place ("the fault lies with the captain, not the crew") or in some condition or position (lie low, lie down). Probably because its past tense is "lay," the word is often confused with ...
  
  ... "To lay," meaning to put or place something somewhere (including to bring forth an egg). It takes an object -- lay that pistol down, babe -- and no form of "to lie" does. (Well, "lie your heart out," but that's another "lie.") .) The past tense of "lay" is "laid," and so is its past perfect tense.
  
  (extract from the "Columbia Journalism Review" site, article by Evan Jenkins)
  
  http://www.cjr.org/lc/lc-l.asp

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• Which is the correct word for the first course of a meal: "entre" or "starter"?

  (Pondial differences)
  
  "Entre" is used in the US for the main course of a meal, the first course is usually called an "appetizer".
  
  In the UK, "entre" is used for a dish served between the fish and meat courses.
  
  "Starter" is often used in the UK for the first course of a meal, but the OED calls it a colloquialism.
  
  

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• "Angels on the head of a pin" versus "angels on the point of a needle"?

  (Folklore/proverbial expressions)
  
  Correctly phrased, the expression is: "How many angels can dance on the point of a needle?"
  
  "...Some who are far from atheists, may make themselves merry with that conceit of thousands of spirits dancing at once upon a needle's point..." (Ralph Cudworth, "The true Intellectual System of the Universe", 1678)
  
  "...The reader desirous of being merry with Aquinas's angels may find them in Martinus Scriblerus, in Ch.VII [a satirical work by Pope, Arbuthnot & Swift, sometime before 1714 - but which does not in fact contain any such jest], who inquires if angels pass from one extreme to another without going through the middle? And if angels know things more clearly in the morning? How many angels can dance on the point of a very fine needle, without jostling one another?..." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Curiosities of Literature", 1791)
  
  

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• Collective Terms for Animals

  (Definitions)
  
  In this section is a pretty comprehensive list of collective terms for animals. Many will be familiar but others will be unheard of, deriving from 15th century witticisms or literary imagination, and some are simply archaic or erroneous. There are also some terms for pairs of animals and groups of three animals.
  
  http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/collective/?view=

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• The Eskimo Snow Vocabulary Debate: Fallacies and Confusions

  (Folklore/proverbial expressions)
  
  The Eskimo snow vocabulary (ESV) debate concerns the number of words Eskimo languages have for snow and ice in their various forms and situations, compared with other languages. The debate was set off a decade ago by an essay, "The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax," by Geoffrey K. Pullum, professor of linguistics at the University of California Santa Cruz (Pullum 1989, 1990, 1991). Pullum there ridiculed the idea that the Eskimo languages used significantly more words for snow than did English, for example. He was motivated to do so, he explained, partly by a wish to correct a specific popular misconception, but much more by a wish to use this canard as a cautionary example of human gullibility, shoddy scholarship, and even latent racism.
  
  His essay attracted a good deal of attention, and has even, according to his friend and ally Geoffrey Nunberg, gone a long way toward correcting the specific error in question, if not the underlying faults in human nature or society that Pullum tells us are his real targets. After reviewing the history of Pullum's attempt at straightening us all out on the ESV question, he says, "But has the world paid any heed? Amazingly, it has" (Nunberg 1997), and reports that many stories in the press and periodicals have picked up Pullum's thesis and joined him in laughing at or scolding the sillies or miscreants who still languish in a state of error. It's not clear whether these journalistic sallies really represent a paying of heed by the world, as opposed to the momentary exploitation of a very minor intellectual scandal by journalists always desperate for something to talk about, but Pullum's piece does seem to have had an unusually successful career as such things go. It is taken as authoritative, for example, by Steven Pinker (Pinker 1994), who says, "no discussion of language and thought would be complete without the Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax," and goes on to summarize, with glee, Pullum's supposed final settling of the matter.
  
  (extract from "The Vocabula Review", article by Mark Halpern)
  
  http://www.vocabula.com/VRFEB02Halpern.htm

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• What is the difference between "epigraph" and "epigram"?

  (Definitions)
  
  An "epigram" is a short poem or saying characterized by wit, paradox, or satire.
  
  An "epigraph" is [1] an engraved inscription, or [2] a thematic citation at the beginning of a book.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "Scotch" and "Scottish"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Scots' preferred adjective for Scotland and for themselves is "Scots". "Scottish" is also acceptable. But "Scotch" (although used by Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, and still used by some Americans of Scots descent) is now considered offensive by many Scots. Certain Scots hold that only three things can be "Scotch": "Scotch whisky", "Scotch egg", and "Scotch mist". They are not interested in considering additions to this list, although many other terms containing "Scotch" can be found in dictionaries.
  
  (extract from "Usage Disputes" by Mark Israel)
  
  

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• Which is correct: "CV" or "Resume"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Some employers use the words Resume and CV interchangeably, when in actuality they mean one or the other. If unsure, seek clarification.
  
  [A resume] presents your background and qualifications in a concise manner, highlighting your strengths and accomplishments in 1-2 pages
  
  [A CV] is a comprehensive biographical statement, typically 3-8 pages emphasizing professional qualifications and activities
  
  (extract from http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/careers/resources/tools/samples/resumecv.pdf)
  
  http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/careers/resources/tools/samples/resumecv.pdf

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• Which is correct: "different from", or "different than"?

  (Grammar)
  
  Most grammatical comparisons work by assuming the qualitative similarity of two things while stating how they differ quantitatively. In "I am taller than he," the quality that he and I have in common is "tallness"; that is, we are both tall to some degree. The quantitative difference is stated explicitly by means of the -er termination: I am taller, which means that I have the same quality of "tallness" as he, but in greater quantity. Needless to say, the notion of quantity here is purely logical; it has nothing to do with mathematical measurement.
  
  Again, observe the following example:
  
  I am taller than he.
  
  This sentence has a hidden element known as ellipsis. It actually says more than it shows explicitly, for contained in the one sentence are two thoughts in the form of two clauses. We can make all the terms in this sentence explicit and then divide it into its two component clauses, a technique we might call "divide and conquer":
  
  Clause 1: I am taller.
  
  Clause 2: He is tall.
  
  The word than is a conjunction that joins the two clauses and specifies that the kind of relation between them is one of comparison; for the explicit sentence, with no ellipsis, would be "I am taller than he is tall." Notice that we are comparing several words to one another: we compare I to he, and we compare taller to tall. When we compare the second term to the first, we usually omit the final adjective by ellipsis because the term is understood. We would say merely, "I am taller than he," or perhaps, "I am taller than he is." But we should always be able to specify the terms of comparison.
  
  (extract from "'Different From' Not 'Different Than'", Peter Corey, The Vocabula Review)
  
  http://www.vocabula.com/

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• What is the UK? Is it the same as Britain, Great Britain or England?

  (Definitions)
  
  Mike Barnes: A new article on this subject, written by [aue contributor] Don Aitken, has been added to the aue web site.
  
  http://www.alt-usage-english.org/whatistheuk.html
  
  Mark Barratt: And very competently written it is too. One query: 'The term "British subject" is obsolete', the article says, but I seem to recall differently.
  
  Hmm. Here's something from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's website...
  
  (extract from "Deja" aue thread)
  
  http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&selm=zgjPZnBI0DV8EwVV%40senrab.com

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• What is the difference between "flounder" and "founder"

  (Definitions)
  
  To "flounder" is to struggle for footing or to proceed clumsily. To "founder" is to give way, to collapse, or to sink below the surface of the water.
  
  

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• Which is correct "Tow the line" or "Toe the line"?

  (Folklore/proverbial expressions)
  
  Once a week, as a rule, usually on Sunday, a warship's crew was ordered to fall in at quarters -- that is, each group of men into which the crew was divided would line up in formation in a given area of the deck. To insure a neat alignment of each row, the Sailors were directed to stand with their toes just touching a particular seam. Another use for these seams was punitive. The youngsters in a ship, be they ship's boys or student officers, might be required to stand with their toes just touching a designated seam for a length of time as punishment for some minor infraction of discipline, such as talking or fidgeting at the wrong time. A tough captain might require the miscreant to stand there, not talking to anyone, in fair weather or foul, for hours at a time. Hopefully, he would learn it was easier and more pleasant to conduct himself in the required manner rather than suffer the punishment. From these two uses of deck seams comes our cautionary word to obstreperous youngsters to "toe the line."
  
  (from the Nautical terms and Phrases page)
  
  http://www.history.navy.mil/trivia/trivia03.htm

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• FAQ: Is it "an ef-ay-cue" or "a fack"?

  (Grammar)
  
  I vote for "an ef-ay-cue." I tend to default to the letter-by-letter pronunciation. The Irish Republican Army and an individual retirement account are eye-are-ay, not "Ira." You wouldn't believe the shock that registered on my face the first time I heard somebody talk about a freeway's "hove lanes." And as for FAQ, I'll accept the term for either a collection of frequently asked questions or a single frequently asked question.
  
  (extract from "The Slotman FAQ")
  
  http://www.theslot.com/slotman.html

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• Is it "Webelo" or "Webelos"?

  (Etymology)
  
  Ellen reminded us of one of the frequently "misused" words/terms in American Scouting: She wrote:
  
  There is no such scout as a Webelo. Webelos stands for We Be Loyal Scouts. Without the S the boys are not scouts!
  
  (extract from the Cub Scout Information page)
  
  http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/webelos.htm

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• What is the difference between "barbell" and "dumbbell"?

  (Definitions)
  
  a short bar with fixed or changeable weights mounted on each end with enough space in between to grip with one hand. the term "dumbbell" comes from the practice of demonstrating strength by lifting heavy cast metal bells (like the Liberty Bell, only smaller and not cracked). A "dumb bell" was a bell made without a clapper so that it would not ring through one's show of physical prowess. Eventually, any weight meant to be hefted with one hand was referred to as a "dumbbell" and after what we now think of as being a dumbbell shape became standard, the word "bar bell" or "barbell" was coined to refer to a similar weight with a central bar long enough to be held easily with two hands.****(from the Dictionary of Weightlifting, Bodybuilding, and Exercise Terms and Techniques)
  
  http://www.trygve.com/weightsglossary.html#dumbbell

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• What is the difference between "Factious" and "Factitious"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Factious" means having dissension or factions. "Factitious" means not genuine, or artificial.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "Sanatory" and "Sanitary"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Both words are derived from French and pertain to health. "Sanatory" means curative or having the power to heal. "Sanitary" means kept in a state of cleanliness, and also of, or relating to, the disposal of waterborne waste.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "Ingenuous" and "Ingenious"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Ingenuous" means of free or noble birth. "Ingenious" means showing intelligence, aptitude, or judgement.
  
  

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• What is the difference between "luxuriant" and "luxurious"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Luxuriant" means growing profusely, especially applied to plants. "Luxurious" means very comfortable, supplied with luxuries. The OED states that "luxuriant" is often misued for "luxurious".
  
  

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• What is the difference between "exoteric" and "esoteric"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Esoteric" means intended only for people with specialised knowledge (i.e., insiders). "Exoteric" characterises information that is widely available and understandable by anyone (i.e., outsiders).
  
  

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• Is it "Perl" or "perl"?

  (Definitions)
  
  The definitive word from Larry Wall is that it doesn't matter. Many programmers like to refer to languages with capitalized names (Perl), but the program originated on a UNIX system, on which short lowercase names (awk, sed, and so on) are the norm. That's the geek point of view.
  
  From the "English usage" point of view, Perl is an acronym standing for "Practical Extraction and Reporting Language". Hence it falls under the English usage conventions governing the capitalisation of computer language acronyms (BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, SQL, and so on).
  
  
  
  

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• Prepositions to end Sentences With

  (Grammar)
  
  This is a point over which people still fight.
  
  Prepositions are usually placed in front of the nouns and pronouns they link to the rest of a sentence (such as beyond hope, with ice-cream, and over my dead body.) But they don't have to have words tacked behind them.
  
  The myth that ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong appears to have started with an influential book by an eighteenth-century Bishop of London, Robert Lowth, according to Bill Bryson's The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words. In Lowth's Short Introduction to English Grammar, the "gentleman grammarian" urged his readers to be polite by avoiding prepositions at the end of their sentences if they possibly could. To Lowth, for example, writing "this is something you should go to" was less appealing than "this is something to which you should go."
  
  (extract from the CBC News site)
  
  http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/prepositions.html

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• What is the difference between "historic" and "historical"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Historic" signifies a momentous, well-known, or important date in history. "Historical" signifies belonging to, or dealing with the past. Important events are historic, information and data from the past are historical.
  
  
  
  

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• What is the difference between "orientate" and "orient"?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  Both are transient verbs, and both mean the same thing. However, the OED 2 (complete) does not list citations for "orientate" or "orientated" beyond 1926. Citations for "orient" and "oriented" are provided up to 1977. Our google search for "orientated" returned 202,000 entries, our search for "oriented" returned in excess of 4,000,000 entries. Current usage falls clearly on the side of "orient" and "oriented".
  
  
  
  

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• What is the difference between "Home" page and "Welcome" page?

  (Fine shades of meaning)
  
  The welcome page for a server is often now called a "home" page because it is a good choice for a client to use as a home (default) page. The term "home" page means the default place to start your browser. Don't be confused by this, though. There are two separate concepts.
  
  (extract from the W3C Web Etiquette page)
  
  http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/Etiquette.html
  
  

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• What is the difference between "credible" and "creditable"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Credible" means that something is believable or convincing; or a person who is trustworthy. "Creditable" means a person or thing is worthy of praise.
  
  
  
  

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• What is the difference between "connote" and "denote"?

  (Definitions)
  
  "Connote" means something is implied beyond its explicit meaning. "Denote" is a direct indication of something though its sign, symbol, or name.
  
  
  
  

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• What word means "an undistinguished descendant of an illustrious person"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Epigone
  
  
  
  

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• What word can be used to describe something that is outstandingly poor?

  (Definitions)
  
  Egregious
  
  
  
  

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• What was the name given to gladiators who carried a net and trident?

  (Definitions)
  
  Retiarius
  
  
  
  

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• What word describes the "shimmering" illusion one sees over swimming pools and small ponds?

  (Definitions)
  
  If "shimmering" won't do, then try "caustics". This means the intersection of luminous rays reflected (or refracted) from a curved surface.
  
  
  
  

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• What is the opposite of "euphemism"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Dysphemism
  
  
  
  

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• What word describes the act of removing the inserts (advertisements, etc) from a Sunday newspaper?

  (Definitions)
  
  Deboning
  
  
  
  

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• What is the name of someone who studies the science of wealth?

  (Definitions)
  
  Chrematist
  
  
  
  

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• What word means "elegance of literary construct or style"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Concinnity
  
  
  
  

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• What is a collection of literary passages used as an aid for language learning?

  (Definitions)
  
  Chrestomathy
  
  
  
  

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• What is the name of the vessel or container in which incense is burnt?

  (Definitions)
  
  Censer
  
  
  
  

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• What word describes poor handwriting or bad spelling?

  (Definitions)
  
  Cacography
  
  
  
  

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• What word describes a person who is unfailingly boring?

  (Definitions)
  
  Bromide
  
  
  
  

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• What word describes a person who blathers (talks nonsense)?

  (Definitions)
  
  Blatherskite.
  
  
  
  

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• What word can be used to describe a habitual liar?

  (Definitions)
  
  Ananias (from the New Testament)
  
  
  
  

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• What word means "a collection of literary fragments or extracts"?

  (Definitions)
  
  Analect
  
  
  
  

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• What word means "ambiguous speech or wording?

  (Definitions)
  
  amphibology
  
  
  
  

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