Grammar, Punctuation & Phrases
A collection of answers to grammar, spelling and punctuation questions, plus explanations on the origins of popular phrases.
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It takes a lot of brass to pull off chutzpah successfully. What does the word mean and what separates it from mere impudence?
By Dave Roos
Ever heard anyone say, "He swears like a sailor"? Why do sailors get singled out for being extra-profane? Because there's a long, colorful history behind it.
By Dave Roos
President-elect Joe Biden has pretty much made 'malarkey' a household word, so we thought we'd do some research into its origin story.
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The Latin language may be dead, but this phrase, which originated 2,000 years ago, is still used in legal and financial docs. So what does it mean?
If you've ever expressed the charming idea that you have a buttload of something – a buttload of laundry to do, a buttload of tacos to eat – you may have wondered what the measure of a buttload actually is and where the phrase came from.
Ever found yourself in a pickle and wondered, "Hey, why the heck do we call it a pickle?" Let's see if we can swim through the brine and find out.
The phrase (which means to ride in the front passenger seat of the car) seems like it might have come about during the Wild West. But it actually took a detour through Hollywood.
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From the worlds of politics, professional baseball and old-time boxing came a term still in use today to describe someone who has a left-handed predilection.
You didn't ask for a cigar. Maybe you don't even like them. So why is someone abruptly denying you one?
'Take it with a grain of salt' means to be skeptical about something. But where does the phrase come from?
The @ sign is so much a part of the internet that it may surprise you to know it's been around for at least 1,500 years.
By Dave Roos
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The Mad Hatter makes quite an impression in the 'Alice in Wonderland' books and movies. But the expression 'mad as a hatter' actually predates this character. So, where did the term come from?
Punctuation can really make or break a sentence. Test your knowledge of basic (and not-so-basic) punctuation conventions by taking this quiz!
By Alia Hoyt
We all learned about grammar in grade school, but some of us retained the knowledge better than others. Test your knowledge of the finer points of English with our quiz.
By Alia Hoyt
If someone calls your tastes 'bourgeois,' should you thank them or shake a fist? You might have to check first with Moliere, Marx or Migos to be sure.
By Dave Roos
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The Hindu religion considers cows holy. But that's certainly not why we utter the expression. So what's the story behind it?
Even if you hardly know your beta from your zeta, chances are you've used Greek letters at some point in your life. What are they, and why are they so common?
By Alia Hoyt
Does anyone really know the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? Or a hurricane and a cyclone? You're about to learn with the answers to this quiz!
By Alia Hoyt
Once this skinny mark of excitement was mainly the provenance of excited teenage girls and inexperienced novelists. But now we're all peppering our sentences with exclamation marks. Is this a good thing?
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In our modern vernacular, the phrase "that's just semantics" has somehow become shorthand to insinuate the speaker has argued something trivial or unimportant. But what does it really mean?
Abbreviations are supposed to make things easier, but when people misuse or misunderstand them they often do just the opposite. How well do you know these commonly flubbed abbreviations?
By Alia Hoyt
Mnemonic devices are little tricks — like acronyms and phrases — that help us memorize important info. Our quiz will test your knowledge of everything from geography to music scales. And every single answer has a fun mnemonic attached.
By Mark Mancini
That old comedian's advice that the "k" sound is always good for a laugh has been proven true, too.
By Dave Roos
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Groups of animals sure have some funny names. You can thank the Book of St. Albans for that.