Alas, Merriam-Webster has given up on distinguishing between home in and hone in, but a careful writer should still make the distinction. Home in means to seek out or zero
Continue readingCategory: Grammar
Specious vs. spacious and the case of the plausible rooms
The world of real estate often requires a guidebook to make sense of its vocabulary. For instance, a “fixer-upper” means a house you’ll spend the rest of your life repairing.
Continue readingSow vs. sew and the case of the explosive underwear
A story in today’s Times contains this bit of curious phrasing. As I read, I imagined this misguided chap bent over in an airport restroom in Amsterdam, his drawers at
Continue readingAn incumbent recumbent, riding toward re-election
Elections often draw unusual write-in candidates. Strike that. Elections always draw unusual candidates, but the write-ins are sometimes the most unusual. Strike that again. Elections always draw unusual candidates, but
Continue readingIn Vegas, anything goes – except kissing behind the hotels
I took a wrong turn in Las Vegas last week (go ahead and laugh if you must) and ended up in this scenic locale between two casinos. I stopped and
