M Archives | Page 13 of 25

Spoonerism vs malapropism

A spoonerism is a verbal mistake in which the initial consonant sounds of two words are transposed, often to comedic effect. The word spoonerism was coined after a Warden of New College, Oxford, Reverend William Archibald Spooner. The term spoonerism was used at Oxford as early as 1885, entering into the lexicon of the general English-speaking public around 1900. Many spoonerisms attributed to Spooner are apocryphal, though Spooner himself admitted to uttering, “The Kinquering Congs Their Titles Take,” rather than …

Meeple

by Grammarist

A meeple is the playing piece or token in a board game, usually having an extremely stylized human form. The word meeple comes from blending the words my and people. A word consisting of blended words is called a portmanteau. Meeple was coined in the year 2000 by Alison Hansel to describe the wooden figures in the game Carcassonne. Since the year 2000, the term meeple has spread to describe the token in any board game, it was added to …

Maize vs. Maze

by Grammarist

Maize is corn, a tall grass that grows edible seeds on a cob. The word maize may also refer to a light yellow color. Maize was first cultivated ten thousand years ago in Mexico, in the Balsas River Valley. The word maize comes from the Spanish word maíz, which in turn was derived from the Taíno word, mahiz. A maze is a puzzle consisting of a complex network of lines, hedges or other obstructions through which one must find the …

Mic Drop – Origin, Meaning & Sentence Examples

by Danielle McLeod

American English uses a lot of figurative phrases to add creative tone and emphasis to writing and speech. Unfortunately, to fully appreciate their use, the audience needs to have some knowledge of their influences or origins to make a connection between the words and the message the author wishes to portray. Using the expression mic drop figuratively is fairly modern and is both a physical action (physical and feigned) and a saying to emphasize a message. If you’ve heard or …

Mail vs male

by Grammarist

Mail is a letter or a parcel sent by postal service. Mail may also describe the postal service, especially in the United States, the individual delivery of a batch of mail or the individual collection of a batch of mail. Mail is also used as a verb to describe sending a letter or parcel through the postal service. Related terms are mails, mailed, mailing. A second definition of the word mail is a type of flexible armor consisting of metal …

Matriculate vs graduate

by Grammarist

Matriculate means to be be enrolled in a course of study at a college or university. Matriculate may also mean to admit a student into a course of study at a college or university. Matriculate is usually used as a verb, though it may be used as a noun in Indian English to describe a person who has matriculated. Related words are matriculates, matriculated, matriculating, matriculator, matriculant, matriculation. Graduate means to complete a course of study at a college, university, …

Murphy’s Law, Sod’s Law and Finagle’s Law

by Grammarist

Murphy’s Law is a humorous American axiom that states anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The term Murphy’s Law was coined in the early 1950s during G-force tests by the American Air Force. One version of the story says that an aerospace engineer named Captain Edward A. Murphy installed a key sensor backwards, skewing the test results. Another version of the story states that Captain Murphy did no such thing, that the reason he is associated with Murphy’s …

MIA

by Grammarist

MIA is a military acronym which stands for Missing In Action. A soldier who is MIA is unaccounted for, it is not known whether the soldier is dead, taken prisoner, has deserted or is wounded or lost in the terrain. MIA is a designated status that actually means that the status of the soldier is unknown. MIA is used as a noun and as an adjective. With the advent of ID tags in World War I it became easier to …

Mickey Finn – A Simple English Phrase or a Hidden Danger?

by Alison Page

A Mickey Finn is a drug that someone secretly puts into a drink to render the drinker unconscious, thus slipping them a Mickey Finn. Obviously, slipping someone a Mickey Finn is a severe crime. Idioms, like slip a mickey, use words and phrases figuratively rather than literally. These phrases are used to create analogies and paint word pictures and are popular in informal conversation. Learning how and when to use idioms can help you master the complex nuances of the …

Minimum vs minimal

by Grammarist

Minimum means the least amount possible, the smallest possible amount required, recorded or attainable. Minimum may be used as a noun or an adjective, the word comes from the Latin word minimum which means smallest thing. The plural form of minimum may either be minimums or minima, minimums is the most prevalent. Minimal also means the least amount possible, the smallest possible amount required, recorded or attainable. However, minimal may also mean a small or negligible amount, not necessarily the …

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