Hit the hay and hit the sack are idioms that both mean to go to bed or to go to sleep. They are informal expressions commonly used to convey the idea of going to sleep or getting some rest. Idioms, like as hit the hay and hit the sack, are …
Anemic means suffering from anemia, a medical condition which consists of a lack of red blood cells, resulting in pallor and weakness. Anemic and anemia may also be used in a figurative sense, referring to something weak. Anemic and anemia are North American spellings, the British spellings are anaemic and …
Venal means capable of being bribed, easily corrupted. Venal is an adjective, related words are the adverb venally and the noun venality. Venal comes into the English language in the mid-seventeenth century from the Old French word venel meaning for sale, in relating to prostitutes, and from the Latin venalis …
I know most languages have homophones, but I doubt as many as English does. Not only do we have pairs of words that sound the same with different meanings, but we also even have trios of words that are homophones of each other. Take sense, since, and cense, for example. …
Old-fashioned is an adjective which describes something done in a style of times past or more suitable for times past. Old-fashioned may refer to dress, manners or customs that were more suitable to an earlier period of history. Old-fashioned may also refer to a conservative point of view. As a …
Idiomatic terms and phrases are popular in every language. Unfortunately, their use is lost if your audience is unfamiliar with the term. Idioms are words with figurative meanings rather than literal ones and help create analogies and more interesting conversations. A hat trick is a great example of this. The …
Micro- is a prefix which means small, reduced, magnifying. As a unit of measure, micro- means one millionth part of. Micro- is derived from the Greek mikros, meaning small, trivial, slight, petty, trivial. Micro- is a prefix which may be applied to word when describing something that is small scale. …
In the doldrums is a phrase that means dispirited, feeling listless or mildly depressed. In the doldrums has a maritime origin, the Doldrums is an area in the ocean that is situated north of the equator and between two belts of trade winds. The trade winds meet in the Doldrums …
A minuet is a ballroom dance with short, dainty steps. The minuet is a dignified dance for a group of couples, first popular in seventeenth century France. Music for this dance is also called a minuet, often part of a sonata, symphony or suite. The beat is in 3/4 time. …
Our language is full of words that sound so alike yet mean vastly different things, like the lexical labyrinth of stent versus stint. To the untrained ear, they may seem swappable, but they couldn’t be more different. So, let’s take a moment to scrutinize these two terms so you’ll never …