Kathryn Petras & Ross Petras

Words on Words

Excerpts and articles about words — from the most commonly confused to the most commonly misused, problematic pronunciation, etymological mysteries, interesting histories, and more.

All right/Alright: Is alright, er, all right?

Bruschetta: from the Mispronounced Antipasto department

Capricious: The battle between Team Hedgehog and Team Goat

Champ at the bit: Move over, popular yet incorrect chomp!

Desultory: Its strange gymnastic roots, or what leaping ancient Roman circus performers have to do with modern unenthusiastic adjectives

Nonplussed: In which we are perplexed by the misuse of a literally perplexing word

To Me or Not To Me: I vs. Me, Her & Him vs. She & He, Them vs. They: Making sense of pronouns

Who vs. Whom: When and why to use “whom” instead of “who”