The Politically Incorrect Etymologies of 10 Words and Phrases
At various moments in its life, a word will hop languages, change meanings, travel through sinister moments and land in pleasant ones. But no matter how many times it’s superimposed, and how far it gets from its original source, a word doesn’t let go of its memories easily. Here are 11 modern English words with socially insensitive origins.
1. Hysteria (n.) – a wild, irrational eruption of fear or emotion
Hysteria begins in the womb, or so thought the medical scholars of the 1610s, who named the condition after the Latin hystericus, meaning “of the womb.” Those who’ve studied the Victorian era, or read The Awakening in high school, may know that the go-to prognosis of the time for just about every female’s symptom from the occasional hissy fit to chronic seizures was a pesky wayfaring uterus. The condition was thought to be caused by sexual frustration and cured by intercourse or pelvic massage, the latter often performed by physicians and midwives. When doctors finally got fed up with the tedious task in the late 19th century, the personal vibrator was created to take their place. Read More…
6 incredibly useful spelling rules from childhood
In English, there are words that sound the same but are spelled differently (such as “their,” “they’re,” and “there”); words with letters that have nothing to do with how the word is pronounced (“brought,” “although”); words that contain silent letters (“gnat,” “pneumonia”); and words that simply don’t follow any spelling rules.
Let’s revisit those spelling rules we learned long ago and the words that break those rules.
1. “I before E except after C or when sounded as A as in neighbor and weigh”
Words that break this rule:
- ancient
- species
- science
- sufficient
- society
- either
- foreign
- leisure
- protein
2. “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking?” (Meaning when there are two vowels in a row, the first usually has a long sound and the second is silent.)
Words that break this rule:
- said
- through
- leather
- early
- piece
- build
- guide
- shoes
- does
- guest
- break
3. Final silent E makes the vowel say its name (such as “rat,” “rate,” “hid,” “hide”)
Words that break this rule:
- have
- done
- lose
- where
4. Plural nouns—add an “s” or an “es”
Words that break this rule:
- goose/geese
- man/men
- mouse/mice
- tooth/teeth
- alumnus/alumni
- series
- deer
- sheep
- species
5. If a word ends with an “ick” sound, spell it “ick” if it has one syllable (“trick”) and “ic” if it has two or more syllables (“sarcastic”)
Words that break this rule:
- candlestick
- seasick
- nitpick
6. “A” versus “an”—if the first letter is a vowel use “an”; if the first letter is a consonant, use “a.”
Words that break this rule:
- an honest
- an honorable
- a unicorn
- a united front
- a urologist
- a onetime
Readers, any other rule-breaking words to share?
Laura Hale Brockway is an Austin-based writer and editor. Read more of her work at Impertinent Remarks.
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The 7 Cs of Communication
Think of how often you communicate with people during your day. You write emails, facilitate meetings, participate in conference calls, create reports, devise presentations, debate with your colleagues… the list goes on.
We can spend almost our entire day communicating. So, how can we provide a huge boost to our productivity? We can make sure that we communicate in the clearest, most effective way possible.
This is why the 7 Cs of Communication are helpful. The 7 Cs provide a checklist for making sure that your meetings, emails, conference calls, reports, and presentations are well constructed and clear – so your audience gets your message.
According to the 7 Cs, communication needs to be:
- Clear.
- Concise.
- Concrete.
- Correct.
- Coherent.
- Complete.
- Courteous.
In this article, we look at each of the 7 Cs of Communication, and we’ll illustrate each element with both good and bad examples.
1. Clear
When writing or speaking to someone, be clear about your goal or message. What is your purpose in communicating with this person? If you’re not sure, then your audience won’t be sure either.
To be clear, try to minimize the number of ideas in each sentence. Make sure that it’s easy for your reader to understand your meaning. People shouldn’t have to “read between the lines” and make assumptions on their own to understand what you’re trying to say.
Bad Example
Hi John,
I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel, who’s working in your department. He’s a great asset, and I’d like to talk to you more about him when you have time.
Best,
Skip
What is this email about? Well, we’re not sure. First, if there are multiple Daniels in John’s department, John won’t know who Skip is talking about.
Next, what is Daniel doing, specifically, that’s so great? We don’t know that either. It’s so vague that John will definitely have to write back for more information.
Last, what is the purpose of this email? Does Skip simply want to have an idle chat about Daniel, or is there some more specific goal here? There’s no sense of purpose to this message, so it’s a bit confusing.
Good Example
Let’s see how we could change this email to make it clear.
Hi John,
I wanted to write you a quick note about Daniel Kedar, who’s working in your department. In recent weeks, he’s helped the IT department through several pressing deadlines on his own time.
We’ve got a tough upgrade project due to run over the next three months, and his knowledge and skills would prove invaluable. Could we please have his help with this work?
I’d appreciate speaking with you about this. When is it best to call you to discuss this further?
Best wishes,
Skip
This second message is much clearer, because the reader has the information he needs to take action.
AWARDS
Just English 