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Columnist Curtis Honeycutt welcomed a new baby to his family last week. Ever since, he's been thinking about baby-related language rules.
Curtis Honeycutt is a syndicated humor columnist. He is the author of Good Grammar is the Life of the Party: Tips for a Wildly Successful Life. Find more at curtishoneycutt.com.
Fortunately, language does allow for some certainty in this life (and all the word nerds rejoiced).
Of course, many lesser-known phobias, regardless of their official medical status, are considered “nonce” words. A nonce word, as you may recall, is a word that is coined, or used, for only one occasion.
I’m no egghead, but I do like to nerd out on possessive compounds. And, while I don’t take a highbrow approach to this topic, I’m no blockhead, either.
Today’s linguistic lesson is a two-parter. Well, if you really want to get into it, it could potentially be several parts. And, when I say “parts,” I mean body parts.
We’re all ready for a new year. What better way to bid adieu to the old and usher in the new but with new words!
Just as childhood gave us vague warnings of lava around nearly every corner, politicians (among others) give us vague weasel words that don’t amount to anything.
While the pop stars cash in on traditional songs without owing royalties to the original authors, I catch myself listening to the unique, seasonal lyrics. In fact, many of our Christmas songs have strange, almost archaic terms in them.
Pipe dreams aside, today I’d like to take a look at ananyms and anadromes. Ananyms are backward names; anadromes are backward words.