Dilemma or Catch-22 What is a dilemma? Dilemma is one of the rare words that is so specific that it denotes the precise meaning — at least the original definition does. Let’s take a look. Many of the dictionaries did a good job of defining the true meaning of this, and most without waffling. Vocabulary.com…
Meaning of Cognizant and Meaning of Prophylactic In my continuing quest to make note of words that have jumped to the forefront during this pandemic, I’ve identified two more offenders—cognizant and prophylactic. Don’t get me wrong; the words aren’t at fault, they’re fine words. I blame the people using them. The reporters, doctors, and analysts…
Is “Safe Haven” Redundant? A lot has been written regarding “safe haven.” Some of it even by me in my grammar books. What draws the ire is the phrase’s built-in redundancy. But is safe haven redundant, and does it matter? Let’s look further. Is “Safe Haven” Redundant? The problem with words is that they’re subject…
Plethora—It’s Not What You May Think If you listen to people speak, you’re bound to hear the word plethora used sooner or later. And when you do, it will probably be used erroneously. Last year, I decided to do an informal self-conducted poll, and, in a thirty-day span, I heard the word used eleven times….
Close Proximity During the past month, I have heard this phrase, or seen in writing, many times. It is often used to refer to the social distancing orders or protests of such orders. And I have heard it from TV analysts as well as seen it written hundreds of times in social media (Facebook, Twitter,…
This post is more for the professional crowd. I may have mentioned that I worked as a headhunter for more than thirty years. During that time, I got a lot of résumés—more than twelve thousand of them. One thing that used to jump out at me was how people tried so hard to use two-dollar…
Poisonous or Venomous? Sorry it has been so long between posts, but I had the unfortunate luck to have experienced two heart attacks and two strokes last year, and all within a few weeks. And no, they weren’t the result of a poisonous or venomous snake. It kept me in the hospital for four months,…
Words That People Misuse Have you ever heard someone say “ain’t”, and thought—they should improve their grammar? Most of us have probably thought that at some point. But perhaps we shouldn’t judge too harshly, because there are many words that are misused on a daily basis. They might not seem as bad as ain’t, but…