by Dwane | Jan 19, 2023 | Vocabulary
Fortnight fourteen days; two weeks. Fortnight is a portmanteau word. A portmanteau is a blended word. The combination takes on the meanings of both words. Fortnight is a combination of fourteen and night. Change the spelling and, for some reason you end with the...
by Dwane | Jan 17, 2023 | Vocabulary
Lawfare The use of the judicial system against one’s opponents Lawfare, a portmanteau word, is a combination of law and warfare. C.S. Lewis once pointed out that we live under something like administrative lawfare. “I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of...
by Dwane | Jan 16, 2023 | Vocabulary
I like portmanteau words. If you have no idea what I am talking about, let me explain. A portmanteau was once a traveling case for clothing. Once you reached your destination, it could double as a small piece of furniture. The word comes from the French...
by Dwane | Jan 10, 2023 | Education, English, Vocabulary
Criticize: to find fault; to point out flaws real or perceived I took some time off for Christmas and New Year. No one criticized me. Pretty impressive, guys. You could be nicer than you think you are. Criticize comes from the Greek word χριτιχός (kritikos)...
by Dwane | Dec 17, 2022 | Education, English, Vocabulary
This week, one of my students translated egg nog into French. She ended up with the phrase: lait de poule. Lait is French for milk, and poule is French for hen. Put the two together and you get, “hen milk”. Um. This threw me for a loop. I started wondering,...
by Dwane | Dec 15, 2022 | English, Vocabulary
Truckle: to yield out of weakness Most of us know what a trundle bed is. In case you don’t, a trundle bed is a low bed on wheels. When not in use trundle beds slide beneath other beds. Evidently, in some places, trundle beds are truckle beds. Truckle comes from...
