A pocketbook is not a book, a pocket, or a book you put in your pocket. Wonder how such a strange word came to mean “purse” or “handbag”?
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“Belated”, a word invented just for birthdays
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“Tardy”, a word invented just for schools
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Children and brethren: probably the only two words in English that take the plural -ren.
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Don’t is “do not”. Why isn’t won’t “woo not”?
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If a duckling is a baby duck, then why isn’t a dumpling a baby dump?
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German has different words for “no” meaning the opposite of yes, and “no” meaning “not any”: “nein” and “kein”. Makes better sense than English. After all, we say, “I have no bananas”, but we can’t say, “I have yes bananas”.
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Why do people refer to musicians as “artists” when there are several perfectly usable and more specific words, such as singer, musician, and band?
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We talk about “eyesight”. Why don’t we talk about “earhear”, "tonguetaste", "nosesmell", or "fingertouch"?
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