You can’t have a fruitful discussion when terms mean different things to different people. Consider Black Lives Matter. That phrase has dominated the news since the tragic death of George Floyd, which ...

Your mom asked you to pick up shelled pistachios at the store, but you’d better ask whether she wants nuts still in their shells or those with their shells already removed. Because the word shelled ...

Oxymorons are common in everyday language, especially in expressions we use without much thought. We might say something is “awfully good,” “bittersweet,” “an original copy,” or that “less is more.” ...

Once upon a time, the words we used had dependable and agreed-upon meanings. Words describing people, events, beliefs, acts, and other experiences were either facts and truths or fictions and ...