"Shoe-in" is when you force your shoe into something. "Shoo-in" is when someone is certain to win a competition. #shooin #shoein #meme #knowwhatyoumean #grammar #shoe #shoo #noshoes #misused #misusedphrases

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2lMvtI4

"Extract vengeance" means to remove the abilty for vengeance. "Exact vengeance" means to forcibly obtain vengeance. #extractvengeance #exactvengeance #carpet #babygroot #misused #misusedphrases #vengeance #revenge #exactrevenge #extractrevenge #knowwhatyoumean #grammar #meme

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2lKOaKu

"Deep-seeded" is when you planted your seeds too deep. "Deep-seated" is when something is well-established and hard to change. #Deepseated #deepseated #garden #plants #seeds #grammar #misused #misusedphrases

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2le68DA

There is no mountain named "Sneak Peak". "Sneak peek" is an opportunity to view something ahead of general availability. #misused #misusedphrases #grammar #sneakpeak #mountains #sneakpeek

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2lY8nPv

"First-come, first-serve" means that the first person to arrive has to serve everyone else. "First-come, first-served" means that people are served in the order in which they arrive.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2kXi551

Wind what?

What do you call that giant tower with spinning blades that produces electricity from wind?  Windmill?  Well, kinda, but not really.  The word "mill" that forms the latter portion of the word "windmill" is just that, a mill.  In this context, a mill is a machine that grinds and crushes something, such as grain.^MD There isn't a whole lot of grinding and crushing of anything when using a rotor to produce electricity.  It's really the opposite of a mill.

The definition of "turbine" is a bit more broad.  A turbine is a machine that converts the movement of a fluid into rotary motion.^TD  With that definition, a mill is a type of turbine.  However, a turbine is not necessarily a mill.

There is no specific word that provides a special name for an electricity producing turbine, so the word turbine itself is used.  Turbine is also used to name machines that make electricity from flowing water, such as those found at Hoover Dam.^HD   So, that giant tower with spinning blades that produces electricity is more correctly called a wind turbine.  A collection of wind turbines at one location are frequently referred to as "wind farms".

Another wind powered machine is the windpump, which is used to pump water.  Windpumps and windmills have been in use for about 1500 years, being first developed in the Persian region between A.D. 500 and 900.^WP  Wind turbines owe their existence to our long history of windmills and windpumps.  It's somewhat understandable that there is some confusion of terms.

Interesting modern examples of wind power in use

There's even a wind-powered record player!  Well, that's mostly art, but apparently it works well.  Then, there's this guy, William Kamkwamba, who built wind turbines and pumps for his village in Malawi at a time of famine and when such luxaries were only experienced by 2% of their population.

Is it ironic to emphasize the word "emphasize" when you are trying emphasize the emphasis of the word "emphasize"?

via Instagram http://ift.tt/25pS7W9

Deep highschooler discussion

Recently, I attended a software user group meeting, whose meeting was in the machine shop in a local high school.  It was long after school hours, however that didn't mean kids weren't still hanging around.  As I approached the entrance, there was a small group of kids hanging out nearby.  All of a sudden, one of the boys rather loudly blurts out something to the effect, "Wow, it's now been two years since I broke up with [whatever her name was]."  One of the girls immediately corrects him saying, "It's been one year since you guys broke up."  The boy iterated that it was now two years.

This conversation went back and forth like this as I walked past.  Hopefully I was not shaking my head too obviously at the pure pointlessness of this high school discussion.  Not that I care, but I wasn't able to ascertain whether or not the boy was lamenting the two year severance, or happy about it.  If he was happy about it, why was he so focused...oh, dang it.  I'm now thinking about this more than I ever intended.  I'm done with this.

Is it #pedantic to use the word "pedant"? #showerthoughts #word #questions

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1LG0OSe

I know English is evolving when I hear these words in a courtroom

I was recently snared into Jury Duty in Massachusetts.  This isn't so much an article about that.  Instead, this is about something I noticed while listening to the case before me and my 5 other jurors; word choices.

The first interesting word was uttered by the Prosecutor quoting the defendant who was fighting a DUI charge. The Prosecutor stated that the defendant pleaded with the arresting officer to cut him a break because he was not cocked.  This word cocked was used in a mocking manner by the prosecutor several times in his opening and closing arguments.

The second word that stood out was spoken by the Defense attorney.  While questioning the arresting officer, the Defense attorney asked about the likelihood of something-or-another.  What caught my attention is that he used the prolly, instead of prob'ly or probably.  The use of this word in such a formal manner struck me, since the word is still considered by many to be of the mythically inferior not-a-word status.

The last spoken element I picked up on was the Judge's use of the idiom begging-the-question.  I've written about the idiom begging-the-question quite recently.  There are two official definitions for the idiom.  The traditional definition is based on a logical fallacy.  The modern definition is an alternative for raises-the-question; this was Judge's use that day.  It is interesting to note that both definitions appear in dictionaries now.