Dear Language Nerd, Why are toilets called “lavatories” on airplanes, and never called that anywhere else? -S.K. *** Dear S.K., This post is gonna be like failing at eating a Reeses peanut butter cup. We’ll pull off the little wrapper thingy, and nibble all the way around the edges, and scrape the chocolate off the […]
Dear Language Nerd, Why do news anchors and the like say “an historic occasion” when they would never say “an history book”? -JRS *** Dear Jurs, Because it’s fancier. But not because it’s right. First, let’s go over what the “a/an” rule really is, and super-double-first, let’s go over what it isn’t: it isn’t a […]
So the other night I thought I heard [a friend] say “She was druncating all over the place.” I heard wrong. But I want to register “druncate” as a new word please. Can you take care of this, [Language Nerd]? -Delphine *** Follow-up example after request for clarification: “We had to drag Stella out of […]