Bare means naked, but to bear is to carry something. A bear is also a black, white, or brown furry animal, but most people don’t ….
Category: Self Editing
At a “barbecue,” one who “barbecues” is a “barbecuer” and he has probably often “barbecued” in “barbecue pit” using “barbecue sauce.” Casual restaurants like to ….
Ball and Bawl are unusual in that they both originate from the Old Norse. Ball comes from the Old Norse bolr, meaning ball. Bawl came ….
Whether you are bailing out a rowboat or a bank, use the two-word spelling to describe the action of doing it (the verb form): “we ….
A bay is a small inlet, a small recess in a wall, a compartment in an aircraft used for a specific purpose, an area inside ….
A bad rap—also known as a bum rap—is shame that results from false accusations or trumped-up charges. A bad wrap with a “-w” is a ….
Both buck naked and butt naked are informal (slang) English and you are unlikely to have cause to use either in professional formal writing. Buck ….
Dear Weeping Editor, Until I started reading your Sunday column, I had only ever heard of five senses. I only knew of The Sixth Sense ….
The single word “backup” is a noun, often attributive, that can mean something that serves as a substitute or support, or musical accompaniment, or additional ….
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) The TRUE and COMPLETE and CORRECT answer REALLY is that either can be correct—and even proper—depending upon context, even in ….