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    <title><![CDATA[The Word Guy - ArcaMax Publishing]]></title>
	<link>https://www.arcamax.com//knowledge/thewordguy/rss</link>
	<description><![CDATA[The Word Guy News Feed]]></description>
	<language>en-us</language>
	<copyright>Copyright 2026 ArcaMax Publishing</copyright>
	
	
	
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		<title><![CDATA[And It's Seabiscuit By Three Lengths!]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

Did you know that "gun" derives from 11th-century Scandinavian raiders
who affectionately gave their biggest catapult a woman's name --
"Gunnhildr"?

Am I pulling your leg? Hmmm ...

Now see whether you can select the true origin of each word ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4294222</link>
 
    <pubDate>Sep/09/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[The Natives are 'Restive']]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

In 2005, when Harvard University President Larry Summers was embroiled
in controversy, a newspaper story reported that he faced "hundreds of
restive professors" in a faculty meeting.

When I happened across that sentence recently, I started to ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4288599</link>
 
    <pubDate>Sep/02/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Steered Wrong by Word Criminals]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

A magazine article about an outdoor festival tells readers, "If it
rains, just bring your umbrella and goulashes." A synopsis of a TV show
describes it as the story of "celebrate" nuns in Louisiana. A citizen
writes that he's been an "I witness"...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4284263</link>
 
    <pubDate>Aug/26/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Do Hot Doggers Relish Showing Off?]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

This column is packed with tantalizing tidbits I haven't been able to
squeeze in elsewhere.

-- The recent appearance of the term "hotdogs," with the clue
"showoffs," in a recent New York Times crossword puzzle led me to wonder
why we use "hot ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4278980</link>
 
    <pubDate>Aug/19/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Diagnosis: Murder]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

You're the sentence doctor. Each of these sentences suffers from faulty
syntax, wordiness, passivity, poor word choices and/or awkward phrasing.
Examine each ailing sentence, make a diagnosis and rewrite it back to
health:

No. 1: George had a ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4273838</link>
 
    <pubDate>Aug/12/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[The Whimsy Report Reveals Americans' Lex Lives]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

The year was 1948. All American adults were happily married and spoke
perfectly proper English, never straying from traditional usage or
grammatical proscriptions. Or at least that's what everyone thought.

Then along came the bow-tied ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4268715</link>
 
    <pubDate>Aug/05/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[A Handy Guide to Language Pitfalls]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

On my desk I keep a list of tiny quirks of spelling, usage and meaning
that often bedevil me. Perhaps my eclectic compilation will come in
handy for you as well:

-- Katharine Hepburn, not Katherine

-- Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear or Smoky ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4263622</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jul/29/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Commonly Confused]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

Many errors in English are perpetrated and perpetuated by people
misusing words beginning with "per," "pre" and "pro." See whether you
can choose the correct word in each sentence:

No. 1: Taking English 101 is a (prerequisite, perquisite) for ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4258331</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jul/22/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Illicit Verbal Couplings in a 'Murphy' Bed]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

Brian Garner, editor of Garner's Modern American Usage, has devised what
he calls "Murphy's Law of Language," where two words that CAN be
confused WILL BE confused.

These calamitous entanglements often stem from outright theft. A common
word ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4253122</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jul/15/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Latin Word for Cattle Became a Cash Cow]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

In ancient Rome, no one cared how many Teslas, McMansions or Rolexes you
owned. Nope; wealth was measured in cattle, cattle, cattle!

(The bovine bourgeoisie was so status conscious that some Romans put
bumper stickers on their inferior breeds ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4247467</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jul/08/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[Speaking Words of Wisdom, 'Let It Be']]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

Q: Is "leave him be" an acceptable substitute for "let him be"? -- J. K.
via email

A: To some ears, "leave him be" sounds less elevated than "let him be."
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary notes that "leave it be" is a
mostly spoken idiom...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4242073</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jul/01/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA[The French (and Italians) Have a Word for It]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

Even if you're an eminence grise who has fashioned a piece de resistance
and mastered the lingua franca, you still might have trouble with these
three foreign phrases:

-- Eminence grise (AY-mee-nonce-GREEZ) -- This expression, literally,
"the ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4236563</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jun/24/2026</pubDate>
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		<title><![CDATA['Soc' It to Me, World Cup!]]></title>
		<description><![CDATA[

As the World Cup tournament got underway last week, a reader asked me
why this sport is called "soccer" in the United States but "football" in
Great Britain.

Answer: "Football" first appeared in English during the 1400s as a
general word for ...<br /><br /><hr size="1" />]]></description>
		<link>https://www.arcamax.com/thewordguy/s-4229804</link>
 
    <pubDate>Jun/17/2026</pubDate>
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	  <title><![CDATA[More from The Word Guy on ArcaMax »]]></title>
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