ArcaMax

Q: Can you verify the theory that the computer "HAL" in the movie "2001 -- A Space Odyssey" is so named because each of its letters comes alphabetically just before a letter in "IBM"; that is, H/I, A/B, L/M? -- Joanne Watson via email

A: As HAL itself might have said, "I'm sorry, Joanne, but I'm afraid I can't do that." Sir Arthur Clarke, who...Read more

"Can you discuss 'comprise/compose' in your column," writes Carole Shmurak of Farmington, Connecticut, "or is it a lost cause?" (I'm going to presume the "lost cause" Carole mentions isn't my column but the fight to retain the distinction between "comprise" and "compose.")

No, Carole, it's not a lost cause! And even if it is, gosh darn it, as...Read more

And now for some gaffs ... er, gaffes from newspapers and magazines as reported by the ever-vigilant Word Guy Blooper Patrol.

1. "We kept editing and editing your piece until, low and behold, one day there was hardly any of it left." A low blow? 2. "... (a sculpture) topped with a bear-breasted woman." This story was probably written by a cub...Read more

When I discussed grammar and usage on a rather zany and offbeat radio talk show program a while back, several listeners telephoned with erudite, scholarly questions such as, "What's a nice guy like you doing on a show like this?"

Well, I couldn't answer that one, but questions from other listeners did raise some fascinating linguistic issues....Read more

My friend Myron from Montana asks me to take aim at the origin of "potshot."

In not-so-merry olde England, sportsmen followed very strict rules about what game animals could be hunted and when. Vigilant game wardens, wearing bright orange jumpsuits to avoid being shot and lugging thick manuals packed with regulations, patrolled the forests ...Read more

"If you would have told UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley six years ago that the LA Lakers would one day offer him a contract worth $70 million, he would have laughed in your face."

When I recently spotted this sentence, I wanted to don a Husky uniform, drive the base line and make two points:

Point No. 1: More and more people are ...Read more

While you're enjoying a deck, a dock or a daiquiri this summer, dip into the one of these new books about words and language.

Did you know that "lick into shape" originated from the medieval belief that bear cubs are born shapeless and are licked into shape by their mothers? Have you heard that "stealing someone's thunder" arose when a London...Read more

Q: I often see this misuse in the newspaper: "between three people." Shouldn't it be "between two people" and "among three people"? -- Mary Ellen Palmer, Frankfort, Michigan

A: Generally, yes. "Between" should be used before two items, e.g., "The money was divided equally between Tom and Sally," and "among" should be used before three items, ...Read more

Sometimes a word's archaic meaning is embedded in its modern definition like a fossil in a rock.

When you hear, for instance, that golfers are addressing the ball, you might assume they're speaking to the ball. (Actually, golfers sometimes DO speak to the ball, though not everything they say is printable here.)

But in golf, address has a ...Read more

Latin plurals have been a casus belli (justification for war) among English speakers for centuries. For example, if you want to start a fistfight, ask two people for the plural of casus belli. Cassi belli? Casus bellis? Cassius' belly? (Which presumably was small because Cassius had a lean and hungry look.)

In fact, the plural of casus belli ...Read more

In American lingo today, "blonde" is a word to dye for. Recently published books include Laurence Leamer's "Hitchcock's Blondes," Ally Carter's romance "The Blonde Identity" and Emmett Hardy's crime novel "Blond Hair, Blue Eyes." Joelle Wellington's highly anticipated thriller "The Blonde Dies First" will be published this summer.

A few years...Read more

In an interview for a documentary about Bill Clinton, his White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers made this comment about the extraordinary talents of her former boss: "I just don't think his likes will come our way again."

While many would agree with her suggestion that Bill Clinton was a one-of-a-kind political magician, some might wonder...Read more

Medieval aristocrats living in lofty castles looked down on the commoners around them, both literally and figuratively. So it's no surprise that words denoting farmers and townies soon acquired negative connotations. Eventually, in fact, two noblemen could insult each other simply by exchanging "peasantries."

Let's take a look at the rustic ...Read more