pugnacious \puhg-NAY-shuhs\ (adjective) - Inclined to fight; combative; quarrelsome.

"After tolerating Patrick's pugnacious daughter, Kane would be ready to swear off women for the rest of his life." -- Carol Finch, '...Read More

plenary \PLEE-nuh-ree; PLEN-uh-ree\ (adjective) - 1 : Full in all respects; complete; absolute; as, plenary authority. 2 : Fully attended by all qualified members.

"The first plenary session held at the conference was ...Read More

expropriate \ek-SPROH-pree-ayt\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To deprive of possession. 2 : To transfer (the property of another) to oneself.

"You never know when some tinhorn general's going to expropriate your property as ...Read More

Q. I'm always puzzled about which verb to use following a phrase starting with "if" or "as if." In one instance, I read, "If I were 90 years old ...", and in the next, "If I was doing that ..." Which should it be? -- Jim...Read More

People in dangerous, high-pressure jobs sometimes relieve tension with proprietary humor. Nowhere is this more true than in the airline industry. Consider this deadpan conversation among an air traffic controller and two...Read More

"Why do we say something is 'brand-new'?" asks Simon Kravetz of Canton, Connecticut.

Now there's a burning question!

"Brand," derived from a Germanic root that means burn, originally referred to a burning stick or ...Read More