Word Smarts

Unless a show is written by Sully Sullenberger himself, you might be wondering why the term “pilot” is used so often in the television industry. “Pilot” dates back to the 16th century, so how did it become a TV term?   “Pilot” can mean a few things: It can be a noun for the person who flies a plane, a verb meaning “to act as a guide to” or “to set and conn the course of,” or to someone in the entertainment industry, the first episode of a TV series. These episodes are often quite different from the rest of the series, as the writers are figuring out the concept. For instance, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine wasn’t even in the pilot episode of  Seinfeld , and that’s just hard to fathom. Aviation and television don’t have much in common, so I was curious to find out if there’s an etymological tie linking these homonyms.  As with some other etymological mysteries, there’s no universally agreed-upon answer as to why “pilot” became such a common term in the television industry. ...

  As hesitant as we are to appear cringe, here’s some insight into the Gen Z lexicon. But tread carefully in using, unless you are indeed a member of the group. As hesitant as we are to appear  “cringe”  by trying to explain Gen Z, without actually  being  Gen Z, we can’t help but be fascinated by the linguistic changes brought about by this generation. One defining hallmark of Gen Z — which encompasses people born between 1997 and 2003 — is that they are the first generation to live entirely under the influence of the internet and in front of the glow of smartphone screens, and their language reflects that. Moreover, they look outside of their immediate age bracket and toward cultural groups, including the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities, for inspiration. Here are some terms embraced by Gen Z that you might want to know — but tread carefully in using, unless you are indeed a member of Gen Z. Ate and Left No Crumbs Who doesn’t love to eat? When you hear that a pers...

  Do you remember teachers imploring you to avoid the passive voice at all costs? The active voice is usually preferable, but there are exceptions. Learn when and how to use both to improve your writing. We learn the building blocks of language and the rules of grammar at a young age, but it’s generally many years before we have to use such tools in a high-stakes scenario — such as writing professional emails, sending cover letters for job applications, or perhaps penning an emotional note. As such, it never hurts to do a brief refresher on the basics. Here, we’re looking at active versus passive voice. Passive and Active Voice At its most basic, active voice implies that the subject of the sentence is performing an action. Passive voice, conversely, implies that an action is being done  to  the subject, which often makes for a longer, clunkier, and more unclear sentence. Take the following example, written in the active voice: I want a cup of coffee. This is simple, dire...

  Cursing used to be more taboo, and the library of replacement words was more varied. Let’s take a dive into the world of old-fashioned curse words. These words may have been considered on the verge of profanity at one point in time, but today they sound almost quaint. There’s a school of thought in linguistics called the  poverty of vocabulary  (POV) hypothesis. The assumption is that if a person is lacking in their vocabulary, they might fill in with curse words. This perspective has led people to view cursing as a sign of poor education, bad manners, or even being lower on the socio-economic ladder. However,  recent linguistic research  has shown that the exact opposite might be true. Greater fluency with curse words might be a sign of general verbal fluency, and those who are exceptionally vulgar might also be exceptionally eloquent in other ways. Additional  research shows  that swearing can boost pain tolerance, make people more emotionally resi...

  We could go on ad infinitum (forever) about the influence of Latin on the English-speaking world, but instead, let’s learn the roots of the most common Latin phrases we use today. Although Latin is considered a “dead language” (meaning it isn’t spoken widely as a primary language), many tongues around the world have been heavily influenced by it. Early Europeans traded with Latin speakers in the Roman Empire, and later, Catholic monks wrote religious texts and conducted services in Latin. Though relatively few English speakers know Latin today, many of our words have roots in this ancient language. We could go on  ad infinitum  (forever) about the influence of Latin on the English-speaking world, but instead, let’s examine the roots of the most common Latin phrases we use today. Ad Hoc “Ad hoc” literally translates as “to this,” but the phrase essentially describes things created as needed, or when necessary. “Ad hoc” can be used as either an adjective (“We formed an ad...