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Jeremy Butterfield Editorial

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Tag: Fowler

Posted on July 18, 2022July 19, 2022

Verbing. A marmite phenomenon? I love it.

The verbal noun verbing is first cited a surprisingly long time ago, in 1766. But, as the OED notes, it was rare before the late 20th century...once a feature of language is visibly or vocally shunned, fatwas against it take on a life of their own.

Posted on December 7, 2021December 7, 2021

Fortuitous. What exactly does it ‘really’ mean?

Now, apart from the fact fortuitous is being applied to a person, which surprised me, what does it mean? Does it just mean ‘fortunate, lucky’ or does it mean ‘by a lucky chance or coincidence’? Or just 'by chance'?

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  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
    • Word biographies
      • Animals
      • eggcorns
      • Words named after people: eponyms
      • Meaning of words
      • Loanwords
    • One word or two?
    • Confusable Words
    • Grammar
    • Spelling
  • Prices
  • Books
    • The Metaphor Zoo: Why the English language loves animals
    • Damp Squid: the English language laid bare
    • Fowler’s Modern English Usage
    • Oxford A-Z of English Usage (2nd edition)
  • Spanish

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