Apr 13, 2017 · Why is there an 'ai' in plaid if it is pronounced "plad"? That's a word that used to trip me up when I was a little tyke. (This time, unlike my previous question, I hope I'm right in saying that ...

There is no such equivalent phrase that I know of for any English-speaking country. However thanks to the prevalence of US media, the phrase "plead the fifth" or "take the fifth" is widely recognized …

Feb 3, 2023 · Samuel Rogers (1856): It is curious how fashion changes pronunciation. In my youth every body said “Lonnon,” not “London:” Fox said “Lonnon” to the last; and so did Crowe. Richd. …

Nov 8, 2022 · Normally we use 'nr' as an abbreviation of 'near', and 'no' to abbreviate 'number' (from Latin numero). Moreover, unlike AmE, abbreviations do not usually end with a stop if they comprise …

My son is learning English as a foreign language and I notice a mixture of British and American words in his vocab lists. Is there such thing as a checked shirt, or should it be a check shirt?

Having only seen this word in writing, I assumed it's pronounced "plate". howjsay (whose author is british) suggests the pronunciation that rhymes with "flat", but also offers the "plate" one. This

Apr 9, 2015 · What does the word "hooky" mean in the phrase "play hooky" (skipping class/truancy) and where did it come from?

Aug 16, 2011 · A friend claims that the phrase for free is incorrect. Should we only say at no cost instead?

Mar 25, 2022 · At this point I still can't find a difference, or at least I don't see one. I also don't understand why assertation is being flagged by my spell checker, because the Webster online …

Dec 14, 2025 · Reveal spoiler? This is not a movie or a book...These Calf, Chalk, Colonel, Would all have a silent l. Where is the problem? If you pronounce the l in chalk that will be the first English …