On the frustration and lure of false etymologies

People are always surprised to learn that dictionary editors aren’t strict grammarians, the unbending defenders of some frozen version of the English language. I was, too, when I started working my marketing job at Oxford Dictionaries. The editors’ motives were far more documentary than I’d expected. They loved words, and respected the odd ways that … Continue reading On the frustration and lure of false etymologies

On Frank Lloyd Wright being the greatest architect (partly because people think so)

Chuck Klosterman is one of my favorite writers, partly because he's funny and fun to read, and partly because he offers unusual and unexpected perspectives on things I think I know. His book But What If We're Wrong? explores the destabilizing (but someone reasonable) premise that we are wrong about...well, maybe everything. One of these … Continue reading On Frank Lloyd Wright being the greatest architect (partly because people think so)