Wordwatch: Attendee
The word “attendee” has replace “attendant” in common language, but it seems likely it was originally used as a joke.
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The word “attendee” has replace “attendant” in common language, but it seems likely it was originally used as a joke.
It is a common linguistic mistake to use the word dispassionate as the opposite of compassionate.
Texting and “telegraphese” has meant that we take shortcuts in our everyday speech where phrases such as “caved in” become “caved”.
This ungrammatical construction appears repeatedly in modern English, both written and spoken.
There has been a universal narrowing of vocabulary meaning that the word “mum” has come to replace “mother” or “mummy”.
Since when has “question mark” come to replace the word “question”?
The word enjoy has been stripped of its traditional usage by convention and overuse.
“Instagrammable” is a new-minted word, derived from the name of the social media site Instagram.
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