Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorWordle Starter Words for Dangerous TroublemakersLet’s see if we can make Wordlebot cry.·8 min read·Apr 3, 2024--24--24
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorThe Bewitching Magic of the “Ass” IntensifierAn ode to the anal emphatic.·4 min read·Mar 14, 2024--17--17
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorWhat to Do When You’ve “Got the Morbs”“Got the morbs” shows up to delight us every couple of years, but the dictionary where it comes from is a treasure trove.·4 min read·Mar 6, 2024--14--14
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorThese Common Words Are the Result of a Hilarious MisunderstandingI’m calling them “Splittybits.” Arrest me if you want to.·5 min read·Feb 15, 2024--20--20
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorThese Lovely “Fossil Words” Are Hiding in Plain SightWend, kith, vim … shebang!·5 min read·Feb 5, 2024--38--38
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorTaking Stock of The Oxford Comma WarsThe good, the bad and the grammatically ambiguous.·6 min read·Jan 22, 2024--12--12
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorThe Surprising Animals Who Say Their Own NamesOr why the Kittiwake and the Zyzzyx won’t stop talking about themselves.·4 min read·Jan 9, 2024--21--21
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorThe Astonishing Origins of 6 Common Compound WordsThe “Cob” in “Cobweb,” the “Hodge” in “Hodgepodge,” and more lovely old oddities that still cling to life in compounds.·6 min read·Dec 20, 2023--85--85
Jack ShepherdinCellar DoorIn Search of the Perfect Garden Path SentenceMaking sense (and nonsense) out of the world’s most devious sentences.·5 min read·Dec 8, 2023--9--9
Jack ShepherdinCellar Door“Carpe Diem” Doesn’t Mean “Seize the Day”In some fairly important ways — it means just the opposite.·6 min read·Nov 8, 2023--56--56