English Language & Usage Weekly Newsletter, Tues Sept

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Top new questions this week: How many syllables are in the word 'hour'? Does the word 'hour' have 1 or 2 syllables? *syllables crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc Some English words only differ in their vowels: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc. Is there a name for them? *single-word-requests What term describes enjambment alluding to a taboo word? In the schoolyard rhyme "Miss Susie" the taboo word is spoken aloud, so I'm not sure that it qualifies as a mind rhyme. Likewise, in the case of a subverted rhyme the expected word isn't spoken. I … *single-word-requests *offensive-language *poetry Name for type of adjective such as "porcine" Is there a specific name for adjectives such as porcine that are special forms of words meaning "relating to" some other thing? They are often: based on classical words and end in 'al' and 'ine' can … *adjectives Can I "make up for someone"? I have a question about the phrase "make up for". You can make up for the loss, the delay or someone's mistake, right? I used to think you can also "make (this/it) up for someone", meaning that you … *phrases What to call the best student in a class? Is there a word in English to qualify the highest-ranked student in a class in a year? We are talking here about higher education, especially in the context of curricula that keep a given set of … *single-word-requests What does 'It's one thing to dance like Fred Astaire, but Ginger Rogers did it backwards' mean as a metaphor to John Roberts' ruling? There was the following sentence in June 29 issue of Time magazine titled "Roberts Rules: What the health care decision means for the country" dealing with Chief Justice of Supreme Court, John … *expressions *american-english Is "yay or nay" an acceptable alternative to "yea or nay"? Is "yay or nay" an acceptable alternative to "yea or nay"? I have seen it several times in recent weeks, enough to make me wonder whether it is an emerging usage or just a common typo. *expressions *eggcorn asked by mmyers 17 votes answered by nohat 15 votes New blog post: Writing Good 'Meaning' Questions by mahnax on Sep 3 On any Stack Exchange site, a question must be tagged. Here at EL&U, our most popular tag is the meaning tag, with over 2700 questions filed as such. Unfortunately, this tag is often misused, and …