Origins – Swing and Sway.
Vacillate – note the single c, double l – derives from Latin vacillo, swing back and forth. People who swing back and forth in indecision, who are irresolute, who can,…
Pronouns and Case – Just Like Me.
Traditionally, like is a preposition not a conjunction: My son looks just like me; ?? My son walks just like I did at his age. In this second example, like…
Origins – Saying ‘No!’ to Oneself.
Abnegate is derived from Latin ab-, away (as in absent), plus nego, to deny – self-abnegation, then, is self-denial. Nego itself is a contraction of Latin neg-, not, no, and…
Pronouns and Case – Myself and Other Selves.
The -self words have various more or less acceptable uses in English, including these: X. as emphatic pronouns, as in Even he himself can’t say; I myself swim regularly. (Use…