I’ve started an Etsy shop that sells weirdo bits of vintage paper ephemera and original altered art postcards (like the one above). It’s called Estranged Ephemera, and you can check it out here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EstrangedEphemera

Shameless self-promotion over. Thanks!

All of these labels can be hurtful, but one use in particular is prodding me onto my soapbox today. This is when people who do not have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) say they are “OCD” about something.

Example: I’m so OCD about keeping my desk clean.
Example: I’m OCD about making sure Fred does his share of the cooking.

OCD is not an adjective. It is not an alternate word for particular or concerned. OCD is a noun. It’s the name of a mental disorder. And I have it.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not embarrassed about having OCD. Some people have allergies. Some people need glasses. Some people have OCD. In fact, I think having OCD makes me a better copy editor. I can concentrate on minute details better than others can; and, when people hire me to edit their books, they can be sure I have thoroughly inspected every letter and punctuation mark on every page.

But OCD is not funny, and it’s not a subject to take lightly. It’s a serious disorder. And, much of the time, it’s plain sucky to live with. It keeps me from being able to drive a car because of severe anxiety or leave my apartment without double-checking the doorknobs, as a couple examples.

If I may speak on behalf of others with this disorder, I would ask that if you use OCD as an adjective, consider how that feels to people who actually have it and stop using it that way. If you hear others using OCD as an adjective, please remind them of the proper way to use it—as a noun to represent a serious disorder.

Language is a powerful tool, and sometimes it can be used to hurt people—even without the speaker being aware of the consequences.

Officially stepping down from my soapbox . . . now. Thanks for reading this post.

You can learn more about mental health advocacy at the website for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Hang in the present tense is not too difficult to use (except when it comes to idioms). To put simply, hang means “to suspend.” We hang mistletoe and stockings at Christmas. We hang pictures on the wall. We hang (our bodies) on jungle gyms for fun. And, sometimes, we hang people on crosses and other capital punishment devices.

Regardless of the reason for hanging and whether the subject of the hanging is living or inanimate, in the present tense we hang all of them. However, these qualities make a difference in the past tense to help use determine whether to use hanged or hung.

Hanged is used:

• with people
• when there is the intention of killing

Examples:
He made a noose and hanged himself from the ceiling fan.
The Wild West outlaw stole cattle, so he was hanged for the crime.

Hung is used:

• with inanimate objects
• when there is no intention of killing

Examples:
It was her favorite piece of artwork that hung in the museum.
The boy was giggling as he hung by his feet from a big tree branch.

Quiz
Now that we’ve had a good dose of morbidity, how about a quiz? Fill in the blanks with either hanged or hung. The answers are at the bottom.

1. Molly _______ the herbs to dry.
2. Molly _______ the clothes on the clothesline.
3. Molly hated her brother, so she _______ him in the garage with an electrical cord.
4. When Molly was little, she _______ from the monkey bars with her friends.
5. Despondent that she killed her little brother, Molly _______ herself to commit suicide.

Answers:
1. hung 2. hung 3. hanged  4. hung 5. hanged

Here is another set of words that sound the same, but their different meanings often lead to confusion in written language because they are spelled differently. Let’s look at their definitions and examples to help us understand the differences.

(All definitions are taken from Merriam-Webster’s online unabridged dictionary.)

rain (noun): water falling in drops condensed from vapor in the atmosphere
Example: Debra’s umbrella and boots protect her from the rain.
Example: So much rain fell the last two days that the town was flooded.

rain (verb): to fall or drop like rain
Example: It’s raining men! Hallelujah! It’s raining men!
Example: So many places turned Sam down, it was like it was raining rejection letters.

reign (noun): royal authority, the power or rule of a monarch; the dominion, sway, or influence of one resembling or held to resemble a monarch
Example: The queen’s reign lasted forty years.
Example: The boss’s last day of work ended his reign of terror at the office.

rein (noun): a line (as a leather strap) which is fastened to a bit on each side and through which a rider or driver exerts pressure on the bit for governing or guiding an animal (as a horse)
Example: The jockey pulled on the horse’s reins to make it go faster.
Example: Snazzy the horse had purple reins because he liked to be fancy.

rein (verb): to move or pull in or as if in response to tightened reins (usually used with back, in, or up)
Example: After Priscilla came home with a thousand dollar necklace, her husband suggested they ought to rein in their spending.
Example: When Buff Buff the cat reached the weight of twenty pounds, his caretaker decided he needed to rein in his overeating.

Quiz
Test your understanding of this lesson with this quiz. Fill in either rain, reign, or rein in the sentences below. The answers are at the bottom.

1. The dictator’s _______ ended after a brutal political uprising.
2. The horse wished the rider wouldn’t hold the _______s so tight.
3. When the armored truck exploded, it _______ed dollar bills onto the street.
4. In frustration, the teacher yelled, “_______ in this excessive chatter!”
5. The desert hasn’t had _______ in eleven years.
6. After eight days of thunderstorms, the villagers wished the _______ would _______ itself in.
7. With the _______ of the new CEO, it was like the stock dividends were _______ing from the heavens.

1. reign 2. rein (noun) 3. rain (verb) 4. rein (verb) 5. rain (noun) 6. rain (noun); rein (verb) 7. reign; rain (verb)

This room needs some organization.

Realization. Industrialization. Immobilization. We use words ending in the suffix -ization so frequently that many native English speakers might not know what –ization even means and how adding it changes the meaning of a word.

-ization: action, process, or result of making
—Merriam-Webster

When we add –ization to the words realize, industrial, and immobile (like we did at the beginning of this post), here’s how their meanings change:

realization: the action of realizing; the state of being realized
—Merriam-Webster

Example: This house is the realization of years of planning and building.
In other words: Years of planning and building realized the end product of this house.

industrialization: to make industrial
—Merriam-Webster

Example: The industrialization of countries is a major factor in improving economic viability.
In other words: Making countries industrialized is a major factor in improving economic viability.

immobilization: to make immobile
—Merriam-Webster

Example: The immobilization of her broken leg aided in its healing.
In other words: Immobilizing her broken leg aided in its healing.

List of –ization words

You can find a longer list of –ization words here.

Alternatives to –ization
Recently, I saw the word professionalization, and I thought, “What an ugly word.” Adding –ization to words often turns them into five syllable plus tongue twisters.

If you also feel that the suffix –ization lacks a certain elegance, there are ways to avoid adding it to the word you’d like to use. For instance, there are many times when you can rewrite a sentence so you simply use the root word.

Here are some examples:

Original: The popularization of vampire movies is astounding.
Rewrite: It’s astounding how popular vampire movies are.

Original: The revitalization of downtown is important.
Rewrite: It is important that we revitalize downtown.

Original: We must achieve optimization of our skills.
Rewrite: We must optimize our skills.

What do you think?
Do you like using –ization words? Or do you find them to be overly complicated? What are your methods to avoid using –ization words? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

First things first, vet used in this sense (or as Merriam-Webster puts it “to subject to usually expert appraisal or correction” and “to evaluate for possible approval or acceptance) is spelled just like the shortening of the word veterinarian, an animal doctor.

This is because we get this meaning of vet from veterinarian. A little surprising, I know. In horse racing, a veterinarian (vet) inspects a horse ahead of time to ensure, among other things, that it is healthy enough to run the race. In the 1860s, this process became known as vetting, related to the vet who was doing the inspecting. (You can find more information about the etymology here and here.)

In the evolution of this word, vet used as “He vetted the horse before the race,” started being used in the same way with ideas and people, as in “He vetted the candidate to ensure she was the right choice.”

If you’re flying and your airplane doesn’t fall from the sky and leave you burning to death in a horrible crash, you might be able to thank my friend Joe. He just graduated from air traffic control school. (Congrats!) And it was because of him that I got to learn the awesomely fun call signs air traffic controllers and pilots use.

Here’s the list:

A – Alpha
B – Bravo
C – Charlie
D – Delta
E – Echo
F – Foxtrot
G – Golf
H – Hotel
I – Igloo
J – Juliet
K – Kilo
L – Lima
M – Mike
N – November
O – Oscar
P – Papa
Q – Quebec
R – Romeo
S – Sierra
T – Tango
U – Uniform
V – Victor
W – Whiskey
X – X-ray
Y – Yankee
Z – Zulu

Apparently, air traffic controllers use their initials when they make contact with pilots. If I were in charge of air traffic, and let’s all be thankful that I’m not, my initials would be “Echo Romeo.” Pretty cool, if you ask me.

What would yours be?

Regardless of your faith (or lack thereof), it’s likely you know the biblical story behind the Easter celebration. Jesus. Judas. Kisses. Pontius. Blood. Capital punishment. Death. Resurrection. That story. But do you know the history of the word Easter and the names of Easter traditions? That’s what we’ll learn in today’s post.

Easter etymology
Easter had quite a long journey before it looked like it does now. If you were around when we were still speaking Old English, Easter would have been Aestor, Aestur, Aeuster, Eastor, Eastra, Eastro, Eastur, Eostor, Eostro, Eostru, Eostur, Estur, Euster, and/or Eustur. (Source: Oxford English Dictionary Online) And if you were speaking Middle English, it would have been Aster, Astere, Astur, Astyr, Eester, Eestir, Estir, Estre, Eystere, Hester, Hestur, Hyster, Yestre, Ystyre, Estur, Estyr, Astr, Eister, Aister, Aisther, and/or Haster. (Source: Oxford English Dictionary Online)

Whew. This sure makes me glad people decided to start spelling English words the same way. (Well, minus the subject of British versus American spellings.)

Fun fact: Nearly all neighboring languages use a variant of the Latin word Pasche instead of Easter, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Easter’s other meaning
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Easter has another meaning, which is: “the action or act of receiving the Holy Eucharist during the season of Easter, as required of members of the Roman Catholic Church.” In this sense, Easter is usually used with the verb “to make,” as in “to make one’s Easter.”

baskets and bunnies
In the United States, we have the Easter bunny—that magical little furry creature that delivers candy and eggs to children, who then turn around and eat chocolate reproductions of that very animal. (Pretty cruel, if you think about it.) The Oxford English Dictionary Online cites the first printed reference to the Easter bunny as being in 1900 in The Frederick News in Frederick, Maryland.

But before the bunny, there was the hare. The Easter hare, to be exact. Or in Germany, where the hare makes its most visits, the Osterhase. The website germanoriginality.com says that the hare started being used as a symbol for Easter in the sixteenth century, with the first bunny-shaped pastries arriving a century later. Yum.

If you’re lucky, the Easter bunny, or Osterhase, will leave you treats that you can collect in your Easter basket. According to the OED, the first written reference of the Easter basket in the United States came from the city of Philadelphia in 1881.

I imagine only Generations X and Y get this reference. The 1990s, those were the days.

elicit: to draw forth or bring out
—Merriam-Webster

illicit: not permitted
—Merriam-Webster

Here is yet another pair of words that sounds a lot alike but has different meanings. Let’s take a look at some examples to help us figure out the different usages.

elicit examples
Martha’s joke elicited thunderous laughter.

Martha elicits delight every time someone eats her cookies.

Danny has been unable to elicit funding for the cat shelter.

Danny elicited sympathy from the broke animal lovers.

Hint: You can see from the example sentences that elicit involves receiving (or not receiving) something, be it laughter, delight, funding, sympathy, or something else.

illicit examples
The cops arrested Harry because he had an illicit marijuana pipe in his car.

Harry told the cops the illicit drug should be allowed, and he shouted, “Legalize it!”

Fred smuggled an illicit bottle of water into the concert because the venue was selling them for five dollars.

The security guards threw Fred out of the concert because he was taking illicit photos of ladies in the bathroom.

Hint: You can see from the example sentences that illicit describes things that are against the rules.

Quiz
Test your skills with this quiz. Fill in either elicit or illicit in the blanks. The answers are at the bottom.

1. The child hid an ________ piece of candy in his pocket.
2. Randy was in tears because he did not _______ approval from the nominating committee.
3. Hank was being charged for having _______ material on his computer’s hard drive.
4. The mouse managed to _______ a howl from the cat when he startled it.

1. illicit 2. elicit 3. illicit 4. elicit

Don't dis- me, bro.

Lesson: learning more about the prefixes mis- and dis-

mis-: 1. badly, wrongly; unfavorably; in a suspicious manner 2. bad, wrong 3. opposite or lack of 4. not
—Merriam-Webster

dis-: 1. do the opposite of; deprive of (a specified quality, rank, or object); exclude or expel from 2. opposite or absence of 3. not 4. completely
—Merriam-Webster

Hold on a second. So, both mis- and dis- can mean not and opposite? Yes. Once again, thank you, English, for being so confusing. This means that sometimes words starting with the prefix mis- and dis- mean essentially the same thing—mistrust and distrust, for example, both mean not having trust/lack of trust. But other times, the word must take one or the other. Misbehavior is not interchangeable with disbehavior, for instance; disbehavior is not a correct word.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any rules or tips for figuring out whether a word takes mis- or dis-. (If any readers know of any tricks that could help, please pass the word along.) My plan of attack for this lesson is to provide an example for each meaning of mis- and dis- and then include a list of mis- and dis- words, so you can at least use this page as a reference to determine the correct prefix.

mis- meanings
1. badly, wrongly
example words: misjudge, misbutton

unfavorably
example word: misesteem

in a suspicious manner
example words: misdoubt, misassumption

2. bad, wrong
example words: misdeed, misbehavior

3. opposite or lack of
example words: mismanagement, mistrust

4. not
example word: misknow

dis-meanings
1. do the opposite of
example words: disestablish, disarticulate

deprive of
example words: disconnect, disfranchise

exclude or expel from
example word: disbar

2. opposite or absence of
example words: disaffection, dishearten

3. not
example words: disagreeable, dishonest

4. completely
example word: disannul

List of mis- words
These are by no means comprehensive lists. I was aiming to capture the popular mis-/dis-words. If you don’t see your word on the list, consult a dictionary.

List of dis- words