So you have the dictionaries you need for spelling and definitions, but what happens when you come across a phrase like off the beaten path and wonder, “Is it path or track?” And while we’re on that track, is a person said to be from the wrong side of the track or the wrong side of the tracks? Here you need an idiom dictionary.

Thorns in Your Side

Idioms are phrases whose meanings are not clear from the words they are made up of. And they are not just scattered clichés. A solid idiom dictionary may have 10,000 or more entries including figures of speech, common similes, and phrasal verbs. A quick scan will show that most are, in fact, really common, in both formal and informal uses.

If this sounds like a pain in the neck, imagine being a non-native speaker and wondering why something that’s bothersome causes neck pain.

What does it mean if you have butterflies in your stomach? Have you been eating insects? Why would you say a stock market report is like music to your ears?

These are idioms for emotions. Let’s look at some common ones. How many of these have you learned?

Noah Webster founded a dictionary tradition for American English, giving the country an American standard as opposed to the King’s English, in both word usage and spelling—his blue-backed speller books taught kids spelling for five generations. The Webster brand has long given authority to spelling decisions, even in dictionaries that often disagree with one another. So where are we now on spelling?

If you’re working with the English language, as a writer, an editor, or a teacher, dictionaries are of course basic tools of the trade. It’s essential, therefore, to define them in terms of advantages and uses. This is part 1 of a series.

Noah Webster

History classes might not spend a lot of time on Noah Webster, but Webster’s contributions to the country in the earliest days were substantial.

Born in 1758, Webster grew up alongside a nation also just coming into its own. After studying at Yale University, he went on to become known as a lexicographer, textbook pioneer, spelling reformer, author, and editor, not to mention lawyer, political writer, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and founder of the Connecticut Society for the Abolition of Slavery.

If you’re traveling in the San Francisco area and you like nature and photography, Point Lobos is a must-visit destination. Point Lobos State Natural Reserve offers the beauty of the Northern California coastline complete with seals, sea lions, otters, and even whales. It is also home to thousands of seabirds.

“An historic moment,” proclaims the speaker, the an apparently lending weight to the event.

To which I have to reply: “Would you like an hot dog, or perhaps an hamburger?”

More and more we hear an used with historic and historical in American English, on TV and elsewhere, even where a hard H is clearly pronounced. At times it borders on the tongue twister.

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