Editor's Corner

When I was 20 years old, I was living in Greece for the summer with my aunt and cousin. My mom and stepdad visited Greece, and we spent some time together in Ithaca. We were out one day, in search of a natural pool or waterfall that we were told was lovely. While walking, we found ourselves at a crossroads, and standing there was a little Grecian lady wrapped in lots of layers, looking like she was about 300 years old.

As I approached the wizened woman, I felt like we were about to find out who the Fates were and what the river Styx was all about. But, in my very broken Greek, I managed to get directions. I thanked her and the three of us continued in silence. We looked at each other like we had just communicated with someone from another era.

Why am I telling you this? Today’s topic is about crossroads. In particular, it is about the word trivia. The word trivia is from Latin (not Greek), and it means (from the Online Etymology Dictionary):

"trifling facts, bits of information of little consequence”

Trivia is Latin, plural of trivium "place where three roads meet;" in transferred use, "an open place, a public place." The adjectival form of this, trivialis, meant "public," hence "common, commonplace."

One of my favorite people, Adam Aleksic, made a video about this on Facebook, and provided other words with via (road) in them. Here are my notes from the video:

No matter what road you take, I hope there’s always a wise Greek woman (or a Roman one) to help you if you get lost!

Hecate, Greek goddess of the crossroads.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Dear Editrix,

Have you ever discussed words that aren’t pronounced the way they’re spelled, like colonel?

Dear Reader,

Oh yes, we have discussed the many oddities of English spelling and pronunciation. I was going to get right back to you and tell you these things are due to the many languages we borrow from, the amount of time English has been around, and more. But then I stumbled on this article, which happens to contain the word colonel, and I liked the opening of the article, so I’m passing you over to Merriam-Webster and including a few of the words they cover and the pronunciations.

English is famously difficult to spell. It requires those who read and write it to accept that were rhymes with her (but not with here); that toe rhymes with dough, (but not with cough); that bird rhymes with word but not with cord, and except and accept are two distinct words that can’t readily be distinguished in speech.

English spelling can be largely blamed on its long, meandering journey from its Germanic infancy through its impressionable childhood of encounters with Latin, Old Norse, and Anglo-French, plus its adulthood spent raiding nearly every other language it happens to bump into. All those encounters, plus the fact that the language is more than a thousand years old and languages are simply inherently vulnerable to the vagaries of time.

One irksome upshot of all the resultant inconsistency in spelling is that spelling often isn’t a reliable cue for pronunciation. Lots of words simply don’t say what you’d expect them to say, given their appearance. But say them in a way other than the way radio professionals are taught and you’re likely to encounter some raised eyebrows.

The following words and pronunciations are from Merriam-Webster, but some of the definitions and etymologies are from the Online Etymology Dictionary. I used this resource so you can see how the words evolved over time, and like in the case of colonel, some words were originally spelled the way we pronounce them today (colonel pronounced like “kernel,” though the “r” hasn’t been in the word since the 1500s).

If you’re interested in more, see the original article on the Merriam-Webster website. Meanwhile, I’ll be considering that the cowboys in Westerns were eating vittles, but that the word victuals is actually spelled more like a Catholic sacrament.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Today is day two for region-specific U.S. terms, from Merriam-Webster. If you missed the first five, they are here.

doorwall

Definition Michigan: a sliding glass door

One might imagine that a compound word such as doorwall, comprised as it is of two extremely common elements, would be in widespread use from sea to shining sea. One would be wrong in this case. Evidence of doorwall being used for sliding glass doors comes almost exclusively from Michigan, aka The Mitten State, The Wolverine State, Water-Winter Wonderland.

spendy

Definition Pacific Northwest: expensive

While spendy is gaining (cough) currency as a word to describe someone who tends or is inclined to spend, we currently define a single sense, used chiefly in the Northwestern United States, synonymous with expensive.

redd

Definition: Western Pennsylvania: to set in order (usually used with up or out) or to make things tidy (usually used with up).

We initially aimed for all of the words in this article to represent a different part of the country, but yinz will forgive us for including a second western Pennsylvania term. The verb redd, used chiefly in the dialect in and around Pittsburgh, comes from Scots (specifically that used in the Northern Ireland province of Ulster) and is thought to be perhaps an alteration of ridden. Redd can take an object, usually with up or out (as in “redd out the drawers”) or not.

croker sack

Definition South: a sack of coarse material (such as burlap)

Okay, so maybe burlap sacks aren’t the most glamorous material objects in the world. But what if we called them croker sacks? Still no? Okay, we tried, but croker sack is an interesting and fairly unsung Southern regionalism. The word is an alteration of crocus sack or crocus bag, and first appeared in print in the late 1800s, with crocus referring not to the familiar spring-blooming flower, but to burlap, being the Jamaican word for that material.

gumbo

Definition Montana: a heavy sticky mud

The word gumbo is of Bantu origins, related to the Umbundu word ochinggômbo, meaning “okra.” In addition to sometimes being used synonymously with okra, gumbo most often refers to a soup thickened with okra pods or filé (the powdered young leaves of sassafras). The viscosity of gumbo has led the word gumbo to also take on the meaning in parts of the interior U.S., including Montana, of “a fine-grained silty soil that when wet becomes impervious and soapy or waxy and very sticky” and more broadly “a heavy sticky mud.”

I hope these little tidbits help when you’re visiting other states! You definitely don’t want to go to Montana and offer your new neighbors a bowl of gumbo for dinner, or run into a doorwall because it is too clean from redding up the living room for guests!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Years ago (2013), I found the world’s coolest maps, which I wrote about in Editor’s Corner. You can see them all here: 22 Maps Show Deepest Linguistic Conflicts in America – Business Insider. I’ve hoped for a new batch, but alas, none have appeared. I did find a Merriam-Webster article about region-specific U.S. terms. Here are the first five. The next few will be provided in a couple of days.

jimmies

Definition New England: tiny rod-shaped bits of usually chocolate-flavored candy often sprinkled on ice cream or pastries (such as doughnuts)

You may know these sundae toppings as sprinkles.

toboggan

Definition South/Midland: a long knitted cone-shaped cap with a tassel or pom-pom worn especially for winter sports or play

You’re probably familiar with the word toboggan as it refers to a long, flat-bottomed light sled made usually of thin boards curved up at one end, but some folks in the Southern and Midland United States also use it for a stocking cap. The word comes to English from the Canadian French tobogan, itself from a word of Algonquian origin that shares an earlier ancestor with the Micmac word tobâgun, meaning “drag made of skin.”

yinz

Definition Pittsburgh and environs: you guys, you all, y’all

Y’all know about yinz? If you enjoy reserving street parking spaces with chairs, eating sandwiches with French fries on them, and the colors black and yellow, the answer is maybe (who doesn’t love these things?). But Pittsburghers, or “Yinzers,” certainly do—they use yinz in addressing two or more persons.

pink stuff

Definition Midwest/Great Plains: a side dish consisting of gelatin, whipped cream, fruit, mini marshmallows, and sometimes nuts. [KC – I usually see this with green Jello, which makes me want to eat it even less. Wherever you go, though, someone always brings it to a potluck.]

This remarkable foodstuff goes by many names (and variable colors and ingredients) depending on where you live in the United States. As one of our editors, a native Midwesterner, reports: “I do believe the rest of the country calls it ambrosia salad. It is pink. Jello and whipped cream (usually) form the base, plus canned fruit cocktail, mini marshmallows, sometimes nuts.

sport pepper

Definition Chicagoland: a small, mild, yellow-green pepper that is pickled and used principally as a topping on a hot dog. [KC – How can you not love a special pepper that goes with your hot dog?]

Far be it for us to tell you how to festoon your frankfurter, but if you’re fixing to eat a wiener in Woodlawn or a sausage in Sauganash, locals may insist you include sport peppers amongst the fixings (and skip the ketchup). [KC – Oh no, there
must be ketchup and mustard (and I’d just keep the pepper for decoration).]

For now, I wish you a lovely day, far away from the pink stuff!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Ten years ago, which seems like forever, Donna wrote an article called Take That Semordnilap! I’m revisiting that topic today, with more details and examples that a decade has brought about. The word I’m covering is emordnilap. Basically, it is the same thing as a semordnilap: it is a word that, when read backwards, spells a new word; for example, we and ew.

If emordnilap looks vaguely familiar, it’s probably because it is the word palindrome spelled backward (just as semordnilap is palindromes spelled backward). As a refresher, a palindrome is a word or phrase that is spelled the same both ways (ignoring punctuation and spacing), for example:

• Mom
• Nun
• Yo! Banana boy!
• Lived on decaf, faced no devil.

There are two other terms used for emordnilaps: reverse pairs and anadromes. The word anadrome comes from Greek anádromos, "running backward.” The word palindrome comes from Greek palíndromos, "running back again.”

Now, for your viewing pleasure, some of the emordnilaps, or anadromes, I collected from different sites. See Donna’s article for even more.

• am/ma
• bard/drab
• desserts/stressed
• dog/god
• gateman/nametag
• gum/mug
• knits/stink
• lager/regal
• lever/revel
• liar/rail
• nip/pin
• no/on
• part/trap
• pupils/slip-up
• smart/trams
• snug/guns
• time/emit
• was/saw

There are also a ton of names, but here is an example of two: Leon/Noel.

Happy Thursday!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Good morning, folks! I hope that everything is going well and that you are all feeling fit and feisty for February. It is the day after one of my favorite days of the year: Groundhog Day!

One summer, I remember visiting my grandparents in Pennsylvania and hearing my brother call, “Come quick! What do you think that is?” From the upstairs window there was a view of Seton Hill, the college my mom went to. And on that hill, was a big brown animal. We told Grandma we were going for a walk, and we raced out of the house.

The hot, sweaty summer heat hit us, but we were intent on getting a closer look at the mystery animal. We went over to the bottom of the hill, and we could see several of these big creatures digging and galumphing along in the grass. They didn’t have beaver tails, but we couldn’t think of what they might be. We returned home, and our grandparents told us they were groundhogs! About a dozen years later, the film with Bill Murray came out, and the rest is history. For more information on the day itself, see Groundhog Day | History, Punxsutawney Phil, & Facts | Britannica.

Now, completely unrelated, I have some information for you on eponyms. We’ve chatted about them before. They are words or terms named after people, for example the word “guy” comes from Guy Fawkes, and “sandwich” from the Earl of Sandwich. I’ve selected a few from an article in Mental Floss: 20 Terms You Probably Didn’t Realize Were Named After People.

The first is guillotine, but they aren’t all horrible!

Guillotine

French physician Joseph Guillotin suggested that France standardize its execution method during the French Revolution. Guillotin didn’t invent the guillotine—in fact, he was anti-death penalty. He just thought it would be more humane if beheadings were done with one mechanical chop, rather than by executioners of varying skill. When France took his advice and built such a machine, everyone started calling it “the guillotine.” Joseph Guillotin’s family was so appalled that they later lobbied the government to change the name of the device—and when their request was refused, they changed their name instead. [KC – I could not find what they changed it to.]

German chocolate cake

While we’re on misleading monikers, German chocolate cake wasn’t christened for its country of origin. The dessert, layers of chocolate cake filled and topped with coconut-pecan frosting, was created in Dallas, Texas in 1957. It’s named after Samuel German, who developed the sweet baking chocolate used in the recipe.

Macadamia nut

And macadamia nuts don’t hail from Macadamia, because Macadamia isn’t a place. The nuts (which are technically seeds) and the trees they grow on are endemic to Australia. Nineteenth-century German expat Ferdinand von Müller named them after his Scottish colleague John Macadam.

Shrapnel

Shrapneloriginally referred to a specific kind of exploding shell invented by Henry Shrapnel, a British artillery officer, in the late 18th century. These days, we use the term more generally for fragments generated by an explosion.

Jacuzzi

Roy Jacuzzi debuted the first integrated whirlpool bath. That particular bath was called “the Roman.” But the name of the family company, Jacuzzi, eventually caught on as shorthand for any whirlpool bath.

Doily

The kind of frilly napkin or paper mat we call a “doily” was also named for its purveyor: Doiley, among other spellings, anglicized from the French d’Ouilly… Sources from around that time (late-17th-century) mention doily suits, doily coats, and doily petticoats.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Hello and welcome! It’s time for the second half on English words from Greek and Roman mythical creatures, courtesy of Mental Floss. Here is a link to the first half of the set, in case you missed it: Part 1.

MONEY

Both money and the coin-producing mint where it is made take their names from Juno Moneta, an epithet for the Roman goddess Juno specifically associated with an ancient temple erected in her honor on Rome’s Capitoline Hill. The temple later housed the city’s mint, where Roman currency was made, and as a result, her name came to be associated with cash flow and monetary production.

MORPHINE

The sleep-inducing qualities of morphine led to its discoverer, the German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner, giving it a name derived from Morpheus, an ancient god of dreams. Morpheus is said to have been one of the three sons of the sleep god Hypnos, or Somnus, who, along with his brothers, were responsible for the nightly visions we see when we dream; Morpheus’s name, ultimately, literally means “maker of shapes.” [KC – I had to check on Hypnos’ other sons. “Morpheus, who sent human-shaped dreams; Phobetor (also called Icelus), who sent animal and monster-shaped dreams; and Phantasos, who sent dreams of inanimate objects
and surreal landscapes.”]

MUSIC

The Muses were nine sister goddesses in the ancient world, each of whom was seen as presiding over and providing inspiration in a different field of the arts or sciences: Clio (history), Euterpe (music), Thalia (comedy), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dancing), Erato (lyric poetry), Polymnia (sacred poetry), Urania (astronomy), and Calliope (epic poetry).

Some of their names have gone on to inspire words relating to their artistic field, such as terpsichorean (relating to dancing) and thalian (comic, comedic). But the names of the Muses as a whole are the origin of both music (which was once a far more general term, relating to any musical, poetic, or artistic field), and a museum where creative works might be collected or displayed.

NARCISSIST

Another character from mythology whose name inspired that of a flower was the beautiful Greek youth Narcissus, who pined away by the side of a mountain spring, having become enraptured by his own reflection in its waters. The narcissus flower (better known as a daffodil) is said to have sprung from the earth where he died—while Narcissus’s fascination with his own beauty gave us a word for someone who is similarly obsessed with their appearance or self-importance.

NEMESIS

Derived ultimately from a Greek word meaning a distribution or doling out of something, Nemesis was the name of a Greek (and later Roman) goddess of retribution and divine vengeance, who was tasked with either punishing or rewarding people for their evil or benevolent actions. It is from her that the word came to be used for anything that proves an eternal enemy, or risks bringing about a person’s downfall. [KC
– Divine vengeance. That has a great ring to it!]

PANIC

In Greek mythology, Pan was the goat-legged, panpipe-playing god of woods, pastures, herds, and fertility, who was often said to reside in isolated woodlands and mountainsides.

Among the many curious stories associated with him was the belief that his voice or disembodied cries could cause herds of animals or crowds of people to stampede, seemingly for no reason—while lone walkers in the woods where he dwelled would typically attribute the unnerving calls and sounds of the wilderness to him. Pan’s ability to seemingly alarm people without being seen, ultimately, is the origin of our word panic.

TANTALIZE

In Greek legend, Tantalus was an ancient king of Lydia who fell into such disfavor with the gods that in the underworld he was condemned to forever stand up to his neck in water that ebbed away from him as he leaned to take a drink, and beneath a fruit tree whose branches were lifted away by the wind whenever he reached up to pick them.

Eternally hungry but unable to eat, and eternally thirsty but unable to drink, his name has since come to be used for a kind of drinks holder [KC
– See the following image] that keeps its decanters visible yet under lock and key—while his dastardly punishment of temptation inspired the verb tantalize.

VOLCANO

The word volcano was adopted into English via either Italian or Spanish but can be ultimately traced back to the name of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. [KC
– And not a mention of Mr. Spock!]

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Good morning, folks! I was looking through some different newsletters, and I found this little treasure on the Mental Floss website. It is an article on English words that come from Greek and Roman mythical creatures. I love the stories of the ancients, and I love words, so this is the perfect pairing! Today I will provide you with half of the article, and next time you get the second half. Enjoy!

APHRODISIAC

Arousing aphrodisiacs take their name from the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. It was Aphrodite, too, who also fell in love with the beautiful youth Adonis, giving us a byword for a handsome man. [KC – byword: a person or thing cited as a notorious and outstanding example or embodiment of something. “He was the most gorgeous specimen of man—a real Adonis.”]

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Good morning, folks!

I used to get emails from A.Word.A.Day (Anu Garg) each week, but they stopped coming some time ago. I figured they were, perhaps, off limits according to Jack Henry, or maybe Anu got tired of writing. In any case, I sadly bade them farewell. Then, about a month ago, they started to appear again! I’m so glad to welcome them back, and this week’s words fit right in with some of the terms I’ve been covering recently, such as 6–7.

The following are this past week’s five terms, their definitions, etymologies, and any notes that were included:

I can imagine saying, “Turn off the TV and leash Sylvie up. Let’s go out and touch grass!” No matter what you’re up to, I hope you enjoy your day!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/

Dear Editrix,

I believe that there are a few contractions that could be considered full sentences (don’t, perhaps?), but I recently ran into a situation where a response I got was intended to be a full sentence but made my skin crawl reading it.

I was texting with someone, and I asked them to let me know if their availability changed. Her response was “I’ll.” That was it! I know that she meant “I will,” but I chuckled at the simple “I’ll” and wondered why this seems so wrong? No wonder English is one of the hardest to languages to learn. So many rules.

Anyway … any insight you can provide on why some contractions are acceptable responses to questions and others not? I would never respond with “I’ll” or “you’ll” or “we’ll” as a full sentence. I’m sure that there is a rule somewhere.

Dear Reader,

I really had to work at finding an answer to this question! First, you are correct. “Don’t!” can be a complete sentence. The “you” is implied, as is the full meaning of the sentence “You do not do (whatever it is you are doing)!” But let’s look at the main question: Can you answer a question or end a sentence with a contraction?

I could not find an actual rule, but I found a lot of advice from smart people, whose advice was crammed into this explanation from AI:

Yes, there’s a strong grammatical tendency against ending sentences with positive contractions (like he’s, you’re) because they lose necessary stress and clarity, often leaving the sentence feeling incomplete or "hanging," while negative contractions (isn’t, can’t) are fine because the not carries the weight, but in cases of contrast, the full word (e.g., "I am," not "I’m") is preferred for emphasis.

Why Positive Contractions Don’t Work at the End

• Stress and Emphasis: Words at the end of a sentence usually carry emphasis. Positive contractions, by nature, are weak forms of words (like "he is") that lose their stress when contracted, making them sound unnatural or unfinished.
• Clarity: A sentence like "I think we’re almost there" works because the main verb "there" provides closure. But in a question-answer scenario, "Are you coming?" "Yes, I’m" leaves the listener waiting for the "am," so "Yes, I am" (full form) is required for clarity and completeness.

When They Can Work (or are acceptable)

• Negative Contractions: Isn’t, can’t, won’t are fine at the end because the "not" provides the necessary grammatical weight and negation.
• For Style/Poetry: Poets or informal writers might bend the rule for effect, but it’s generally considered non-standard in formal writing.

The Bottom Line: Stick to the full form (e.g., "I am," "he is") when the contraction would end the sentence or a clause to maintain clarity and proper emphasis.

So, dear reader, your instincts are good! For those of you with English as your second (or third, or 33rd) language, remember the short version of this AI-compiled rule:

You can end a sentence with a negative contraction (Is he here? No he isn’t), but not a positive one (Is he here? Yes, he’s).

And if you aren’t sure? Spell out both words until you become an expert at contractions.

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Knowledge Enablement

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

Editor’s Corner Archives: https://episystechpubs.com/