Do you ever use any of those great Seinfeld expressions like “regift” and “low talker”? You won’t find them in the American Heritage Dictionary, but there are some websites that aim to fill this gap in our cultural lexicon.
The Jerry Seinfeld Dictionary of Terms and Phrases
(Thanks to Mike Durrett at About Humor for this one)
The Seinfeld Dictionary (searchable)
Seinfeld Dictionary (short listing but allows additions)
Even if you don’t speak French, this is kind of fun. See how well you know how to use French terms like déjà vu, carte blanche, and je ne sais quoi in English with this quiz: French terms in English
When talking about something that didn’t happen in the past, many English speakers use the conditional perfect (if I would have done) when they should be using the past perfect (if I had done):
Lesson on “If I would have…” vs “If I had…”
The English apostrophe s and s apostrophe cause a lot of problems, even for native speakers. This lesson’s task is to help you learn about possessives and contractions that need apostrophes and plurals that don’t.
The English prefixes bi- and semi- are often mixed up by native speakers. A semi-annual reading of this lesson will help more than a bi-annual one: Bi- vs Semi-
My English forum is a ghost town without even any ghosts. If you have any interest at all in English, please visit: e Learn English Language forum.
The terms “all together” and “altogether” can be confusing in English. Once you’ve read through this lesson, you’ll have an altogether better understanding of them: All Together vs Altogether
English lovers and nitpickers take note - I just discovered a great site, called The Eggcorn Database. An eggcorn is a particular type of English mistake wherein the wrong word is used in a common expression. It is usually due to ignorance of the underlying meaning and etymology, and is often the substitution of one homophone for another, such as “towing the line” (rather than “toeing the line”) or else a similar-sounding word, such as “fermenting trouble” when you really mean “fomenting trouble.” I’ve always been fascinated by these kinds of mistakes, which are, I believe, cousins of the common English mistakes I so love to explain on my own site.
These two English words are very similar; keep reading for further information: Farther vs Further
The words weather and whether have nothing in common other than their pronunciation, but English speakers are sometimes unsure which one to use. Find out whether you need to correct your spelling: Weather vs Whether
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