Semantics is the study of meaning.
Approached from the philosophical point of view, it involves the relationships between words; approached from the linguistic point of view, it deals with changes in meaning over time.
Semiotics is the study of signs and the use of signs in human communication.
English is the wordiest language, with approximately 455,000 active words and 700,000 dead words.
Writers should busy themselves with other things. Insure and ensure can be used interchangeably to mean “make certain.” In the United States, however, the spelling insure is generally preferred to ensure, and only insure can be used to mean “indemnify against loss.”
In Old English, scot meant a payment, or one’s share of a payment. To go scot free meant escaping that charge.
The American expression to Beat the Band is not more than a century old. It referred to the aim of arriving at a parade site before the band passed.
A fortnight is fourteen days.
The old saying waiting till the cows come home is almost 400 years old. It refers to the early-morning hour when cows line up at the farm gates, ready to be milked.