Today we visit a commonly misunderstood, mis-analyzed phrase in English: supposed to. Suppose to is incorrect—there is no such word combination in English. Supposed to is the correct phrase; it means “expected to” or “should.” In this phrase, supposed is a past participle in a passive voice construction. Compare the phrases in the following sentence: We are […]

The adjectives, torturous and tortuous, originate from the same Latin word, torquere, meaning “to twist,” but they have different meanings. Tortuous describes a path or process that “winds and twists,”—the way a snake moves, curving back and forth—like a mountain road. It can describe any process with many steps, changes of direction, or other annoying complications. […]

Titillate means “to cause excitement, to arouse, to stimulate, in a pleasurable way.” Titivate means “to make something more attractive with small changes, to spruce up, to decorate.” Titillate is a positive word, but with highly sensual connotations. It can be used for any kind of sensory stimulation, and it can sound sexual, depending on the sentence: […]

These two words have the same pronunciation and overlapping meanings; both describe something which is viewed again. But review, which can be a noun or a verb, has many uses, while revue, a noun, has a very narrow meaning. Review, the verb, has several different meanings—(1) examine again, (2) summarize, (3) summarize and evaluate (such […]

The meanings of these words are not related although they share the root word station. Stationary is an adjective meaning “staying in the same place.” Dictionaries say “immobile,” but this is not quite correct; immobile means not moving, like a statue—not moving any parts. But stationary only implies staying in the same location. A person […]