dictionarykiwi, created by the community

The phrase, ‘bane of my existence’ is used to refer to anything or anyone who annoys you, or causes you much distress. The phrase is also often used to refer to a person you strongly dislike for whatever reason.

The word ‘bane’ comes from Middle English, or possibly dates as far back as Old English. It comes from the word ‘bana’ which means ‘destroyer’ or ‘murderer.’ The use of the word ‘existence’ refers to your life. Thus, the phrase ‘bane of my existence’ literally means something that destroys your life.

Bane also originally referred to poisonous plants or substances, hence we have English words containing ‘bane’ for some poisonous plants, such as wolfsbane and hensbane.

While the phrase is somewhat archaic, it is still fairly regularly used in modern English. However, it is generally used more lightly than it was probably used in Middle English. You might hear someone say it in an over-the-top, sarcastic way, or in a mock British accent for dramatic effect.

An example of the phrase in modern English would be: “I’m severely allergic to strawberries. Every time I eat them, I break out in hives. They are the bane of my existence.” Another example would be, “Our mailman cracks sexists jokes all the time. He’s the bane of my existence.”

Another way of saying something or someone is the bane of your existence is to say that it is your nemesis or arch enemy. Other synonyms for the word bane include: scourge, curse, and affliction.

When talking about programs and the other variations of the word “program”, suddenly the question arises whether or not the “m” will double in other forms? For example, is it proper to say “programming” or “programing”? What about “programmed” versus “programed”? Is it a regional variation without any standard rules? Or is it merely a personal preference between the two?

First of all, it should be noted that final consonant doubling in two-syllable words is a common thing in the English language. Not only does the word “program” get called into question, but there are other words like “labeling” versus “labelling” and “leveling” versus “levelling”. In American English, the tendency is to prefer this double letter shift – at least in the word “program”. However, it is not like this across the board.

Long story short, either spelling of “programming” is acceptable and its popularity generally affects its trends in the English language. However, “programming” with two “m’s” is less likely to be docked by a Word processor set to American English. This does not hold true for other questionable double-consonant word shifts, but it at least holds true in this particular case. Further studies have also shown the tendencies wavering from spellings such as “programing” to “programming” and back again. Surely, different dialects of English play a role in these shifts. Since most foreign countries adopt British English for spelling and speech, it is not uncommon to see the British spellings more widely used outside of the United States.

Perhaps you’ve become accustomed to using certain language to describe meals. However, if you were to speak to someone from a different region, your words may not translate the same. One example of this is the difference in mealtimes – for example, “lunch”, “dinner”, and “supper”. Maybe some you have heard interchangeably, but what do these words really mean and how should they really be used?

Lunch
The word “lunch” generally refers to a midday meal. This meal, in many cultures, is considered the largest. In the event of a “lunch”, however, it is not. A “lunch” is a lighter and less formal version of what might be considered a classic, larger midday meal; therefore its use depends on context.

Dinner
The word “dinner” is intended to describe the main meal of the day, so likely the largest. Whether a meal at midday is larger than a meal in the evening may be entirely a cultural thing. In some American communities, “dinner” may fall at lunch to sustain farmers in the field. However, in some 3rd world countries, midday meals may not exist at all and therefore would not be considered, by definition, “dinner”.

Supper
The word “supper” comes from the verb “to sup”, having a lot to do with snacking on a smaller meal at the end of the day and before the evening’s start. This distinction is key to separate the evening meal from the midday “dinner” that occurs several hours before.

When someone uses the word ‘condescending’, it is generally to describe another person’s attitude. For example, someone might be angry at how another person is talking to them and will accuse him or her of being ‘condescending’. The question is: What does ‘condescending’ actually mean and is it used in that sense?

‘Condescending’ is described as “having or showing a feeling of patronizing superiority”. Words that can often be used synonymously with ‘condescending’ include ‘snobby’ or ‘snobbish’, ‘patronizing’, ‘supercilious’, ‘disdainful’, ‘lofty’, ‘haughty’, ‘smug’, ‘conceited’, ‘stuck-up’,… the list continues. Therefore, a person who is being condescending has an attitude that fits this description. He or she might say things that imply the other person is less knowledgeable or less aware of something, almost having an undertone of pity in doing so.

Yet words with foreign origins tend to have a variety of applications. ‘Condescending’ is an example of one of these words. With its roots in Latin, the prefix “con-” (or ‘with’) in addition to the verb “descendere” (or ‘to go down, descend’), the word directly translates to lower oneself to the status of others. In a Classical Roman sense, with its culture’s strict class system, lowering oneself in this sense would have a more friendly connotation than how ‘condescending’ is often used today. For this reason, “taking a condescending approach” to something might actually be a kind gesture in some contexts. The meaning of the word as it is being used definitely relies heavily on the context of the sentence.

You might think that because all of these words begin with the prefix “bi” (meaning two) that the words would all just mean two of something. If so, you would be mistaken. Such is the logic (or lack thereof) when we are dealing with the English language.

The words “biweekly” and “bimonthly” each have two definitions.

• biweekly: twice a week
• biweekly: every two weeks
• bimonthly: twice a month
• bimonthly: every two months

Clearly, twice a week is much more frequent than every two weeks. As such, those who wish to use these words must take care to add further information to clarify the definition they intend to convey.

The word “biannual” has a very specific meaning.

• biannual: twice a year

This word is often confused with “biennial”, which means every two years. So, if you plan to meet in July and December of the same year, you will have biannual meetings. On the other hand, if you plan to meet in July of one year and then not meet again until two years later, then you will have biennial meetings.

The word “bicentennial” also has a very specific meaning.

• bicentennial: two hundredth anniversary of an event

We often see this word in relation to the celebrations of a country’s founding. For example, in 1976, the United States of America celebrated its bicentennial with lots of red, white and blue decorations and memorabilia.

Using colloquial language is a breeding ground for making grammatical mistakes. One popular example of these mistakes is the use of “naïve” versus the word “ignorant”. Is there a difference, really? If listening to casual conversation between many people, it may not appear to be the case that they are different. However, the truth is the two are very different indeed. The key is to understand the true meaning of the words and then to use them accordingly rather than to fall into the speech habits of those around us. Having proper speech of course impacts our ability to communicate effectively and accurately in even a written context.

When someone is considered “naïve”, they are actually being defined as someone without much experience, or even as someone who doesn’t know any better and that it’s not his or her fault that he or she is so clueless. “Naïveté” is therefore a state in which a person is almost blameless incapable of understanding something. An example might be if someone always tries his hardest at work, but his coworkers despise him for being a show-off. He might be naïve by not understanding why someone would dislike him when, in his eyes, he is trying his hardest to be valuable and even liked.

On the flipside, being “ignorant” is lacking the knowledge of something rather than comprehension. The components of the word “ignorant” in fact come directly from Latin and describe “lack of knowledge”. The differences are subtle, but meaningful.

This is an interesting question. Both the Merriam-Webster and the Cambridge dictionaries list the words “as” and “per” as prepositions. It is not unheard of to place two prepositions together to create a compound preposition. Examples of this would be “instead of” and “according to.” We might even put three together. Think about “on account of.”

When we look to see if these two prepositions can be used together, it comes down to a difference between British and American English. The Cambridge dictionary lists “as per” as only an idiom. We’ll talk more about that concept in a moment. The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists “as per” as a compound preposition.

Thus, if you want to be technically correct in British English, you would write “per our discussion” or “per your instructions.” If you are writing for an American audience you may choose to use “as per our discussion” or “as per your instructions.”

The fact that “as per” is an idiom in British English tells us that in the past it may have been an idiom in American English. American English began life as British English and has evolved over time. Some idioms have now become accepted phrases.

This can clearly be seen in the fact that when Noah Webster wrote his dictionary in 1828, he included 70,000 entries for American English. Contrast that with the 470,000 entries found in a modern Merriam-Webster dictionary and you can see that words and phrases are added to a language over time.

The answer to that question is, sadly, yes. However, that is not because these words have the same meaning. Rather, it is because they sound alike and because the art of spelling and grammar usage is quickly being lost in our modern world.

The older term of the two is “segue.” Pronounced “sayg – way”, it comes from the Italian language and literally means “there/it follows.” In modern English, we have taken this term and turned it into both a verb and a noun.

segue (verb): to transition smoothly from one thing to the next
segue (noun): a smooth transition

The confusion began when a very creative company created a mobility device and named it the Segway. This name was purposely chosen to sound exactly like the word “segue” to communicate the smooth movement of this transportation method. However, its spelling was much more phonetic. This made it easy for customers to know how to pronounce the name of the product. Having a difficult to pronounce name is bad for any business.

While the transportation device has been helpful and entertaining for many, it has also served to obscure the spelling of the original word. More and more people today are not educated in the art of correct spelling. Furthermore, our brains prefer to spell words phonetically.

Thus, in our modern world, you may indeed see someone use the word “segway” when he really meant “segue.” Languages do evolve over time and it appears this is yet another example.

“Grey”, or “gray” — a description of a color somewhere between black and white — is a word seen commonly in everyday writing. It is used as an adjective, a verb, and sometime a noun. But you may have noticed that the spelling of this word sometimes changes between two versions, as written above. So which spelling is correct? Are both versions acceptable? Do they have slightly different meanings, or is it just a simple error when it is written differently? And which should you use in your own writing?

Actually, “grey” and “gray” are both correctly spelled words, and both mean exactly the same thing. The only real difference between them is a dialectical one. That is, when writing in the United States, the word is most commonly spelled “gray”, whereas in the United Kingdom it is usually spelled “grey”. A simple way to remember which country uses which spelling is to think of the “e” in “grey” as standing for “England”, and the “a” in “gray” as representing “America”.

In most cases, such as casual writing, letters, and creative writing, using either “gray” or “grey” is perfectly acceptable. Only in specific situations is only one version correct, such as in proper names, or when in writing in AP Style (only “gray” accepted), and in the case of the scientific measurement of “the gray”, which must always be spelled with an “a”.

Simply speaking, it’s fine to use either form. Just keep in mind the few simple rules above and you’re sure to always get the use of “grey” or “gray” right.

“The Dude abides” is a phrase in the eccentric cult film “The Big Lebowski.” Its cinematic context is essential to understanding the current meaning.

“Abide” is a complex, archaic word that means variously “lives in,” “goes in accord with,” and “co-exists in harmony with.” In the specific sense of the film, it occurs because the narrator and the main character, characters who have been extravagantly shown to be archaic, obsolete, rambling and pointlessly verbose, were struggling to describe a state of personal acceptance of fate. “The Dude abides” essentially means, “The Dude is,” but it was not meant in a declarative or defiant sense. It was intended as an observation and statement of purpose. The Dude exists in peace with the many things that perturb him. There are many issues and problems, and he “abides” them, which means that he endures them and accepts them, withholding his approval but vowing his non-interference.

Unfortunately, this phrase contains a lot of semantic noise due to its context. In fact, it is somewhat surprising that this is one of the phrases that people encounter most often from the film. It is absolutely accurate to say this phrase is always encountered now as a term of group identification and an invocation of the later meaning that the internet has appended to it. The phrase, in its most basic analysis, does not mean a lot. It is less a slogan than a parody of a slogan, but modern culture has picked it up and turned into a real slogan.