Weird English Language Quirks

Borrowed with permission from the blog of literary agent Steve Laube: http://stevelaube.com/blog/

What is another word for “thesaurus”?

Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable?

If a book about failure doesn’t sell, is it a success?

Did you know that “verb” is a noun?

If there are typos in a dictionary, how would you know?

A novelist once wrote, “He sat with his head in his hands and his eyes on the floor.” [Think about that for a second.]

Why isn’t phonetic spelled the way it sounds?

Have you experienced requited love?

Why is the word abbreviation so long?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

If two mouses are mice and two louses are lice, why aren’t two houses hice?

Is there another word for a synonym?

Have you ever said, “The present is a good time to present the present?”

Shouldn’t there be a shorter word for “monosyllabic”?

Why can’t you make another word using all the letters in “anagram”?

Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?

Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

Why do people use the word “irregardless”?

We say something is out of whack. What is a whack?