Natasha WarnerYesterday I got an email from a member of a committee that I chaired, thanking me for my "horrific leadership." The person writing it is not a native English speaker, and the tone of the rest of the email, and the whole thread, was positive. I'm pretty sure the person meant "terrific." The more I think about it, how should anyone be able to remember that "terror" turns into a positive thing in one of its adjective forms, but "horror" doesn't? #AcademicChatter #Linguistics
Head·word /ˈhedˌwɜː(ɹ)d/ n.@nwarner My father has told me of a colleague of his, who would tell English speaking guests that they are ‘heartly welcome’ (a direct translation of a common phrase in Danish) without realizing that ‘heartly’ is not a common English word, and it sounds like ‘hardly’.