Pogonotrophy is growing a beard. Pogonotomy is cutting a beard (or shaving it off altogether). Pogonology is writing about beards. And so pogonosophy is knowledge about beards – or perhaps wisdom signified (or conferred?) by a beard. Continue reading
Posted in word tasting notes
Tagged beards, Fathers Day, pogonosophy, pogonotrophy, word tasting notes
My latest article for The Week looks at the rationale people give for wanting to leave the apostrophe out of Father(’)s Day, Mother(’)s Day, etc.: the fathers, mothers, and others don’t possess the days, so we shouldn’t use the possessive. And so here we see one of the most badly misnamed features in English grammar:
Stop calling possessives ‘possessive’
Posted in The Week
Tagged Fathers Day, genitive, Mothers Day, possessive, Presidents Day, The Week, Veterans Day
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