Let’s talk about national security BUZZWORDS. My latest in @WarOnTheRocks! With special thanks to @Doctrine_Man for a brilliant buzzword bingo card.

grawlix | noun | a series of typographical symbols (such as $#!) used in text as a replacement for profanity

Today I offer a reminder of the word ‘forswunk’ (13th century): exhausted from too much work. To be ‘foreswunk’ (my own version) is to be exhausted before you even begin.

Here is an interesting adjective quirk that you probably aren’t even aware you are doing. In English, adjectives seem to follow a specific order: opinion - size - age - shape - color - origin - material - purpose - noun ⬇️ https://t.co/axo1wzd4eP

"I bet you have 100 dictionaries. Do you have 100 dictionaries?" "I have 4 dictionaries." "That's too many! They all have the same amount of words!" "They are all different."

I am that person who goes to a Labor Day wine tasting weekend and somehow comes home with a spelling book from 1870. 🤷‍♀️

Unfortunately, military acronyms don’t have the same standardization requirements as official military words - which is why you see so much duplication and weirdness (like “backronyms” or using the second or third letter of a word in the acronym).

An ‘ultracrepidarian’ (19th century) is one who loves to give their opinion, at length, on matters they know nothing about.

Just removed the date label from an old book and discovered that someone has drawn a design for a teapot that can serve either tea or poison how's your day going?

Here are some words that turned 100 in 2025: -recycle -group therapy -desktop -slumber party -uh-oh -woke -freebie

My fantasy football league includes the following teams: Carl von Clobberwitz Washington C5ISRs Department of Lethality. I am the Magin O Line.

Word of the Day: SCIENTASTER (19th century) - someone who claims to have scientific knowledge but lacks real understanding.

Word of the Day: LOLPOOP (17thC) - a lazy, workshy person.

Within a dictionary entry, the dots that break up a word are known as ‘end-of-line’ division dots. These dots indicate where the word can be broken if it doesn't fit on a line of text. Syllable breaks are shown with hyphens in the pronunciation. 🧵⬇️

Word of the Day is ‘theic’ (19th century), defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘one given to immoderate tea-drinking; a tea drunkard���.

Word of the day is 'umbriphilous': shade-loving. Typically used of plants but readily transferable to humans and animals.

Girls only want one thing and it's disgusting.

Today, a colleague ASKED ME ABOUT SIEGE ENGINES best day ever. (For the record, do not discount the humble ladder #escalade)

Word of the Day: NAPPUCCINO - drinking a coffee before a power nap which is said to increase alertness more than coffee or napping alone.

DEFCON refers to any one of five levels of readiness used by the U.S. military. The word is a blend of 'defense' & 'condition.' DEFCON 5 is used for the lowest perceived threat, and DEFCON 1 for the highest.

Indeed I did.