Razed to the Ground

Razed to the Ground Razed to the Ground Razed to the Ground By Simon Kewin The englishmonarchs.co.uk web site reports that many monasteries were raised to the ground by Viking raiders during the reign of King Ethelred I. But how can a monastery be raised to the ground? Although commonly seen on the web, the phrase â€Å"raised to the ground† is almost always a misspelling of â€Å"razed to the ground†. Whilst it is possible for something to be â€Å"raised† to the ground, it would, logically, have to be below the surface beforehand. Miners could raise ore to the ground. But when talking about a building or a city the phrase should be razed to the ground. Raze which sounds the same as raise but is a completely distinct word is defined by the Compact Oxford Dictionary as follows : raze (also rase) verb, tear down and destroy (a building, town, etc.). - ORIGIN Old French raser ‘shave closely’, from Latin radere ‘scrape’. The more familiar raise, however, is from a completely different root : verb, lift or move to a higher position or level etc. - ORIGIN Old Norse, related to REAR. As an aside, raise can also be a noun, meaning an increase in salary, although this is standard only in US English. In UK English this would be called a rise. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?26 Feel-Good Words20 Criminal Terms You Should Know

Kangaroo Word Definition and Examples in English

Kangaroo Word Definition and Examples in English Kangaroo word is a playful term for a word that carries within it a synonym of itselfsuch as regulate (rule), indolent (idle), and encourage (urge). Also known as a  marsupial or swallow word. Its generally believed that the synonym (called a joey) should be the same part of speech as the kangaroo word and its letters should appear in order. The term kangaroo word was popularized by author Ben ODell in a short article in The American Magazine, 1956. Examples and Observations Why do we call them kangaroo words? Not because they originated in Australia. Rather, these are marsupial words that carry smaller versions of themselves within their spellings. So respite has rest, splotch has spot, instructor has tutor, and curtail has cut. Sometimes a kangaroo word has more than one joey. The word feasted has a triplet, fed, eat, and ate. Finally, two qualifications: the joey word has to have its letters in order within the parent kangaroo word, but if all the letters are adjacent, for example, enjoy/joy, it doesnt qualify.(Anu Garg, Another Word a Day. Wiley, 2005)destruction (ruin)devilish (evil)masculine (male)observe (see)plagiarist (liar)rambunctious (raucous)supervisor (superior)Among the kangaroo words that yield the most joviality and joy are those that conceal multiple joeys. Lets now perambulate, ramble, and amble through an exhibit of this species. Open up a container and you get a can and a tin. When you have feasted, you ate and have fed. When you det eriorate, you rot and die. A routine is both rote and a rut. Brooding inside loneliness are both loss and oneness.A chariot is a car and a cart. A charitable foundation is both a fund and a font. Within the boundaries of a municipality reside city and unity, while a community includes county and city.(Richard Lederer, The Word Circus: A Letter-Perfect Book. Merriam-Webster, 1997) Anti-Kangaroo Words ANTI-KANGAROO WORD: n. in recreational linguistics, a word that contains its antonym. The word covert is an anti-kangaroo word because it contains overt.(Rod L. Evans, Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits: Unfamiliar Terms for Familiar Things. Perigee, 2011)