Words & Language on Facts

Who vs whom: which is correct?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:02:22 +0000

The he/him test

Sentence	Answer it	Correct
___ is calling?	He is calling.	Who is calling?
___ did you call?	You called him.	Whom did you call?
___ wrote this book?	She wrote it.	Who wrote this book?
To ___ should I send it?	Send it to her.	To whom should I send it?

After prepositions

After words like to, for, with, from and of, use whom when the preposition comes right before it:

Who said "Imagination is more important than knowledge"?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:02:17 +0000

Unlike many quotes credited to Einstein, this one is genuinely his, and it has a clear source.

The context

Viereck asked Einstein whether he trusted his intuition or his knowledge more. Einstein replied that he was enough of an artist to draw freely on his imagination, and that imagination is more important than knowledge, because knowledge is limited to what we already know and understand, while imagination embraces the whole world, stimulating progress.

Who said "The future depends on what you do today"?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:02:17 +0000

Is it really Gandhi?

Gandhi’s collected works run to roughly 100 volumes of letters, articles and speeches. Popular quotes credited to him are often paraphrases or inventions that spread through posters, books and social media. This line appears in many quote collections from recent decades but without a source from Gandhi’s lifetime.

Who said "Fortune favors the bold"?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:02:08 +0000

Where it comes from

Source	Latin	Context
Terence, Phormio (161 BC)	Fortes fortuna adiuvat	A character urges courage in a comic plot
Virgil, Aeneid (19 BC)	Audentes fortuna iuvat	Spoken by the warrior Turnus before battle
Pliny the Elder (AD 79)	Fortes fortuna iuvat	According to his nephew, Pliny the Younger, he said it while sailing toward Vesuvius to help people and observe the eruption; he died there

The idea was clearly a common saying in Rome, which is why it shows up in several writers.

Who said "Turn your wounds into wisdom"?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:59:56 +0000

About the quote

The line is one of the most shared quotes attributed to Oprah, appearing in quote collections, books and social media posts. It reflects a theme she returned to often on The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986–2011): that hardship, handled with reflection, can become a source of strength and understanding. Oprah has spoken openly about her own difficult childhood, which gives the idea extra weight for many people.

Who said "Well done is better than well said"?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:59:48 +0000

Where it comes from

From 1732 to 1758, Franklin published Poor Richard’s Almanack under the pen name “Richard Saunders.” Like other almanacs, it had calendars, weather predictions and astronomy, but it became famous for its short, witty proverbs about hard work, thrift and good sense. “Well done is better than well said” appeared in the 1737 edition.

How do you say "why" in Spanish?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:47:53 +0000

English uses two different words, why and because. Spanish uses almost the same letters for both, so spacing and accents make all the difference.

The four forms

Form	Meaning	Example
¿Por qué?	Why? (question)	¿Por qué estás triste? (Why are you sad?)
Porque	Because	Estoy triste porque llueve. (I’m sad because it’s raining.)
El porqué	The reason (noun)	No entiendo el porqué de su decisión. (I don’t understand the reason for her decision.)
Por que	For which / that (rare)	Esa es la razón por (la) que vine. (That’s the reason why I came.)

Easy ways to remember

Questions get an accent. Spanish question words like qué, cómo, dónde and cuándo carry accents, so por qué does too.
“Because” is one word, just as in English.
If you can put “el” in front, it’s “porqué.” El porqué = the why, the reason.

Indirect questions still use “por qué”

Even without question marks, por qué keeps its accent when it means “why”:

What does grist mean?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:25:59 +0000

Three ways the word is used

Use	Meaning	Example
Farming and milling	Grain to be ground into flour	The farmer brought his grist to the mill.
Brewing	Crushed malted grain used to make beer or whisky	The brewer mixed the grist with hot water.
Figurative	Useful material, especially for thinking, writing or discussion	Every bad date was grist for her comedy routine.

“Grist for the mill”

The phrase dates back to at least the 16th century. A mill needs a steady supply of grain to do its work, so anything that keeps it running is valuable. Today the phrase means something that can be used to your advantage:

What does "what up" mean?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:25:53 +0000

Variations you’ll hear

Version	Feel
What’s up?	Casual, widely used
What up?	More relaxed and slangy
Wassup? / Sup?	Very casual, often among friends
What up, dog? / What up, bro?	Friendly, between close friends

The shortened form grew out of African American Vernacular English and hip-hop culture, and spread widely through music, TV and advertising, including a famous beer commercial from 1999 built around shouting “Whassup!”

What is jawn?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:25:37 +0000

If someone in Philadelphia says, “That new jawn on Broad Street is fire,” they could be talking about a restaurant, a mural, a store or a concert. You figure it out from context.

What is a thesis?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:18:55 +0000

The word comes from Greek thesis, meaning “a proposition” or “something put forward.” In both meanings, a thesis is a claim you set out to support.

What a thesis statement does

A good thesis statement tells the reader what you’re arguing and often why. Everything else in the essay should support it.

What does collate mean?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:10:08 +0000

Most people meet the word in a printer dialog box, usually right before printing 20 copies of a handout.

Collated vs uncollated printing

Printing 3 copies of a 3-page document:

What is an adjective?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:10:08 +0000

Questions adjectives answer

Question	Examples
What kind?	soft blanket, funny movie
Which one?	this book, the last train
How many or how much?	three cats, several ideas, no time
Whose?	my phone, their house

Comparing with adjectives

Adjectives change form to compare things:

What is a metaphor?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:08:27 +0000

Shakespeare wrote that “all the world’s a stage.” The world isn’t really a theater, but the comparison suggests that people play roles, enter and exit, and perform their lives. That’s the power of a metaphor: it packs a whole idea into a single image.

What is a verb?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:08:08 +0000

In the sentence “The dog barked at the mail carrier,” barked is the verb: it tells you what the dog did. Without it, you’d only have “The dog at the mail carrier,” which isn’t a sentence.

How to translate Turkish to English

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:41:59 +0000

Machine translation handles everyday Turkish well, but the language works very differently from English, which is where mistakes creep in.

Free tools compared

Tool	Good for
Google Translate	Text, websites, voice conversations and camera translation
Microsoft Translator	Text and real-time conversation mode, built into Edge and Office
DeepL	Natural-sounding translations of longer text and documents
Google Lens	Pointing your camera at signs, menus and labels

For the most reliable result, try the same sentence in two tools. If they agree, the meaning is probably right.

What does "How can I help you?" mean?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:41:59 +0000

You’ll hear it the moment you walk into a store, call a helpline or open a chat window. It’s an invitation, not a test: the person wants to know what you need so they can point you the right way.

How to read handwritten signatures

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:41:08 +0000

Most signatures aren’t meant to be read. They’re a personal mark, written fast and often reduced to a first letter and a line. Still, a few tricks usually reveal the name.

How to write a good essay introduction

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:32:21 +0000

Your introduction has one job: convince the reader that the rest of the essay is worth reading, and tell them what it will prove.

The three parts

1. The hook. Open with something specific: a surprising fact, a short story, a sharp question or a bold claim.

What does know-how mean?

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:30:57 +0000

Plenty of people know about car engines. Fewer have the know-how to rebuild one. That gap between knowing facts and having hands-on ability is exactly what the word captures.

How to use know-how in a sentence

“We have the ideas, but we need someone with marketing know-how.”
“Building furniture takes more know-how than you’d think.”
“The company sold its technical know-how to a foreign partner.”

It’s usually uncountable, so you say “some know-how” or “a lot of know-how,” not “a know-how” or “know-hows.”

How to respond to "How are you?"

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:30:39 +0000

Casual replies

“Good, thanks! You?”
“Not bad, how about you?”
“Pretty good. How’s your day going?”
“Doing well, thanks for asking.”

Adding “you?” or “how about you?” matters. Skipping it can sound abrupt.

How to pronounce names

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:30:30 +0000

Getting someone’s name right is one of the quickest ways to show respect. Getting it wrong and never checking is one of the quickest ways to lose it. The good news: almost everyone appreciates being asked.