Merriam-Webster Word of the Day

[kcchief19]

What a coincidence ...

The Word of the Day for Apr 10 is:
solecism \SAH-luh-sih-zum\ noun 1 : an ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence; also : a minor blunder in speech 2 : something deviating from the proper, normal, or accepted order *3 : a breach of etiquette or decorum
Example sentence: In traditional Japanese households, it is a solecism to keep on your shoes upon entering.
Did you know? Soloi had a reputation for bad grammar. That city, located in Cilicia, an ancient coastal nation in Asia Minor, was populated by Athenian colonists called "soloikos" (literally "inhabitant of Soloi"). According to historians, the colonists of Soloi allowed their native Athenian Greek to be corrupted and they fell to using words incorrectly. As a result, "soloikos" gained a new meaning: "speaking incorrectly." The Greeks used that sense as the basis of "soloikismos," meaning "an ungrammatical combination of words." That root in turn gave rise to the Latin "soloecismus," the direct ancestor of the English word "solecism." Nowadays, "solecism" can refer to social blunders as well as sloppy syntax. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.