Let’s get one thing clear: If you’ve been saying “nip it in the butt,” then we’re here to nip that idea in the bud right now. The correct phrasing has always been “nip it in the bud” — an idiom dating back to the 16th century with very literal roots in the world of gardening. It means to stop a possible problem before it grows out of control, largely used in the context of situations with a concerning downward trajectory.
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This phrase evolved out of a line in a 1595 romance work, Piers Plainnes Seaven Yeres Prentiship. Author Henry Chettle wrote, “nip thy affections in the bloome,” referring to the blossoming of a flower. In 1607, a phrase that’s more similar to the idiom used today appeared in Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher’s comedy The Woman Hater: “Yet I can frowne and nip a passion Euen in the bud.” In this context, it described quelling someone’s passion before it got completely out of control.
The historical metaphors drew from actual gardening practices that are still in use today. “Nip” means “to sever, remove, or take off by pinching,” and the word “bud” depicts a “flower (or leaf) at any stage of growth until fully opened.” So, to nip something in the bud very literally means to remove a part of the flower to stop it from growing any larger. The gardening practice of nipping buds (more commonly called “pinching”) may be used to control the plant’s growth in many ways. Metaphorically, “nip it in the bud” can be used in reference to stunting any type of potential growth, and doesn’t specifically apply to plants.
Today, people usually say “nip it in the bud” (not “butt”) when talking about preventing bad habits from getting out of control, or stopping a chaotic event from becoming even more unruly. Perhaps this lesson will ensure no one inadvertently talks about pinching someone’s rear end again.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
From proper English to shunned and back again, “ain’t” has survived centuries of controversy to become one of English’s most resilient — and versatile — contractions.
“Ain’t” ain’t like any other English word. This contraction conveys a unique tone, and more specifically, doesn’t join two words by removing letters. However, it’s often used as shorthand for “are not,” “is not,” “has not,” and “did not.” Despite its widespread usage, some grammar snobs will argue that “ain’t” has no place in proper American English. But tell that to Bachman-Turner Overdrive — the song title “You Have Not Seen Nothin’ Yet” just isn’t as catchy as the version with “Ain’t.”
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While stigmatized today, the contraction was considered to be a proper replacement for the phrases “am not,” “are not,” and “is not” in the early 18th century. In New England, the term evolved into “hain’t,” meaning “has not” or “have not.”
But by the mid-19th century, the word “ain’t” gained a negative reputation it couldn’t shake, primarily thanks to the works of Charles Dickens. Through the popularity of his writings, it became associated with the London Cockney dialect. In turn, “ain’t” was ostracized from the “proper” English club.
However, “ain’t” didn’t disappear. In fact, it regained popularity over the decades, especially in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Caribbean English dialects. Speakers of these dialects often use “ain’t” in place of “didn’t.” (For example, “I ain’t go to the store yesterday.”) “Ain’t” also found a permanent place in the cultural lexicon in the titles of many jazz, Broadway, and R&B songs. To name just a few: “Ain’t Misbehavin’” by Fats Waller, “Ain’t Broadway Grand?” from the musical of the same title, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers, and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” by The Temptations.
You may wonder why we don’t say “amn’t” (as a contraction for “am not”) instead of “ain’t.” Well, we do, or at least we used to. “Amn’t” was a particularly popular term in Ireland and Scotland, though it’s heard less today. Try to say the two terms aloud and you’ll likely understand why “amn’t” fell off in popularity in comparison to “ain’t.”
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
Want to score over 1,700 points in a single Scrabble play? There’s a word that could do it — but you’ll need perfect luck, precise planning, and a medical dictionary.
Unless you’re playing golf or getting your blood pressure tested, a high score is the goal — especially in the board game Scrabble. While this letter-tile game is thought of as putting players’ vocab knowledge to the test, there are math and strategy skills involved, too. Amateurs usually break 100 points per game, while experts average somewhere between 330 and 450 points. But if you want to almost guarantee an immediate win, Scrabble strategists have proposed a word with an astronomically high point total in excess of 1,700 — assuming the board’s stars align in your favor.
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“Oxyphenbutazone” is an anti-inflammatory drug that theoretically offers the strongest Scrabble play, though it’s never been played in an official tournament, as it requires an incredibly specific set of circumstances. Note that this word is 15 letters long, and under the official rules, only seven Scrabble tiles are allowed in a person’s control at any given time. Playing “OXYPHENBUTAZONE” not only necessitates drawing the right tiles, but also requires several perfectly placed words to be already on the board. This super scorer was calculated by Scrabble aficionado Dan Stock, who determined you’d net 1,778 points if you can pull it off.
According to Stock, you’ll need the tiles O, Y, P, B, A, Z, and E in your hand. Then you’ll need the 15 spaces running along one side of the board to be laid out as follows: (Blank), X, (Blank), (Blank), H, E, N, (Blank), U, T, (Blank), (Blank), O, N, and (Blank). This solution could be played along any side of the 15-by-15 Scrabble board, but to help visualize, let’s imagine those tiles and blank squares running from the top left corner to the bottom left corner (from your orientation). Then you’ll need seven specific words already placed adjacent (to the immediate right) to each blank: “PACIFYING,” “ELKS,” “REINTERVIEWED,” “RAINWASHING,” “MELIORATIVE,” “ARFS,” and “JACULATING.”
Place your tiles on the board in order and you’ll end up with “OXYPHENBUTAZONE” for 1,458 points on its own, thanks to the multiple word scores. Additionally, you’ll net 320 points from the 50-point bonus for using all your tiles, plus the points from the new words formed: “OPACIFYING,” “YELKS,” “PREINTERVIEWED,” “BRAINWASHING,” “AMELIORATIVE,” “ZARFS,” and “EJACULATING.”
Stock’s theory has been updated, with two players recently discovering an option that’ll net you 1,784 points. Those extra six points come from an X in your hand instead of a Y, and then playing that X next to an E and D on the board for the new word “XED.” Another proposed theory involves playing an N on the word “ARROWING” for a total of 1,786 points. There are also rumors of a 2,152-point play, using the word “SESQUIOXYDIZING,” though that’s entirely theoretical as well and has never been used in official play. All these options prove the highest-scoring Scrabble word is a moving target — will you be able to rack up some high scores on holiday game nights?
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
The phrase “writing on the wall” has warned of impending trouble for centuries, tracing back to the Bible. Learn how this ancient story shaped the figurative meaning we use today.
If there’s writing on the wall, there could be a few things at play. Maybe your toddler got a little too ambitious with their box of crayons, and you’ll need to spend a few hours cleaning up. Or maybe there are warning signs of an impending troublesome situation. The figurative “writing on the wall” could be a request to see your boss after a bad review (signaling you might lose your job), or it might be black clouds moving in while you’re enjoying a day at the beach (foretelling you’re about to get soaked). The idiom that means “something bad will probably happen soon” isn’t a new invention; it comes from a Bible passage in the Book of Daniel about some prophetic words written on a wall.
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One translation of Daniel 5:5-31 reads, “Suddenly, a person’s hand appeared and began writing on the wall. The fingers scratched words into the plaster… King Belshazzar was very afraid.” The prophet Daniel interprets the message from this mysterious and disembodied hand to mean that God found King Belshazzar lacking, and was going to take away his kingdom. That very night, the king died.
The idiom “the writing on the wall” has always been used to portend ominous events ahead, from those early biblical times to the present usage. It’s still frequently used today, although almost exclusively in a figurative sense now. It rarely, if ever, refers to any literal writing on a wall. For example, should someone notice warning signs of a layoff coming at their job, they might be able to prepare for the future, but there won’t be an announcement message written on the wall in the conference room.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
Certain abbreviations have outgrown their original meanings and evolved into new terms. Explore the linguistic phenomenon of orphan initialisms and abandoned acronyms and how they become stand-alone terms.
What are orphan initialisms? A similar term is “abandoned acronyms.” Both result from the constant evolution of language. And while it may sound sad that these letters were “orphaned,” in many cases the terms grew into their roles and evolved into new concepts, separate from the original words they were based on.
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Both initialisms and acronyms are abbreviations composed of letters that represent certain words. The difference between an initialism and an acronym is pronunciation. Initialisms are pronounced letter by letter, like “ATM” (automated teller machine). Acronyms are pronounced as words, such as “NASA” or “UNESCO” (National Aeronautics and Space Administration and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, respectively). For example, “GIF” stands for “graphics interchange format” and is pronounced like a word — but let’s not resurrect the debate from a recent edition over the soft or hard “G” pronunciation.
As language (and people) evolve, abbreviations and the words they represent may diverge. Sometimes a person or company actively chooses to create an orphan initialism. The American Association of Retired Persons (commonly known by the initialism “AARP”) was founded in 1958 as an organization dedicated to supporting aging adults. In 1999, the organization officially changed its name to just four letters — AARP — to reflect its membership, regardless of retirement status. Certainly the nature of life and work for adults ages 50 and up had changed over those 41 years.
Another example is the fast-food chain once known as “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” which was renamed KFC to distance it from fried food — though they still sell fried chicken. Both the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and the ACT (American College Test) are orphan initialisms, as both academic exams abandoned their original names for the initialisms in the 1990s.
Abandoned acronyms can come about the same way, but often the acronym becomes a new word instead of a title or name. When the technologies were invented, “laser” and “radar” were acronyms representing “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation” and “radio detection and ranging,” respectively. But as the technologies became more prevalent, the acronyms became words in their own right.
If someone told you they were taking a “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus” class, would you know they were learning how to scuba dive? That shows the power of abandoned acronyms and orphan initialisms.
Samantha Abernethy is a freelancer in Chicago. When she isn't staring at a laptop, you can find her sniffing out the best coffee with her greyhound Ruby, or chasing her kids around the nearest library.
Thanks to retail holidays such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving often marks the start of the holiday shopping season. While our bellies feel full, our wallets get a little (or a lot) lighter. When you head to the store this season, or any time of year, you’re likely to see many of the same buzzwords used to attract potential customers. But despite hearing terms such as “doorbuster” and “flash sale” countless times, many of us have never stopped to think about their actual meaning. Here’s a quick guide to popular retail and advertising terms to help you stay a savvy shopper.
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Doorbuster
If you’re looking to buy a big-ticket item such as a big-screen TV, doorbusters may be your best option. A doorbuster is any product that’s been temporarily deeply discounted to lure customers into the store. This low price is often limited to a certain number of sales, further increasing the demand (thanks, Econ 101).Doorbusters are usually positioned close to the store’s front door, and are likely to sell out shortly after opening, so it’s in the customer’s best interest to arrive early. The construction of the word is based on the idea that customers will be busting down the door at opening time to get to these deals.
From the store’s perspective, the sooner shoppers arrive, the longer they’ll have to browse for items they may not have intended to buy. The term “doorbuster” was first used in a 1917 Killian’s Department Store advertisement in the Cedar Rapids Republican, which mentioned “Wednesday’s eight o’clock door-busters.”
Flash Sale
“Flash sale” is essentially a synonym for the term “limited-time offer.” This bit of jargon dates back to the early 20th century. In 1901, an ad in North Carolina’s Charlotte News advised potential customers, “A flash sale. You best be quick.” Flash sales are short periods of time during which a product is offered at a reduced price. These bargains can be a matter of hours or even minutes during high-demand shopping days, as the word “flash” implies lightning quickness.
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Dead Stock
No, we’re not talking about tie-dyed Grateful Dead T-shirts. “Dead stock” refers to the extra stock when retailers end up with unsold goods. It generally consists of out-of-season clothing and accessories stored inside a warehouse. The term dates back to the early 17th century, when merchants had “unvendible goods.” But today, some dead stock items are beneficial to shoppers, if you know where to find them. Certain retailers (Big Lots, for example) make it their business to buy up dead stock and resell it at bargain prices. Dead stock apparel also fills thrift store racks, and you may be able to find great deals on styles only one season out of date.
Fast Fashion
The term “fast fashion” was coined in the mid-1970s, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the uniforms worn by fast-food employees. It’s a phrase used to describe apparel that is rapidly manufactured in order to keep up with the latest trends. Often these pieces of clothing are made with lower-quality materials and cheap labor to maximize efficiency and profit. Still, many people purchase fast fashion clothing because it’s trendy, affordable, and accessible, even if the pieces aren’t built to last and often end up in landfills. The term was referenced by The New York Times in the 1990s to describe the 15 days it took for Zara’s clothing to go from concept to delivery. By contrast, “slow fashion” is a movement that emphasizes sustainable textiles and ethical production practices.
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Pop-Up Shop
Pop-up shops became popular around the turn of the millennium as a way for retailers to temporarily capitalize on unused storefronts. Each pop-up shop exists for a brief period of time — maybe a few weeks — before it closes. Customers are often attracted to the temporary nature of the store, lest they miss out. The store might be seasonal (such as for Halloween) or it might be operated by a retailer with a limited supply of a product and no need for a permanent store. Pop-up shops aren’t necessarily cheaper or more expensive than normal, though they may sell limited-edition products that you can only find there.
People love making stacks, whether it’s a neatly folded pile of clothing or a stack of silver dollar pancakes dripping with syrup. There are also stackable coupons, which allow consumers to combine multiple discounts for the lowest possible price. Some shoppers plan their purchase dates around stackable coupons. When you get a coupon, look for phrases like “limit one per customer” or similar restrictions that might indicate it’s not stackable — if you don’t see any, you’re probably good to go (but ask the cashier if you’re uncertain).
Anchor Store
Unlike a pop-up shop, an anchor store is a retail establishment with a long-standing presence in the area. Anchor stores are often high-end shops that drive traffic to the mall or shopping center, which positively impacts adjacent retailers. “Anchor” has a usage of “a person or thing that provides stability or confidence in an otherwise uncertain situation,” and “anchor store” dates back to the 1930s, when it was coined to describe any business that played a key role in the overall success of a community. Today, it refers to any store — usually one that’s signed a long-term lease — that attracts business and promotes profitability.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
It’s not just newborns and deli sandwiches that are named after real people. Many English words have actual namesakes; these words are eponyms. You might be familiar with scientific words named after people (Fahrenheit, pasteurization, Darwinism), but eponyms can be found all over the dictionary. One surprising example is the word “guy,” which comes from a Renaissance-era Englishman named Guy Fawkes. While you may use “guys” today in reference to a general group of people, the origin story traces back to this very specific Guy.
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“Remember, remember, the 5th of November” — November 1605, to be exact. This rhyme refers to the day Guy Fawkes became infamous. He was a co-conspirator in the Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of English Catholics attempted to assassinate King James I by bombing the House of Lords at the Opening of Parliament in protest of the country’s Protestant rule. Just before he could light the fuse, Fawkes was apprehended by royal guards, arrested, and subsequently executed. November 5 became a day of celebration throughout England (called “Guy Fawkes Night” or “Bonfire Night”), when people would take to the streets carrying effigies of the would-be bomber. The figures, called “guys,” were typically rough-hewn and crude, much like Fawkes’ reputation, and the celebration of the thwarted bombing included lighting the guys aflame. This image of Fawkes became so pervasive that British people began using “guys” to describe any “grotesquely or poorly dressed person.”
The derogatory term gained widespread use more than 200 years later. We see an example in an 1836 letter from author Julia Charlotte Maitland about a trip to India: “The gentlemen are all ‘rigged Tropical,’ with their collars turned down, and small matters of neckcloths; – grisly Guys some of them turn out!” Note her specific use of a capital “G” in “Guys,” referring to the historical figure. By 1863, the “g” had gone lowercase, as it evolved into a general colloquialism rather than a specific historical reference.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, “guy” became used in a much broader and less derogatory sense to simply describe a man or boy. By the mid-20th century, groups of women also fell under the “guys” umbrella, though the term continues to be gendered, slanting toward men. If you’re looking for a gender-neutral replacement for “guys,” try “friends,” “folks,” or “y’all.”
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
Thankfulness and Gratitude Come in Different Languages
From Italian “sacks of thanks” to Persian blessings of health, gratitude takes many forms worldwide. Explore how many languages uniquely express appreciation.
Gratitude is a universal language. The notion of thanking others is a fundamental part of the human experience, whether it’s a quick merci at a bakery in Paris or a polite muchas gracias at a cantina in Cancún. Beyond these familiar expressions, gratitude takes on diverse forms across languages, from the casual “thanks” to overwhelming appreciation for the universe itself. Heartfelt declarations and idioms offer a glimpse into the unique ways language is used to express gratitude around the globe.
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Italian: “Thank you a bag.”
“Thank you a bag” might sound slightly awkward in English, but in Italian, Ti ringrazio un sacco is a colloquial way to say “thanks a lot.” Un sacco, literally “a sack,” is an informal figure of speech for abundance. This phrase is used warmly and casually among friends to show great gratitude. It’s slightly more enthusiastic than saying the more straightforward phrase Ti ringrazio (“I thank you”), and can make the recipient feel more appreciated.
Taiwanese: “Feel heart.”
The Taiwanese language (also called Taiwanese Hokkien or Holo) has a charming way to express gratitude: kám-sim, meaning “feel heart.” It’s used the same way as the phrases “I’m touched” or “I’m grateful” would be used in English in response to a kindness or good deed. Kám means “to feel” or “to sense” and sim means “heart” — this emotional reaction is typical of Taiwanese culture and language, acknowledging not only the action but also the impact on the recipient.
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Indonesian: “It is accepted with love.”
There are multiple ways to express gratitude in Bahasa Indonesian (a standardized form of Malay, incorporating hundreds of dialects), all spinning off of terima kasih, meaning “thank you.” This phrase translates to “It is accepted with love.” (Terima means “to accept” and kasih means “love.”) A shortened version, makasih, is often used as an informal “thanks” in casual conversation. The slang version of “thanks” is trims, another variation of terima. Similarly, to express “thanks a lot,” you’d use the slang expression trims banget — banget means “very” or “extremely.”
Irish Gaelic: “May you have goodness.”
The Irish Gaelic phrase Go raibh maith agat means “thank you,” but it literally translates to “May you have goodness.” To express more gratitude, you might say, Go raibh míle maith agat, which means “May you have a thousand good things.” These sayings might seem like a mouthful, but native speakers don’t enunciate every sound.
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Persian: “May your hand not hurt.”
In Persian (Farsi), Daste shomā dard nakone(the idiom “May your hand not hurt”) expresses gratitude for a gift or assistance. To make the phrase informal, you can tweak it by removing shomā, the formal pronoun for “you,” and say Dastet dard nakone. For an even more casual thank you, try mersi, derived from the French word for “thanks” (merci). If someone compliments you in Persian, avoid responding with “thanks,” and instead say, ghorbāne shomā (literally, “your sacrifice”).
Mandarin Chinese: “Thank sky and thank earth.”
While the idiom is thanking the sky and earth, the phrase Xie Tian Xie Di (谢天谢地) is used very similarly to “thank God” in English. The Chinese phrase is intended to express gratitude for being lucky that bad things didn’t happen.
There are a handful of ways to say “thank you” in Turkish. One informal option for “thanks” is Sağ ol, which translates to “Stay healthy.” It has the same connotations of wishing someone blessings or good fortune in return for what they’ve done for you. The more formal and direct version of “thank you” is teşekkür ederim, which can be shortened to teşekkürler or “thanks.”
Multiple Languages: “A thousand thanks.”
In English, we might say, “many thanks” or “thanks a million,” but in several languages, they say, “a thousand thanks.” In Italian, this is grazie mille (sometimes mille grazie); German is tausend Dank; Swedish is tusen tack; Spanish is mil gracias; and French is merci mille fois.
Rachel is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering through a museum, exploring a new city, or advocating the importance of the Oxford comma.
If you’re one of 3.3 billion bilingual people worldwide, you’ve likely discovered that learning a new language isn’t easy. I vividly remember toiling through years of French classes, culminating in the mundane ability to describe a cat’s color and count how many apples are on the table. Perhaps I could ask where the library is if I visit France. Even with its challenges, though — all languages have them — learning French is one of the more accessible linguistic routes for native English speakers because it uses a Latin-script alphabet (as do English, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese). Students might have to learn how different accent marks change pronunciation, but these languages are less demanding for English speakers because they use familiar letters and sounds.
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A more significant obstacle arises with languages that use different writing systems. Any non-Latin script language is inherently more challenging for English speakers. According to the language-learning platform Babbel, the six hardest languages for English speakers to master (in increasing difficulty) are Danish, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Arabic, and Mandarin Chinese. Of these languages, half use non-Latin scripts. Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, Arabic has its own alphabet, and Mandarin (the most common dialect of Chinese) uses a logographic writing system in which glyphs (characters) represent words or morphemes (components of words). This difference in writing systems makes Mandarin Chinese daunting for English speakers.
Students of Mandarin Chinese must commit thousands of different glyphs to memory — quite a leap from the 26 letters of the English alphabet. This can make the learning process daunting, but memorization isn’t the only hurdle. Tone plays a crucial role in all Chinese dialects, because the pitch of a word can alter its meaning. In English, tone conveys feelings or attitudes, but in Mandarin, it’s essential for comprehension. There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese, meaning one word can be pronounced four ways, each with a different meaning. A classic example is “ma,” which can mean “horse” or “mother” depending on the tone — “mother” is 妈 or mā, and “horse” is 马 or mǎ.
Despite these learning challenges, Mandarin remains the most widely spoken native language globally, a motivating factor for students to attempt to learn this tricky yet rewarding dialect.
Rachel is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering through a museum, exploring a new city, or advocating the importance of the Oxford comma.
“Interstate” or “Freeway”? Understanding the Different Names for Roads
Ever wondered about the differences between various highways and byways? This guide breaks down the unique purposes and histories behind the roads we travel every day.
There’s nothing like taking a long drive to contemplate your thoughts. But as you cruise along, you may spot different signs and start to wonder about the types of roads you’re traveling on. What do terms such as “interstate,” “highway,” and “freeway” actually mean, and what’s the difference between them? It’s common to use these words interchangeably to describe any long stretch of paved road with a high speed limit, but each term exists for a reason and describes something quite distinct. Here’s a guide to understanding the differences between these words.
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Interstate
The term “interstate” technically describes any road that connects multiple states, which could be a highway, a freeway, or even a tiny back road used by locals. That said, it’s often used in reference to the U.S. Interstate Highway System, referring to large roads connecting major U.S. cities. You can use the word on its own to refer to a road between states, or as an adjective to further specify a type or road, such as “interstate highway.” But the word isn’t exclusive to roadways: “Interstate” can also describe any topic involving two or more states, as in “interstate commerce” or “interstate relations.”
Highway
“Highway” is a term specifically defined by the U.S. government as any “public street, public alley, or public road … that is regularly and openly traveled by the general public.” This definition also includes any privately built or maintained roads, so long as they’re also accessible to and frequently traveled by the public. In other words, these are roadways that get a lot of traffic. Highways can have stoplights and/or cross streets, and don’t require on or off ramps. Also, while some highways are subject to tolls, toll booths aren’t a defining feature. In fact, only 2,900 miles of the 46,730-mile U.S. Interstate Highway System is made up of toll roads.
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Freeway
All freeways are highways, but not all highways are freeways. Freeways are defined as highways where access is controlled, usually by mandatory on and off ramps. There’s also quite often a median or divider that separates the two directions of traffic. Any driver looking to cross the freeway must do so by using an overpass or underpass, instead of crossing the road at an even plane. Freeways are also defined by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as a “toll-free highway,” so you should not expect to pay any fees while traveling down your local freeway.
Parkway
The term “parkway” was coined in the 19th century during construction of the Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. The word first appeared in print around 1875, and describes highways, boulevards, and other roads that are specifically intended for scenic driving. Many parkways are specially landscaped to maintain the surrounding natural beauty — something that can’t be said for all highways and freeways.
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Expressway
An expressway is a highway designed specifically for high-speed traffic. Expressways are usually quite wide and have two or more lanes in each direction, allowing for faster-than-normal travel. Access to these roads can be fully or partially controlled, and there’s usually a median to separate traffic. There are few to no hindrances (such as tollbooths or stoplights) along the road to maximize driving efficiency. A similar term is “motorway,” which is defined by the OED as a road “having two or (usually) more lanes in each direction designed for use by fast, long-distance traffic.”
Turnpikes exist for the explicit reason of collecting tolls. This term can be used to refer to any roadway with tolls, whether it’s a highway, an expressway, or anything else. The first official U.S. turnpike in the United States, the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, was created in 1792. This road — excuse the pun — paved the way for future turnpikes throughout the country.
Frontage Road
A frontage road is any road that runs along a main highway, freeway, or other major thoroughfare. The term dates back to the 1860s, and has long been used to describe parallel roads that give drivers easy access from the main road to adjacent houses and businesses. “Service road” effectively means the same thing. These types of roads are meant to give easier access to nearby sites without clogging up traffic on the main roadway.
Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.
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