Words are
how I think.
Where this started
A single conversation changed my approach completely. A colleague — Teodora, a translator — casually explained that the word "salary" comes from the Latin word for salt, because Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt. I spent the rest of that afternoon looking up word origins and haven't really stopped.
Etymology turned out to be the missing piece for me. Knowing that "peninsula" literally means "almost an island" in Latin makes the word stick. Knowing that "disaster" once meant "bad star alignment" tells you something about how people used to understand misfortune. Words carry history inside them, and that history makes them memorable in a way that flashcard drilling never quite managed for me.
The blog at effdata grew out of notes I was already keeping for myself. Posts that started as personal references became things other people found useful. Since 2016, the writing has stayed focused on one question: what actually helps someone remember and use a word correctly, not just recognize it on a test.
How I actually write about words
Each post starts with a word that puzzled me, annoyed me, or surprised me. I'm not working through a curriculum — I'm following genuine curiosity, which means the blog covers formal vocabulary, slang, borrowed words, and everything in between.
The focus is always on context. A word in isolation is just a definition. A word in three different sentences, across two centuries of usage, starts to become something you can actually use. I try to show both.
covered per month
per post by readers
Questions, corrections, and word suggestions
If you spotted an error, have a word you'd like to see covered, or just want to argue about whether "literally" has been ruined forever — I'm genuinely interested. Reader suggestions have shaped a good portion of what gets written here.
The best way to reach me is by email. I read everything, even if replies take a few days.
contact@effdata.digital
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."