Our American language has some strange words, or words with different meanings than you would expect. Jefferson was, of course, great with words. George Washington was trained in his youth to write well and use correct words. John Adams did so well with words that he told Abigail that he only accomplished good things with his exemplary use of language—words.

Just for the record, some words don’t seem to make sense any more because their original meaning has been lost. Album is a word that comes to mind. It was used to mean a vinyl record when record players were the vogue. Originally records which spun around the records player at 78 revolutions per minute (RPM), could only contain 4-5 minutes of recorded music.

You’d need a bundle of records to hear an opera or a symphony. In addition the vinyl records were contained in a book with brown sleeves holding each individual record. That resembled a photo album in those days. So, you see, eventually any LP or long playing record was referred to as an album.

Then there’s the English muffin. These are popular in the United States but not in England. You see, the English didn’t invent the English Muffin, Americans did. If the English had invented it, then it would just be called a muffin, no English needed. The closest thing in Britain would be a crumpet. But again, not an English crumpet—just a crumpet.

Album, English Muffin. All in all, words are very important, but sometimes misleading!