"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." --Inigo Montoya, "The Princess Bride"

It would be easy to say that everything I ever needed to know I learned from "The Princess Bride." It would be wrong, but go with me here. There's what's been called the master class in introductions: Polite greeting and name. ("Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya.") Relevant personal link. ("You killed my father.") Manage expectations. ("Prepare to die.")

There are other lessons from the movie: "Death cannot stop true love." "Get used to disappointment." "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." "Never get involved in a land war in Asia."

And of course, for word nerds like me, there's that quote at the top of this column, which I love so much I even have it on a T-shirt. It comes in handy, especially when dealing with people who don't seem to get that not understanding (or worse, trying to forcefully change) the meaning of a word makes them look foolish.

A recent one I encountered was "unanimously," as in "Donald Trump was elected president unanimously." Uh, unless you're talking about as chair of the Kennedy Center board, nope. Unanimously means without opposition, with the agreement of all people involved. Considering that........

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