Stereotype first referred to a printing plate used for repeated copies. Later it came to mean a fixed, oversimplified idea about a group.

Prodigy means an exceptionally talented person. Progeny means descendants or offspring. Here is how to use each one clearly.

“Forecastle” was shortened in sailors’ speech over time, so its spelling stayed old while its pronunciation became much shorter.

Cliche began in printing, probably echoing a casting sound, then shifted into a word for language and ideas used too often.