I'm a young Fogarty and you can think of me as your friendly guide to the English language.

We talk about writing, history, rules, and other cool stuff.

Today we're going to talk about the word widow, the word blurb, and the difference between

science fiction and fantasy.

Hello, my name is Michael and I recently moved to the Kansas City area.

I have a question about the words widow and widower.

I've always believed that a widow is a woman whose spouse had died and that a widower

is a man whose spouse had died.

Lately I feel like I've heard an increased use in the word widow as a replacement for

widower.

I've enjoyed listening to the Grammar Girl podcast for years and I understand that

word usage changes over time.

I'm wondering if you can offer any insight into what I think is a change to the usage or

definition of widow and widower.

Thank you so much for the work you do on this wonderful podcast.

Have a great day.

Thanks Michael.

Since death is a fundamental human experience, you probably won't be surprised to hear that

widow is an exceptionally old word.

For example, the old English version widow one is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,

a set of records created under King Alfred's reign from the year 871 to 899.

And that according to Edom Online can be traced all the way back to a proto-indo-European

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