Unprejudiced

The Word of the Day for October 1 is "unprejudiced."

unprejudiced: (adjective) Free from undue bias or preconceived opinions.

Synonym: impartial

Usage: I claim to be an absolutely unprejudiced witness.

Relevance to my life: I could have easily been considered an unprejudiced juror in one contentious local case going to trial last year because, in my depression, I had neither read the local newspapers nor turned on the news for some time except to catch the weather: I hadn't even heard of the crime. I was a defense team's dream.

What it is NOT: spelled like "unprejudice"  -
Don't forget the damned "d" at the end of the word, people! This is the past participle of the verb used as an adjective. If there were such a word as "unprejudice," it would be a noun.  Even then, it'd probably be wrong, since in English we generally use the un- prefix on adjectives and verbs. As always, there are exceptions. It is English after all. 

That doesn't change the fact that "unprejudice" is still not a word. If you're looking for a noun that means "unprejudice," the first one that pops into my head is "impartiality."

* Not a real word, though perhaps it ought to be.

Colloquial

The Word of the Day for September 21 is "colloquial."

colloquial: (adjective) Characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation.

Synonyms: conversational

Usage: She wrote her essays in a colloquial style that the teacher strongly criticized.

Relevance to my life: My inner Militant Grammarian asserts that the phenomenon of text-speak, with its complete disregard for spelling conventions and grammar prescriptions, is a better example of impending illiteracy than it is of colloquial language.

Call me a language snob, but there it is. Needless to say, I don't text.

Hell, I only have a cell phone for emergencies anyway, and even when I do remember to take it with me, it's almost never turned on. I can't use it at home because my house still has all the original plaster and lath walls which, very conveniently, shield my house from all manner of spy satellites and other intelligence-gathering devices. It'd be quite handy if I were a terrorist.

As it is, it's just a nuisance, really.