Will there ever be a Mars Day on Mars? What would they do? Rake red dirt all day? Just something to ponder as you consider today's list of earthy words.

1. meliorism: (a) marked by or showing concern for the environment; (b) advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment; (c) the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment; (d) active demand by two or more organisms or kinds of organisms for some environmental resource in short supply.

It's happened. You're in a five-way conversation and somebody pipes up with something like "Yeah, it's a Catch-22. You just can't get a job if you don't live in Florida." Trouble is, you know it's not a Catch-22, that the guy's blowing smoke, but you can't quite remember precisely what a Catch-22 is. So you keep quiet and everybody goes along. Well, study up and next time be the one in your cube-farm who doesn't mangle these common expressions. Read on!

The bandage was wound around the wound. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. After a number of injections, my jaw got number. Any wonder why English is so hard to learn? How well will you do on this week's vocabulary test?

Are you the reigning politico among the political junkies around your office water cooler this week? Or have you sworn to watch nothing but movie channels, ESPN Classic, and (is it this bad?) those cable sales channels? If the former, read on and test your savviness. If the latter, well, put that "Donald Trump is MY President" bumper sticker on your car, and reach for your clicker right now.

Did you know that it is Mark Twain who gets credit for saying that everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it? He also wrote that thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it's lightning that does the work.

By this time in June, many people have left their schools for good, after years of study. Did people at Yale, for example, "graduate Yale" or did they "graduate from Yale"? Or did Yale "graduate them"? And if one is attending a "commencement" ceremony, why is it called that? Isn't the ceremony all about the end of their college careers? What are they commencing, anyway? Take our test, and see if you graduate with highest honors.

Are you traveling this month? Going on the road? Going home? When traveling, remember: don't carry items for strangers, check in for your flight two hours early, and report all bad relative, adverbial, and Santa clauses to ProofreadNOW.

Okay, so your last name is Farmer. Duh. But what if your last name is Crocker? Some long-lost ancestor was into making pottery crocks. Read on - the list gets more interesting.

1. cooper: (a) one that makes or repairs wooden utensils; (b) one that makes or repairs book bindings; (c) one that makes or repairs wooden casks or tubs; (d) a keeper of records.

2. chandler: (a) a maker or seller of tallow or wax candles and usually soap; (b) a collector of natural dyes, especially yellow; (c) a person who cans food; (d) an instructor.

3. tinker: (a) a silverworker; (b) a usually itinerant mender of household utensils; (c) a person who makes knives and scissors; (d) none of the above.

4. farrier: (a) a person who shoes horses; (b) a person who collects and sells feathers (for bedding); (c) a person who raises and trains falcons to hunt wild game; (d) a maker of gloves.

5. smith: (a) a barrelmaker; (b) a wheel maker; (c) a worker in metals; (d) a seller of metal goods.

6. currier: (a) one that dresses furs; (b) a glassworker; (c) a person who shoes horses; (d) one who cleans the coat of a horse.

7. wainwright: (a) a maker and repairer of wagons; (b) a maker and repairer of boats; (c) a maker and repairer of farm equipment, especially plows; (d) one who dowses for water.

8. packman: (a) thief; (b) peddler; (c) minstrel; (d) musician.

9. draper: (a) a man who guides a plow; (b) a man who operates a loom; (c) one who operates a saw mill, especially a water-powered mill; (d) a dealer in cloth and sometimes also in clothing and dry goods.

10. clark: (a) cartmaker; (b) soldier; (c) lawyer; (d) clerk.

Variety of Garden Words

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With prose that sells, and no misspells, and smart quotes all in a row.

Time for another vocabulary test. Answers are located at the bottom of this post. But don't cheat -- see how many of these you get correct!