Lessons From the Dictionary: Alter Ego versus Alter Idem

Like “insight” versus “outsight,” this pair of words illustrates how language grows simpler with the passage of time

Photo by Guilherme Caetano on Unsplash

If you’re like most people, when you want to refer to a secret identity or “shadow self,” you reach for a particular term: alter ego. In everyday English, this term has come…