The nouns crowd and throng both refer to large numbers of people. Crowd suggests people close enough together to jostle each other and be at least slightly uncomfortable: I had to elbow my way through the crowd to get to the restrooms. Crowds gather and disperse, but are generally standing or, in a stadium, sitting. Throng, on the other hand, suggests a crowd that presses together or forward, often with some common aim: The throng pushed forward to see the cause of the excitement. You will convey movement or commotion as well as large numbers If you speak of a throng, rather than a crowd, of shoppers, reporters, fans, or pilgrims.

Summer is upon us, for better or worse, bringing hot days and some sweltering days. By itself, hot is a fairly neutral term and when used of things, like hot coffee, refers to a measurable property belonging to the thing itself. In terms of weather, hot can be used to describe the physical feeling of great heat (I’m hot), or the conditions causing that feeling (a hot July day). Sweltering suggests a greater degree and particular quality of heat. Sweltering heat is oppressively hot and humid. Furthermore, whether it’s used of a thing (a sweltering day, sweltering temperatures) or a person (You must be sweltering in those jeans) it emphasizes the physical effects on us of such heat—the sweatiness, faintness, and suffocating heaviness. The now obsolete verb swelt meant originally “to perish.”

Advice and guidance are both helpful nouns, whether you are asking or not. Advice is an opinion or recommendation, usually a practical one, offered as a guide to action or conduct: I shall act on your advice. Guidance is a little more broad; when someone offers guidance, they are providing direction or showing the way. This term is less about personal opinions or recommendations, and more about the sharing of knowledge or wisdom in order to keep one on course—or help them successfully navigate challenges. After all, guidance comes from the verb guide, “to lead the way.” It makes sense, then, that those who are sought out for their guidance are perceived to know the path.