Recently on the Copyediting-L discussion board, member Levi Bookin presented this conundrum: one of his authors avoids the phrase such as to such an extreme that he seems allergic to it. Possibly, Bookin wrote, this is because he dislikes commas so much.
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Recently on the Copyediting-L discussion board, member Levi Bookin presented this conundrum: one of his authors avoids the phrase such as to such an extreme that he seems allergic to it. Possibly, Bookin wrote, this is because he dislikes commas so much.
Continue reading...
Word Routes
Exploring the pathways of our lexicon
An Army of "Strong" Slogans
May 17, 2013
By Ben Zimmer
In my latest column for the Boston Globe, I take a look at the rapid rise of the slogan "Boston Strong" in the month since the Marathon bombing. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but it's only the latest in a long line of "strong" slogans.
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Word Count
Writers Talk About Writing
Unpalatable: A Plateful of Similar Words
May 16, 2013
By Merrill Perlman
"Pallet," "palette," and "palate" all have at their hearts the sense of a "plate," but beware of confusing them.
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Word Count
Writers Talk About Writing
"Yes, I Could Care Less": A Mixed Bag
May 15, 2013
There are two books here. I love one of them, but I don't care for the other. Somehow, they're both Yes, I Could Care Less: How to Be a Language Snob Without Being a Jerk by Washington Post copy editor Bill Walsh.
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Los Angeles Times tech reporter Chris O'Brien has discovered that the favorite word among techie types is "delight": "A squishy, subjective, hard-to-pin-down term. So daringly unquantifiable, so proudly immeasurable. And now, suddenly, all the rage in data-driven Silicon Valley." Read O'Brien's delightful piece here.
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"Yes, April 15th is still the dreaded tax day," writes Mim Harrison. "But thanks to Samuel Johnson, it's also a great day for the English language and its wealth of wonderful words." That's because it is the date on which Johnson published his monumental dictionary of the English language in 1755. Read Harrison's look back at Johnson's Dictionary here.
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Meronymy?
May 1, 2013
- 11 Comments
Always Never Something: Eliminating Five Overused Words
April 29, 2013
- 14 Comments
Words from a "Surreal" Week in Boston
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April 22, 2013
- 2 Comments
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RECENT COMMENTS FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Flash, Gleam, Glint, Sparkle: McPhee, Woolf, and Words
Carla M. said,
"I also love to find another dictionary-vs-thesaurus lover. I have a friend who is constantly recommending the thesaurus, but I far prefer a (good)..."
- Yesterday, 9:05 AM
"Yes, I Could Care Less": A Mixed Bag
mac said,
"thank you, Sandra. another N Y expression?: "the nerve of me" (in this case, for taking credit and taking the bow)."
- Saturday May 18th, 11:51 PM
Balzac's "Lost Illusions": a Novel in Contrasts
Meredith C. said,
"An amazing review! I never realized what Balzac's writing accomplished until I read this. I'll take a look at his work and decide if I have the..."
- Saturday May 18th, 11:27 AM
An Army of "Strong" Slogans
Roberta M. said,
"This has little to do with language per se. Or maybe it does.
I liked the fact that Bostonians seemed to be warm and resilient with one other after..."
- Friday May 17th, 2:15 PM
Covetous: The Difference Between "Jealousy" and "Envy"
christiane P. said,
"Thank you so much for the explanation. So I never thought the difference between these two words of."
- Friday May 17th, 12:28 PM
An Army of "Strong" Slogans
Kristine F. said,
"James, that sentence caught my attention, too. My first interpretation of it was that it was pretty insulting for Reynolds to refer to his target..."
- Friday May 17th, 10:34 AM
James R. said,
"New Jersey is doing it now too in its "Too strong for the storm" jingo." How is Boston or New Jersey strong? It's a pathetic Oprah like expression of..."
- Friday May 17th, 9:15 AM
Karen D. said,
"I've got to say I didn't even think of the Armstrong motto when I heard Boston Strong."
- Friday May 17th, 4:22 AM
Unpalatable: A Plateful of Similar Words
Laura C. said,
"Great article! Thanks. I just discovered an app called Word Wit that features "words and their evil twins" like palate and palette, accept and except,..."
- Thursday May 16th, 3:17 PM
"Yes, I Could Care Less": A Mixed Bag
Sandra C. said,
"Mac-I like your New York example!--Sandra"
- Thursday May 16th, 12:11 PM
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Put the VT to work in your classroom
"Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair": Sound Devices in Shakespeare's "Macbeth"
April 30, 2013
In this lesson, students use the Visual Thesaurus to explore the pronunciation and meaning of several key vocabulary words in Macbeth. They then examine how Shakespeare uses these vocabulary words to enhance the text through the sound devices of alliteration and assonance.
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For this month's crossword, the resilient city of Boston is very much in our thoughts. Figure out the Boston-themed word chain and you could win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt!
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In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, our Lower Manhattan-based offices were shuttered and without power. Today, our offices reopen.
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