contributorMark Peters
Mark Peters is a language columnist, lexicographer, and humorist who has written for Esquire, The Funny Times, New Scientist, Psychology Today, Salon, and Slate. He contributes to OUPblog and writes the Best Joke Ever column for McSweeney's. You can read Mark's own jokes on Twitter, such as, "I play by my own rules, which is probably why no one comes to my board game parties anymore."
Just as there are oodles of food trucks, there are mega-oodles of language emetics in the form of euphemisms. Please hate enjoying or enjoy hating the following.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newEngaged, Vintage, Deleted Drivel, Begob! February 11, 2019 By Mark Peters
Here are some of the euphemisms I've scraped, like barnacles, off the bloated boat of language. Do not attempt such hazardous, horsepucky-adjacent collection yourself.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newWhat, By Gosh, is Euphemism of the Year? January 9, 2019 By Mark Peters
It's that time of year when I choose a Euphemism of the Year. I've whittled the list down to four candidates, which are the lexical equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
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Dog EaredBooks we love"Talk on the Wild Side" Is a Sharp Ode to Our Unruly, Resilient Language December 21, 2018 By Mark Peters
Like most well-informed language books, this one is not going to be popular with the English-is-going-to-hell crowd. In this multifaceted yet focused book, Greene makes a powerful argument for the inherent resiliency of language, and his own sharp writing is serious support for language's power.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newDeinstitutionalizing Policy Time and Other Mischaracterizations December 7, 2018 By Mark Peters
It was recently revealed that the daily agenda of the most powerful person in the world included policy time (in addition to executive time). It's my policy to crank out a new roundup of euphemisms each month. Around these here parts, it's always malarkey time.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newWork-Life Malarkey in the Entrepreneurial Economy November 7, 2018 By Mark Peters
The well of drivel will never run dry, so let's amble through the latest and worst euphemisms I've collected during the first month of my second decade as a euphemism columnist.
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Article Topics:Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexiconBy the Light of the Moonmoon: The Joy of Reduplication October 31, 2018 By Mark Peters
These days we need all the levity, lunar or otherwise, that we can get. This lexical lunacy is a flimsy excuse for me to write about my favorite type of word: the reduplication. From ack-ack to zip-zap, reduplicative words are silly, childish, catchy, animalistic, nonsensical, and awesome.
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