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Dog Eared
At the End of the Day, Cliches Can Harm Your Language
Fri Jul 25 00:00:00 EDT 2014
"A breath of fresh air." "Few and far between." "At the end of the day." These are just a few of the clichés examined by Orin Hargraves, an experienced lexicographer and one of our regular contributors, in his new book It's Been Said Before: A Guide to the Use and Abuse of Cliches. In this excerpt, Hargraves explains how to "free your speech and writing of unneeded and detrimental clichés."
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Word Count
Why Do We Say "Oxen" And Not "Oxes"?
Thu Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Mignon Fogarty, better known as her alter ego Grammar Girl, has been sharing a series of short tips on usage and style. In her latest installment, she explains why the plural of the word ox is oxen instead of oxes.
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Word Count
In Praise of Ambiguity
Wed Jul 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014
One of the main functions of language is communication, and for this it no doubt helps to be as clear, concise and straightforward as one can possibly be. Clear and straightforward art using language, however, is usually pretty boring.
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Word Count
For Your Eyes Only: Terms from Crypto
Mon Jul 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014
When you visit your bank's website or enter a credit-card number, you've probably noticed that in the browser's address box, the URL begins with https. The "S" stands for "secure," and the security technology your browser uses for that "S" represents one of the great inventions in the history of secrets. In this piece I'll walk you through some of the terms of that rich field.
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Teachers at Work
The Case Against Adverbs
Fri Jul 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014
One of the students in my Fiction Writing Workshop told a classmate to take a red pen and cross out the multitude of adverbs he had strewn throughout his story. The rest of the class nodded their heads in agreement. But just before I could move us on to the next item on the agenda, the author asked the young woman who'd spoken up, "But why? Why can't I use adverbs?"
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Teachers at Work
How to Encourage Summer Reading
Wed Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2014
To encourage summer reading, the school librarians went around to the English classes and talked up reading. For the first hour, they pushed around a cart filled with popular books, including current favorites Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars. They checked out a total of three books.
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Blog Excerpts
Weird Al's "Word Crimes" Takes on Language Peeves
Wed Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Weird Al Yankovic's "Word Crimes" video transforms Robin Thicke's scandalous "Blurred Lines" into a prescriptivist grammarian's screed. We think it's brilliant and are happy to see it getting much play in the language-loving community this week.
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Blog Excerpts
The Return of Lexicon Valley
Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Lexicon Valley, Slate's podcast for language lovers, has just returned after an extended hiatus. First up is an interview with Columbia University professor John McWhorter about his new book The Language Hoax. Listen to the podcast here, and also check out Mark Peters' review of McWhorter's book here. And stay tuned for news about our own Ben Zimmer joining forces with the Lexicon Valley podcasters!
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Candlepower
The Scoop: How Frozen Desserts Got Their Names
Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Long before the advent of air conditioning, ice cream, sherbet, and their frozen cousins provided edible relief for summer heat — if you were rich enough to afford them. Today, these icy treats are democratic and diverse, and their names, both generic and trademarked, tell rich stories about language and history. Here are some of the tastiest.
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Word Count
83 Reasons for Not Writing
Fri Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Many of our excuses for not writing might sound convincing, if we don't think about them too much. But really, the only person we're hurting is ourselves. Check out this list and see if any of these excuses for not writing are ones you've ever used.
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