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Word Count
Word Quirks: Getting Misled by Mispronunciation
Wed Dec 18 00:00:00 EST 2013
I had a lot of fun asking my social media community, friends and family about their word quirks, specifically words they've misread (and, thus, mispronounced). Everyone seems to have one or two — maybe more — of these. I found that they can sometimes be quite revealing.
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Dog Eared
Ben Schott Gives German the Sniglet Treatment
Mon Dec 16 00:00:00 EST 2013
In 1835, Charles Follen wrote, "The German language is sufficiently copious and productive, to furnish native words for any idea that can be expressed at all." In Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human Condition, Ben Schott proves Follen correct, while establishing himself as the Rich Hall of German with this wonderful collection of Sniglet-like terms.
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Behind the Dictionary
A Tolkien Tangle: What Does "The Desolation of Smaug" Mean?
Fri Dec 13 00:00:00 EST 2013
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was just released today. You can tell from the title that in this movie, someone's going to get desolated, and desolated but good. But who? Does Smaug desolate someone, or does someone desolate Smaug? What does desolate mean, anyway?
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Candlepower
Brand Names of the Year for 2013
Thu Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2013
How to choose the most important brand names of a year? Some lists emphasize companies' value, others sales volume, and still others ad spending. I look for brands that are newly prominent or notable in the last year. Then I factor in the brand names' linguistic significance and the degree to which they represent naming trends or breakthroughs.
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Word Count
Why Writers Should Embrace Ambiguity
Wed Dec 11 00:00:00 EST 2013
When I learned I was pregnant with triplets, 20 years ago, I was desperate to know their gender. Did I, God forbid, have three boys? (In my mid-30s, I was sure I didn't have the energy for that!) Now, with the benefit of many years of parenting, I can recognize my desire for that knowledge as not just mere curiosity. It arose out of my intolerance for ambiguity.
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Word Count
Caroling the "Lie"/"Lay" Distinction
Tue Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2013
English language users have long struggled with lie, meaning "to recline," and lay, meaning "to put down." Many of the traditional English Christmas carols we hear at this time of year were written or translated during the 19th century and use lie and lay distinctly.
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Word Count
How to Begin a Story?
Mon Dec 09 00:00:00 EST 2013
Stories, we learn in school, must have beginnings, middles, and ends. Creating each leg of the age-old triangle poses daunting challenges, yet for writers eager to write a deathless masterpiece, no challenge is more daunting than beginning.
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Word Count
Word Tasting Note: "Svelte"
Fri Dec 06 00:00:00 EST 2013
Oh, to be svelte. To be as light as felt, a suave fellow or a lass as light as a velleity, not swelling like Elvis but sweltering hot: no thicker than the drop of sweat that falls down your brow at the sight or the plucked eyebrows of a stylish lady. And stylish, yes, svelte always seems stylish, fitted, bespoke tailored.
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Blog Excerpts
Freshman? Freshperson? Frosh? First-Year?
Fri Dec 06 00:00:00 EST 2013
Despite the successful efforts of nonsexist language reform, the word "freshman" persists on college campuses. On the Chronicle of Higher Education's Lingua Franca blog, University of Michigan English professor Anne Curzan considers why this is and weighs the alternatives. Read her article here.
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Word Count
Coming Soon: "Imminent" Changes Are Afoot
Thu Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2013
In "eminent domain," a government can seize property for public use, as long as it compensates the owner. In "imminent domain," it stands to reason, the government wants to do it NOW. Except that there is no such thing as "imminent domain." It's a mistake — a common one, but a mistake nonetheless.
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