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  1. Behind the Dictionary

     Kudomania!
    Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2013
    We're in the middle of awards show season: January saw the People's Choice Awards, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, the Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the action continues this month with the Grammy Awards next week, culminating with the Academy Awards. January and February are an extended kudofest for the show business and recording industries. Yes, "kudofest."

  2. Evasive Maneuvers

     Son of a Basket! More Regional Euphemisms
    Tue Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2013
    In honor of the Dictionary of American Regional English winning the American Library Association's 2013 award for excellence in reference books, Mark Peters is going back to the beginning of the alphabet to uncover a trove of regional euphemisms.

  3. Word Count

     Writing Packed with Life
    Mon Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2013
    Yes, it's been said before, but let's say it again: writing lives on the life writers pack into their writing. Get only a little life into your poetry or prose, and your writing will soon starve, dwindle, and die. Get a lot of life into your poetry or prose, and your writing may live forever.

  4. Wordshop

     Getting "In" to Prefixes
    Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2013
    Flexible and inflexible are opposites, but flammable and inflammable are not. Why is this? From a morphological and contextual perspective, Susan Ebbers discusses how to help students come to grips with confusing words, including inflammable, impregnable, and infamous.

  5. Weekly Worksheet

     Some Inflammatory Prefixes
    Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2013
    This week's worksheet helps students sort out when the following prefixes are negative and when they take on other meanings: in-, im-, il-, and ir-. Click here for the worksheet, and here to read the related Wordshop article "Getting 'In' to Prefixes."

  6. Language Lounge

     Up in Arms
    Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2013
    The Second Amendment of the US Constitution is now specifically interpreted to mean that individuals have a right to possess a firearm for traditionally legal purposes. The Supreme Court case on which this interpretation of the amendment rests came down to arguments over language and definitions.

  7. Word Routes

     When Life Imitates the Movies: From "Gaslighting" to "Catfishing"
    Thu Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2013
    If you've been following the strange saga of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, then you've likely come across the term "catfishing" to describe the type of prank he fell victim to, in which a romantic interest turns out to be nothing more than a fabricated online identity. The term comes from the 2010 documentary "Catfish," but as I describe in my latest Boston Globe column, it's not the first time that a cinematic depiction has spawned a new verb.

  8. Blog Excerpts

     Blergh! Saying Farewell to "30 Rock"
    Thu Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2013
    The NBC comedy "30 Rock" is ending its seven-season run, and Slate's Browbeat blog has an appreciation of the show's linguistic legacy, from "Blergh!" to "I want to go to there." And check out what our euphemism-wrangler Mark Peters had to say about the show in his column, "Good God, Lemon! A 30 Rock Euphem-palooza."

  9. Word Count

     A Grave Case of Synonym-itis
    Wed Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2013
    Some writers go to great lengths to find synonyms for things or acts that they have to refer to repeatedly in a story. They seem to have the idea that this adds flavor and depth and style to their writing. Actually, it can add a thick layer of B.S. and to demonstrate quite clearly why supposed synonyms are not necessarily fungible.

  10. Teachers at Work

     Of Stuff and Things
    Tue Jan 29 00:00:00 EST 2013
    Over the years of teaching English as a foreign language, I've noticed how some of my students adopt some of the throwaway words and phrases that I use unthinkingly. The two words that are adopted most are stuff and thing (though I just as easily say thingy while waving a hand to indicate that I don't know or can't remember the correct word).
93 94 95 96 97 Displaying 941-950 of 3488 Results