Topic : MediaCandlepowerAd and marketing creativesBrand Names of the Year for 2017 December 11, 2017 By Nancy Friedman
At the end of each year, while linguists and lexicographers cast votes for words of the year, I'm compiling a different list: the brand names that distilled the mood of the previous twelve months. To narrow the field, I add another criterion: the brand names must be linguistically notable.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newThe Mixed Culture of Highly Sensitive Hokum December 7, 2017 By Mark Peters
I'd give a kidney if there were no more euphemisms, but then I'd be out of a job, so let me rethink that. In the meantime, here are some euphemisms — all harvested fresh and ready to transplant into your interoffice memos and supersized tweets.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newBlack and Orange Process Upsets in the Pause Pod November 12, 2017 By Mark Peters
A high percentage of that malarkey consists of euphemisms, which is why we could probably develop fusion energy by harnessing the grave-spinning of George Orwell.
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A craving for linguistic rationality – not to mention a fondness for wordplay – explains how acronyms begat backronyms.
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Article Topics:Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon"Fatberg" is the Tip of the Word-berg September 26, 2017 By Mark Peters
London's colossal clog is a reminder of the history of berg and its parent word iceberg. With language, there's always a lot going on beneath the surface.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newCarbon-restrained Health and Lifestyle Lunacy August 9, 2017 By Mark Peters
Are you so worried about global warming you can't carbon-restrain yourself?
If so, you have a vocabulary term in common with Energy Secretary Rick Perry. This term, and the other euphemisms collected here, are real but insubstantial, like a vengeful ghost or stubborn denial of science.
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Article Topics:Evasive ManeuversEuphemisms old and newBreadcrumbing Challenges in the Environmental Park July 12, 2017 By Mark Peters
One purpose of slang is to keep illegal doings off the radar of any noisy bystanders, especially cops. So even though slang and euphemisms tend to be on opposite ends of the honesty scale, they can both be used as cloaking devices.
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