Tag: language update
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Today is & day!
Time to reprint again the genuine history of the symbol, which doesn’t match the standard etymology. = = = = = START REPRINT: I’ve always been bothered by the bizarre-sounding etymology of Ampersand. The symbol itself is no mystery: just a stylized version of et. But the usual etymology for the name doesn’t make a…
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Ranch and range reprint
Something reminded me of the word ranch. Decided to look up the etymology, since it doesn’t sound like other terms for land. It comes from the French military se ranger, meaning to pitch camp or set up a location, related to arrange. Range, of course, has dozens of meanings in math, biology and surveying. The…
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Parody replacement
Lots of common phrases started as parodies, then replaced the source. We have met the enemy and he is us has lost its parodic connection. The original was already obscure at the time. New example. Astroturfing is commonly used and understood, but grass-roots support is no longer current. = = = = = Meta-example: I…
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More syntax fun
I was struck by the deep strangeness of a common phrase. If it hadn’t been for the bible in his pocket, the shot would have killed him. If it hadn’t been for those pesky ants, we could have enjoyed the picnic. There are more concrete ways to say the same thing with the same words.…
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Bit of syntax fun
Seen at substack, wasn’t meant to be funny so I didn’t snark it there. Word order is important, and singular/plural agreement is important! Some mayflies live only hours as adults, Kevin McMullen MD writes, after having lived for years as a nymph.
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Tabling vs tabling
New PM Burnham is starting right and speaking straight. We don’t know how far he’ll go, but he does have the backing of his party with a good majority in Parliament. He is proposing a new direction, which in Britspeak is tabling a proposal. Burnham says it’s time to “end rough sleeping”. US governments at…
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Headline words
Newspaper headlines and radio announcers had a vocabulary of short words replacing longer words. I was thinking about famed. It was standard headlinese, but it only saved one letter vs famous. It also saved a syllable, which must have been why it stuck. While pondering this deep philosophical conundrum, I noticed a headline in the…
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Are grammar toxic?
Substack has started carrying ads after claiming that it would never have ads. You’d think that an ad for PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, appearing in Onlyfans For Librarians, would be edited more carefully. I don’t expect or want the Upon whom shall one rely level of grammar, but I do expect basic noun-verb stuff.
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Another Martian dream
Odd parallel with a Martian dream last summer. = = = = = Today’s dream: I was attending an arts fair. Noticed an old lady selling typewritten manuscripts about her experience with Martians, who taught her their system of government called optothecy. I told her I was curious and asked to hear more. “Well now,…
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Lorem Ieepsum
One of my auto history books has a chapter of advertising for Willys variants in other countries. Willys covered more of the world than GM, and its foreign branches often developed totally original cars using their own talents and skills. This 1977 ad was a template provided by AMC during its ownership of Willys, letting…
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Is this the binary form?
Occasionally a dream reveals something about how the brain works. I was working at the desk of an auto company, listening to Hank Ketcham [cartoonist who drew Dennis the Menace] complaining that our cars didn’t hold up even though he was a perfect driver. After he left I said to the boss, “I must admit,…
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Three differences
Riddle posted by a Brit: Q: What do you call a group of men waiting for a haircut? A: A barbercue. This doesn’t work in American English for THREE reasons, not just one. 1. We call a waiting group a line, not a queue. 2. We pronounce the last r in barber. 3. We pronounce…
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Tyndale 500th
This spring is the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale’s bible. Working in and around language I often heard that Tyndale published the first vernacular English bible, but I never bothered to look up the whole story. The latest print edition of History Today tells the story with appropriate drama. He studied and wrote for ten…
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Language joke
This is a bit unfair but it gave me a much needed laugh on a hard day. 99 in French is quatre-vingt dix neuf, which translates as “We do not have a functional numbering system.”
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π Day
Keeping up a tradition… π Day again! Since I’m talking typography lately, I’ll hash and rehash a couple items from 2019. = = = = = Thinking about Trump as Pied Piper. When the metaphor first appeared in those DNC emails I didn’t quite understand it. After learning that Trump is Roy Cohn’s protege, I…
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