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I’ll be on Wisconsin Public Radio on Wednesday morning

Posted by languageandgrammar on May 1, 2012

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities

I’m happy to report that I’ll be on Wisconsin Public Radio from 9 a.m. until 10 a.m. (Eastern time) on Wednesday, joining host Joy Cardin and listeners to discuss language pet peeves. Joy’s show is on the Ideas Network, a 19-station network serving Wisconsin and spilling into neighboring states, such as Minnesota and Illinois.

There is a live streaming option from the link above, and I’ll post the archive link when available.

Speaking of archives, this is the second time that I’ve joined Joy, with the first time being a few years ago after the book first came out. If you’re interested, you can listen to that interview on this archived stream.

It’s a good discussion, as might be expected from an NPR audience.

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“Stretchered” Off the Ice?

Posted by languageandgrammar on April 17, 2012

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities

Although it’s often difficult to be (because of the unnecessary violence often intended to injure opponents), I’m a fan of hockey.

The hockey act that resulted in the ridiculous language example I’m about to cite is an unfortunate example of what could be a great sport; however, let us, for the moment, only look at the language use in question: Marian Hossa Was Stretchered Off The Ice After This Brutal Hit From Raffi Torres.

Stretcher is a verb? The word now means “the act of moving someone (presumably into an ambulance) while on a stretcher.”

Call dictionary.com; even they don’t have that verbification (what I called the process of turning nouns into verbs in my book) yet. Call the descriptivists who think that, as long as the meaning is understood, it’s legitimate usage. We have a new verb!

Let’s do a little conjugation of the verb stretcher, at least of the present tense:

  • I stretcher
  • You stretcher
  • He/she/it stretchers
  • We stretcher
  • The stretcher

You get the idea.

If you want a new word, then simply turn a noun into a verb and you have one. You verbed it.

We certainly wish Marian Hossa the best and hope that hockey takes serious steps to remove the unnecessary violence from the game.

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Confusion Between Lead and Led

Posted by languageandgrammar on December 8, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities
lead balloon

Lead and led are two completely different words with completely different meanings, but since the past tense of the verb form of lead is pronounced the same as the noun form of the word lead, confusion runs rampant!!

For more information, read my most recent AIS Writing Tip, Confusing Word Pair: Lead and Led.

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Starprise Entership?

Posted by languageandgrammar on November 16, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities

Starprise Entership cake

We all make mistakes, but when they’re public and funny, we’re talking about perfect blog material. The above image of the famous USS Starprise Entership is one of the many entries included in the English Fail Blog.

Not surprisingly, not all of the examples in the blog are tasteful, so they might not be appropriate for children or even adults who don’t like off-color humor.

Me? I think they’re funny.

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Today’s New “Word” Is Logomisia

Posted by languageandgrammar on October 18, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities

a neologism: pokemonetisation

What if someone who doesn’t like the way in which we make up new words for no reason or change the meaning of existing words as part of superficial trends finds a made-up word that accurately represents his dislike of that process?

Well, if that person is me, he writes a post about it!!

The new “word” is logomisia, and it means, according to the Urban Dictionary, “disgust for certain words or a particular word; a disgust for certain words or for a particular word.”

The word does not seem to appear in regular dictionaries or even in dictionary.com, which seems to embrace any new word or new usage of a word quickly.

Don’t feel bad. We all experience logomisia at some point–even the typical descriptivist who believes that common usage is all that’s needed to change language.

Embrace it, and go ahead–use the new “word.” You know you want to.

For the record, the new (and often useless) word is called a neologism, and the above image is a neologism from plasticbag.org.

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Communication Becoming More Shallow

Posted by languageandgrammar on September 19, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever and Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities

people texting

You know, sometimes I feel especially curmudgeonly (hey kids, get out of the yard!) when I complain about the way people communicate these days, with a short attention span, sloppy grammar, and punctuation influenced by typing on a mobile device the size of postage stamp. It’s all very impersonal and ineffective.

That’s why it makes me feel better when I see a college student who feels that real communication is becoming more shallow, especially when she does such a nice job of saying so.

Her name is Vera Greene, and she writes for Penn State’s Daily Collegian.

Image from Visual Photos

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Call the Police!!!!

Posted by languageandgrammar on August 23, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever

I’m of the opinion that one problem with using too many exclamation points is that it doesn’t work–the intended excitement is turned into melodrama. I wasn’t aware of this other potential problem: thievery.

According to the Centre Daily Times, thieves stole letters from a volunteer fire department sign, including four exclamation points. (Spring Mills is an exciting place, apparently.)

No exclamation mark

No exclamation mark

It’s no laughing matter, of course. How will they be expected to properly show the excitement that is Friday night bingo if they have no exclamation marks left?

Tell me. How?!!!!

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Why Do They Hate Us?

Posted by languageandgrammar on July 29, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever

Why do they hate us (U.S. citizens)?

The most common answer has always been that they hate our freedom, but I have breaking news from across the pond: It might be because of our language.

The BBC recently posted an article on the 50 most noted (a polite British way of saying annoying) Americanisms.

Dare I say that I must be British at heart since they make many excellent points, including:

  • Reach out instead of “ask.”
  • It is what it is, which is what it is: a phrase that says NOTHING.
  • Where’s it at? instead of the grammatically correct “Where is it?”
  • Ridiculousity, which the contributor hopes is being done tongue-in-cheek, but I wouldn’t bet on that–based on how often I hear the next one.
  • Physicality, which isn’t a word despite its growing use. (Note: People in the U.S. love to make up -ality words since it makes them sound so smart, at least to those who think anything ever uttered instantly becomes an acceptable word.)
  • Least worst option; the contributor suggests asking what the “most best option” might be.
  • Going forward instead of the standard “in the future.”

I could go on, but I don’t want anyone to get his knickers in a bunch.

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For All Intents and Purposes

Posted by languageandgrammar on July 20, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever

This mistaken phrase for all intensive purposes falls into the category I like to call “Close but no cigarette.”

The correct phrase is for all intents and purposes, and it means, more or less, “for practical purposes.” A correct example would be: For all intents and purposes, the game was over in the fourth inning when the Yankees scored 10 runs.

The commonly used incorrect version of the phrase (for all intensive purposes) seems to indicate a sense of urgency, such as an intense situation. This is contrary to the original use of the phrase.

A Google search for the mistaken phrase results in 17 million-plus results. Granted, many of those are entries that point out that it’s incorrect; however, it is a general indication of the widespread use of the incorrect phrase.

For more information, see this Wise Geek entry: What does “All Intensive Purposes Mean?”

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Tween a Rock and a Made-Up Word

Posted by languageandgrammar on May 20, 2011

By Paul Yeager, author of Literally, the Best Language Book Ever

Using overly trendy language can lead to all sorts of problems, such as lengthy conversations and  strained relationships. To make my point, here is a hypothetical conversation between a mom who thinks she’s hip and a friend who prefers to use normal language:

Mom: “I don’t know what to do. Now that Sarah is a tween, she’s getting more difficult to handle.”

Friend: “Sarah is 13 already? I thought she was 11. I thought her 10th birthday was just last year.”

Friend (agitated and concerned) continues: Geez. I’m getting old fast. Maybe it’s dementia. I’ve got to see a doctor.”

Mom: “No! She’s 11, not 13. Why do you think she’s 13?

Friend: “Because you just said she’s a teen!”

Mom: “I didn’t say that! Aren’t you listening?”

Friend: “Oh my God. It’s worse than I thought. Now, I’m hearing things. I could have sworn you said that Sarah is a teen. Maybe I can call Dr. Phil or Dr. Drew.”

Mom: “No, I said ‘tween,’ not ‘teen.”

Friend: “Dr. Oz. I like Dr. Oz. He can help me. Yeah, Dr. Oz.”

Friend (catching up to the conversation):”Tween?!?!? What the CENSORED does that mean?”

Mom: “There’s no need for that tone. A tween someone who’s not yet a teenager but isn’t exactly a child, either.”

Friend (laughing): “Oh, so you meant to say pre-teen, but you accidentally invented a new “word.” That’s funny.”

Mom: “I didn’t make it up. Everyone is saying it. It’s either tween or tweenager.”

Friend: “No–not everyone. That’s stupid. I call them ‘pre-teens’ like I always have–and so does everyone else I know.”

Mom: “Well, you don’t have to call me stupid. You’re the one who doesn’t know the new words.”

Friend: “It’s not a word. The only time I’ve ever heard tween was when someone was too lazy to say between.”

Don’t let this happen to you!

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