Paul Yeager's weather book
Paul Yeager's language book
Category Archives: language
Meaning of Words
Our blog friend, Frume Sarah, recently wrote an excellent piece on the meaning of words. The article focused on the shift of meaning of the word gay from happy to homosexual and how referring to something (such as the way … Continue reading
Posted in language
Tagged dutch uncle, Frume Sarah, gay, gypped, homosexual, indian-giver, jewed, language, power of words, stereotypes
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Memorial Day: A Solemn, not “Happy,” Holiday
I enjoy a three-day weekend as much as the next person, and I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t enjoy the Memorial Day weekend——–but———Memorial Day is a day to remember those who died serving our country. In other words, “Happy Memorial … Continue reading
Posted in language
Tagged fighting for our freedom, language, Memorial Day, oxymoron, service to our country
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Why Not Go for an Even Century…
Apparently, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED as it’s called by some) has had a mistake in it for the last 99 years. It’s incorrectly stated that a siphon works because of atmospheric pressure, but it turns out that’s just good … Continue reading
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Non-Verbal Communication in Meetings
A recent AOL article highlights Six Subtle Moves That Hold Women Back from Success, focusing on non-verbal communication in meetings. I always hesitate to turn this type of thing into a gender-based article. Surely, some of these techniques would benefit … Continue reading
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Tagged aol, behavior in meetings, language, non-verbal communication, women
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Too Much Information–TMI
We all know that the abbreviation TMI stands for Too Much Information, and we’ve all been around people who share too much personal information at work. A recent finance.yahoo.com article, You Did What? Spare the Office the Details, takes a … Continue reading
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Warmer and Colder Temperartures
I’m a meteorologist and author (Weather Whys: Facts, Myths, and Oddities), and I know I’ve said it, but, technically, temperatures cannot be warmer or colder. A temperature is a number, which means that it can be higher or lower, not … Continue reading
Posted in language, weather, writing
Tagged higher or lower, paul yeager, temperatures, warmer or colder, weather, weather whys
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Writing Tips
One of the things that I do for my “day job” is post a monthly writing tip on the Administrative Information Services (AIS) Web site, so I thought I’d highlight that here today: AIS Writing Tips. Some of the information there … Continue reading
Common Sense from Down Under: Convoluted Language
I just wanted to share an article I found when I searched for “convoluted language” today: Convoluted language leads to convoluted thinking. Not only does it hit on one of this blog’s favorites (calling every problem an issue), it also … Continue reading
Posted in language, writing
Tagged convoluted language, issue versus problem, language, work speak, writing
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McDiculous
A young woman, with a name that begins with an Mc, is sponsoring a Special Olympics charity event called McFest, and McDonald’s is putting up a fight. Read the story in this walletpop article. McDonald’s is hoping for an “amicable … Continue reading
Limited Access
Yes, access should be limited. What I’m talking about, of course, is limiting the word access to being used as a noun and avoiding its use as a verb. Access has, in recent decades, become one of the many victims … Continue reading
Posted in language
Tagged access, get access to, grammar errors, noun vs verb
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Everything Language and Grammar 