The Word Guy from Creators Syndicate

Will Mike Be the Emcee? for 09/03/2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I've recently volunteered to emcee an event for the Friends of the West Hartford Library in Connecticut. Frankly, this has raised a lot of questions for me: What do I wear? Do they know about my overdue books? What if the enemies of the West Hartford Library ask me to emcee their event?

More important, this appearance prompts two linguistic questions: Is it "emcee& ...

Updated: Wed Sep 03, 2008

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Palin Puts "Oooh" in GOP for 09/10/2008

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Some random dispatches from the Word Front . . .

Palin's Patois — Connoisseurs of regional English are salivating over Sarah Palin's classic Upper Midwest/Northern Plains dialect. Her flat "a" sounds ("marry" as "merry"), elongated "o" sounds ("Minne — soooh — ta") and Canadian inflections remind many people of the diale ...

Updated: Wed Sep 10, 2008

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'Lightening' Strikes Twice! for 09/16/2008

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

"The difference between the right word and the wrong word," wrote Mark Twain, "is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug." After reading these "enlightening" bloopers from newspapers and magazines, you'll surely agree. Can you spot the blots?

1. "Maybe lightening will strike by the end of the General Assembly's session." Will th ...

Updated: Tue Sep 16, 2008

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Looking for Mr. 'Good Way' for 09/24/2008

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Today, some random dispatches from the Word Front . . .

— In a not so good way — The hottest phrase these days is "in a good way" — and I don't mean that that in a good way. It surfaced twice, for example, on the same page of a recent issue of Time magazine.

Describing Dara Torres' training regimen, Alice Park wrote, "I'm lying on my stomach as Ste ...

Updated: Wed Sep 24, 2008

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Release Mommy's Duck! for 10/01/2008

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

My recent column on children's verbal errors elicited a batch of delightful anecdotes from readers.

Bonnie Reinders reports that, as a young girl, she rendered the line from the Christmas carol "O Holy Night" "long lay the world" as "long-legged world." Claire Fazio remembers her son's singing "Felice Navidad" as "Release Mommy's Duck."
Updated: Wed Oct 01, 2008

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Why There's a Bubble in Your Bills for 10/08/2008

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

As you find your household bills waxing bigger every month, you probably won't take comfort in knowing that the word "bill" derives from a bubble of wax. But I'll tell you anyway.

In ancient Rome, official documents were sealed with a wax "bulla" (knob or bubble). During the Middle Ages, "bulla" came to refer to the document itself, which is why a proclamati ...

Updated: Wed Oct 08, 2008

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Reforming English Spells 'Trubble' for 10/15/2008

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you've ever wondered why we don't spell "laugh" as "laff," "guide" as "gide" and "debt" as "det," you're not alone. For nearly three centuries, spelling reformers have been trying to herd these unruly rascals and other words like them back into line, so their spellings will reflect their pronunciations.

With very little succe ...

Updated: Wed Oct 15, 2008

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Playing by the ‘Majority' Rules for 10/22/2008

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Emma Anderson of Yardley, Pa., writes to tell me she's annoyed by sentences such as "He lived there the majority of his life." But she's not quite sure just why this annoys her.

Here's why: "Majority" is usually applied to units that are easily countable — votes, people, houses, widgets. It's generally not used with big-picture nouns — life, love and liber ...

Updated: Wed Oct 22, 2008

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Misuse of 'Drank' Deserves Prohibition for 10/29/2008

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Q. The terms "drink," "drank" and "drunk" confuse me. Is it "he has drunk too many" or "he has drank (sounds bad) too many"? — Spider Carey, Somers, Conn.

A. As you surmise, "he has drank" sounds bad. That's because the conjugation of the irregular verb "drink" is: drink (present — "I drink milk every ...

Updated: Wed Oct 29, 2008

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Sports Words Are Fair Game for 11/05/2008

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Did you know that "stave off" comes from bull baiting? That "deadlock" originated in wrestling? That "desultory" derives from horseback riding?

Many words from sports and games have run off the playing field and leaped into the stands of everyday language. And some of these terms have plunked themselves down permanently among the spectators.

This conj ...

Updated: Wed Nov 05, 2008

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Meanings Tangle When Phrases Dangle for 11/12/2008

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Do you pronounce "banal" as "BAY-nul" or "buh-NAHL"?

That may seem like a banal question, but not to the editors of the nifty new book "100 Words Almost Everyone Mispronounces" (Houghton Mifflin, $5.95). They note that most Americans say "BAY-nul," eschewing the British pronunciation "buh-NAHL" as pretentious.

Can you sel ...

Updated: Wed Nov 12, 2008

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Are You a Pro at Pronunciation? for 11/13/2008

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Do you pronounce "banal" as "BAY-nul" or "buh-NAHL"?

Can you sel ...

Updated: Thu Nov 13, 2008

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Readers Get Petulant about Peeves for 11/19/2008

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

As regular readers of this column know, I love to unleash my readers' pet peeves. Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of words!

Judy Case of Cheshire, Conn., detests the insertion of unnecessary apostrophes into simple plurals. She writes, "In a restaurant's drink menu, I see 'Martini's.' I ask myself, 'Martini's what?' Is it a guy named Martini and these are his drinks?" Call Jud ...

Updated: Wed Nov 19, 2008

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The Verbivore's Gift Guide for 11/26/2008

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Santa's reindeer may be herbivores, but if your friends and family members are verbivores, consider adding these new books about words to your holiday shopping list. And, yes, it's OK to pick one up for yourself, too.

Have you ever wondered why cowboys always speak of "getting the drop" on someone? In "Let's Talk Turkey — the Stories Behind America's Favorite Express ...

Updated: Wed Nov 26, 2008

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Misplaced Modifiers Lead Readers Astray for 12/03/2008

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Driver's license found in man's artery!

Mom uses children as toppings!

Barack Obama is a white female!

These shocking revelations recently appeared not in supermarket tabloids but in mainstream newspapers. They're all products of misplaced modifiers — descriptive words and phrases located in the wrong part of a sentence.

Consider these misleading sentences that ...

Updated: Wed Dec 03, 2008

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This Hale Fellow Is Well Metaphored for 12/10/2008

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

"Trying to sneak a fastball past Henry Aaron was like trying to sneak the sun past a rooster."

"Dealing with network executives is like being nibbled to death by ducks."

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

These three similes, written by Curt Simmons, Eric Severeid and William Arthur Ward, res ...

Updated: Wed Dec 10, 2008

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Let's Put the ‘You' in Usage for 12/17/2008

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

What's your Usage IQ? Can you select the correct word in each sentence?

1. Once Smedley realized his gloves had been lost, he decided to make (do, due) with a pair of his daughter's mittens. 2. The (straight-laced, strait-laced) matrons were shocked by Abigail's feisty defiance of conventional mores. 3. Joe Blindersole was considered a (shoe-in, shoo-in) for president of the American Cob ...

Updated: Wed Dec 17, 2008

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Hammer Out These Word Origins for 12/24/2008

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Why is a wrench with an adjustable jaw called a "monkey wrench"? Why do we pry with a "crow bar"? Why do we secure a nut and bolt with a "washer"? Open up your toolbox and see whether you can choose the correct origin of each term:

1. monkey wrench — A. Its jaws resemble those of a monkey. B. It's fun to monkey around with. C. It was invented by Charle ...

Updated: Wed Dec 24, 2008

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Stand Firm (or Firmly) for Right Meaning for 12/31/2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

"Friends don't let friends drive drunk."

I couldn't agree more with the meaning of that slogan. But what about its grammar?

Purists would argue that people don't drive "drunk"; rather, they say, people "drive drunkenly" or they "drive in a condition of drunkenness."

But more pragmatic grammarians argue that the adjective "drunk&q ...

Updated: Wed Dec 31, 2008

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Showing the Gate to 2008 for 01/07/2009

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The old year has passed, so now's just the time

To lambaste its buzzwords and do so in rhyme.

With "downturns" and "crashes," please call the cops!

And don't even mention those defaulted "swaps."

"Wall Street" trashed "Main Street," we're sorry to say,

But "bail outs" and "rescues" claimed, ...

Updated: Wed Jan 07, 2009

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