A Hoarse Of A Different Colour
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on February 10, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Why British People Can’t Spell Color
As someone who sometimes worries about the state of the English language, this UK Telegraph piece about how Brits are better at spelling than Americans are caught my eye. However, the piece may be good example of adoxography (skilled writing on an unimportant subject) since, as this article points out, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. Add to that the fact that the British can’t seem to spell words like color, center, theater, etc., and it may all be a moot point (not to be confused with a mute point, a favorite eggcorn of mine). Who was it who said that England and America are two countries separated only by a common language? I think they were on to something. Personally, I’m more curious lately about the secret Facebook program that causes typos in everything I type in my “status” box. By the way, words like “adoxography” are not in my personal vocabulary. More unusual words for you here.
Far-Gone Conclusions In A Doggy-Dog World
[ 5 Comments ]Posted on November 8, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Saturday, November 8th, 2008Though for all intensive purposes I’m not gamefully employed, I remain internally grateful
Some people use language like a bowl in a china shop. Although my spear of influence is small, this is something I’d like to nip in the butt. So girdle your loins, because without further adieu, and no holes barred, I’m sharing my two sense worth, a treasure cove of eggcorns. Although many of the “eggcorns” on the list seem like mere malapropisms, see this wicked pedia entry for more on why they’re not. I sometimes fall, pray (ha) to spending more time talking about language than actually using it purposefully. I routinely have to defend the word “Dissociated”, for instance; for some reason, college-educated people consistently think that there’s no such word, and chastise me for corrupting “dis-associated”. I’m also on a mission to clarify what Americans mean when they say “empathy” vs. “sympathy“. The more educated you are, the more likely you are to get it backwards! Although I spend a little too much time on this, at least I don’t sit around reading dictionaries. But I’m glad that fellow did, because that piece led me to this piece: 50 of Your Favourite Words, which led me to an un-freaking-believable word. Tmesis. Now I just need to find a word that describes phrases like post-traumatic cheesesteak syndrome.