Posts tagged as:

language

PHONICS: the practice of “sounding out” syllables in unfamiliar words

October 17, 2010

Even though I bristle at the sexism of the cartoon I’ve chosen, I have to admit that it’s correct.  Girls tend to do better with such things as phonics than boys.   I’m told it has to do with the way the brain works.  That’s not to say that boys can’t learn phonics, but just that [...]

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ARRANT: downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious

October 2, 2010

 The word arrant seems unlikely to win “The Most Commonly Used Word in American English” award. I had to say it over a few times to myself, let it roll around on my tongue like a new wine, and then, unable to figure it out intuitively, go to the dictionary.  It was one of those [...]

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KVETCH: persistent complaining

July 8, 2010

Yiddish is more than a language.   It is a way of life put to words.  I am awed by the number of Yiddish terms that have become part of our everyday language without needing identification as being from another language.  From schmooze to shtick the words creep into our dialogue with such ease that we [...]

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SAY: a noun expressing the right or opportunity to speak, decide, or exercise influence

June 8, 2010

There are some words that grate me.  It isn’t about them being used incorrectly or being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced.  Most of the time they are being used  and  spelled and  pronounced properly.  They just grate me. One of those words is “say” when it is used as a noun.  It really bothers me when someone [...]

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DENOMINAL VERBS: going from noun to verb.

February 8, 2010

The New York Times Magazine carried a great article yesterday by Ben Zimmer entitled Podium. In anticipation of the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Zimmer wrote about the use of two words we will hear a lot: podium and medal. Obviously. Podium refers to the place where awards are distributed after an Olympic event [...]

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NAUSEOUS or NAUSEATED?

October 23, 2009

Probably some of you have already rolled your eyes. You may even be one of the people I have e-mailed to say that you have used the wrong word in your article. Well, this is early in my career as a blogger, so let me get it out on the table early on so we [...]

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