Category: Language Matters
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Some Aptronyms
An aptronym is a name that "suits the nature or occupation of its bearer," as the erudite Dr. Gilleland explains. Some examples from my experience: 1. During part of my tenure at the University of Dayton, the secretary of the Philosophy Department was Mrs. Betty Hume. 2. While a graduate student in Boston in the 1970s, I heard…
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Obama on Stuff
Barack Obama wants an economy "Where we're making stuff and selling stuff and moving it around and UPS drivers are dropping things off everywhere." Stuff it, Mr President. And take a gander at my On 'Stuff' and 'Ass' while you're at it. The real problem, of course, is not that Obama lacks gravitas, but that he…
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Neologisms, Paleologisms, and Grelling’s Paradox
'Neologism' is not a new word, but an old word. Hence, 'neologism' is not a neologism. 'Paleologism' is not a word at all; or at least it is not listed in the Oxford English Dictionary. But it ought to be a word, so I hereby introduce it. Who is going to stop me? Having read…
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Bad Writing Contest
Here are some 'winners.' I won't reproduce any examples lest I sully my site.
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Issues and Problems
Perhaps you have noticed how, in American English at least, ‘issue’ has come to supplant ‘problem.’ For example, people will refer to medical problems such as obesity and hypertension as medical issues. Being a conservative, I don’t confuse change with improvement. And being a linguistic conservative, I am none too pleased with this recent development.…
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On ‘Stuff’ and ‘Ass’: A Language Rant
Too many people use the word 'stuff' nowadays. I was brought up to believe that it is a piece of slang best avoided in all but the most informal of contexts. So when I hear a good scholar make mention of all the 'stuff' he has published on this topic or that, I wonder how …
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Of Christograms and Political Correctness
Monterey Tom liked my 'Xmas' post and sends this: Many Catholic artifacts related to worship are marked with the Roman letters IHS, which is a partial Latin transliteration of the Greek form of 'Jesus' and can also be read as an acronym for the Latin Iesus Hominum Salvator (Jesus Savior of Man). However, some have…
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‘Merry Xmas’
When I was eight years old or so and first took note of the phrase 'Merry Xmas,' my piety was offended by what I took to be the removal of 'Christ' from 'Christmas' only to be replaced by the universally recognized symbol for an unknown quantity, 'X.' But it wasn't long before I realized that…
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‘It Depends on Who You Talk To’
Really? Suppose some question is posed, some question concerning which there is an objective answer, regardless of how difficult it is to ascertain the answer. For instance, Is the Social Security system currently taking in more in payroll taxes than it is paying out in benefits? People have a knee-jerk tendency to say, 'It depends on…
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A Diversity Paradox for Immigration Expansionists
Liberals love 'diversity' even at the expense of such obvious goods as unity, assimilation, and comity. So it is something of a paradox that their refusal to take seriously the enforcement of immigration laws has led to a most undiverse stream of immigrants. "While espousing a fervent belief in diversity, immigrant advocates and their allies…
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Typos!
Despite my 'due diligence,' typographical errors, though I strive to ferret them out, often go undetected on the day of publication. All of yesterday's posts contain them. So I will correct them now. No, I don't use any SpellCheck utility. That's like having a jackass of an editor looking over my shoulder, a miserable Besserwisser…
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‘Inappropriate’
Calling something 'inappropriate' is the ne plus ultra of liberal disapprobation. They just can't bring themselves to use such words as 'wrong' or 'immoral' or evil.'
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‘Surely’
A device of literary bluster. When one is unsure about something, or sure about what one has no right to be sure about, one writes 'surely.' Example: "Vallicella links to Dinah Washington here. But surely Peggy Lee's version is better. A voice like no other, and the little piano break at 1:13 is exquisite." I…
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Illiteracy at CNN
On CNN this morning, two subtitles included the phrases "Jobs death" and "Job's global influence." The man's name is Steve Jobs. To form the possessive you must add an apostrophe and put it in the right place: "Jobs' death." Can we blame this one on liberals too? Is there perhaps something to the 'definition' of a…
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Insanity About Race: The ‘Niggerhead’ Non-Issue
I watched The O'Reilly Factor last night. In one segment Bill O'Reilly and Brit Hume were discussing some word once used by locals as the name of a hunting venue that is connected with some trouble Rick Perry is in. But they were so gingerly tip-toeing around the topic that I couldn't figure out what…