Category: Language Matters
-
Nerd, Geek, Dweeb, and Dork
Ever fret over the correct use of these terms? This Venn diagram will set you straight. (HT: Mike Valle. From this site.)
-
‘No News is Good News’
Spencer Case, 'on the ground' in Afghanistan, writes: Try translating the following sentence into logic: "No news is good news." Whenever I try it, I end up saying that there isn't any good news and that's not what I mean to say. If you're not too terribly busy, I'd like to see how the trick is…
-
Can There be False Clichés?
I just heard Dennis Prager say that there are both true and false cliches. Now Prager is a font of wisdom and good sense and a national treasure. The fact that the Left hates him is proof positive of that. But I can't see that he is right on this point. A cliche is a…
-
Bogus Quotations: Did Einstein Really Say That?
Politicians and popular writers who retail in bogus quotations should have a close cousin of the logic stick applied to their silly heads. Senator Charles Grassley (R) was on C-Span the morning of 7 March 2005 talking about Social Security reform among other things. He attributed the following quotation to Albert Einstein: "Compound interest is the…
-
Alienans Adjectives
A reader inquires: I find your blog interesting and educational. A while ago you mentioned that there is a term for an adjective which is used not to specify a particular sort of the noun which it modifies, but rather a thing which does not meet the definition of that noun. (I've likely somewhat mangled…
-
When Is a Tautology Not a Tautology?
My Aunt T. was married to a gruff and taciturn Irishman who rejoiced under the name of 'Morris.' Thinking to engage Uncle Mo in conversation during one of my infrequent visits to the Big Apple, and knowing that Morris drove a beer truck, I once made some comment about the superiority of German over American…
-
It Is What It Is
Maybe not. It all depends on what the meaning of 'is' is. Seriously, though, this saying is seeing quite a lot of use lately. It is a sort of present-tensed Que sera, sera. Things are the way they are. Don't kick against the pricks. Acceptance and resignation are the appropriate attitudes. From a philosophy-of-language point…
-
‘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…
-
No Pun Intended
Ah, but it had to have been intended because you were aware of it and let it stand. Otherwise you would not have uttered 'no pun intended.' The difference between 'pun intended' and 'no pun intended' is merely verbal.
-
A Language Rant: ‘Perks’
A C-Span segment one morning bore the title, 'Congressional Perks.' It was a good program, as almost all C-Span offerings are, but would it have killed them to use the right word, 'perquisites'? If this were an isolated example, then you could accuse me, with justification, of being a pedantic ass. Some of you will do…
-
Ohne Fleiß Kein Preis
Loosely translated: No pain, no gain. Der Fleiß (Fleiss) is German for diligence. Thus 'Heidi Fleiss' is a near aptronym, diligent as she was in converting concupiscence into currency. Another interesting German word is Sitzfleisch. It too is close in meaning to diligence, staying power. Fleisch is meat and Sitz, seat, is from the verb…
-
On Exaggeration
Why do people exaggerate in serious contexts? The logically prior question is: What is exaggeration, and how does it differ from lying, bullshitting, and metaphorical uses of language? A physician in a radio broadcast the other morning said, "You can't be too thin, too rich, or have too low a cholesterol level." Note first that…
-
Political Correctness and Gender Neutral Language
I am writing a review of J. P. Moreland's The Recalcitrant Imago Dei: Human Persons and the Failure of Naturalism (SCM Press, 2009). It is a very good book, and J. P. Moreland is one of my favorite philosophers. I don't know the man personally, but I rather doubt that he is politically liberal. And…
-
Fun With English: Is ‘None’ Singular or Plural?
To my ear, the following sounds grammatical: 1. None of the members were present at the meeting whereas the following sounds ungrammatical: 2. None of the members was present at the meeting. But isn't 'none' just a contraction of 'no one'? If it is, then (2) is grammatical and (1) is not. Now compare 3.…
-
The Paltry Mentality of the Copy Editor
The copy editor, like a testosterone-crazed male cat, likes to mark his territory. His territory is your manuscript. But like a cat, he is lazy and easily bored, which leads to inconsistency. He starts out changing every occurrence of ‘identical with’ to ‘identical to,’ but then tires of this game so that the end result…