TGIF: That Gerund Is Funky. Words and language in the news this week.
Plus the start of a new weekly series: WWW: Weird Word of the Week

On National Reading Day in the U.S. (Jan 23), Jon Stewart describes what a book is on the Daily Show. (Thanks to Grammarly on Facebook.)

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What are the 5 best punctuation marks in literature? The Vulture blog presents its case …

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Someone has been posting fake signs on the London Underground, as media outlets around the world have been reporting (including New Zealand’s NewsTalkZB). It seems a little playful irony goes a long way, especially underground …

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mentalfloss helps answer the question “When did Americans lose their British accents? One big factor is rhotacisim …

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Helen Pidd, reporting on the Bill Roache trial in The Guardian, wrote: “On Wednesday the jury heard evidence from two women who claim he indecently assaulted them in the toilets at Granada Studios in Manchester, where the soap was filmed.” That’s presumably the soap opera she meant, not the toilets’ hand-wash …

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What’s the plural of Rolex? mentalfloss brings us 11 brand names with confusing plurals.

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This week Glossophilia introduces a new weekly sub-series:
WWW: Weird Word of the Week. 

This week’s word is abligurition: n extravagant or prodigal expenditure on food.
From the Latin abliguritio, from abligurire (“to spend in luxurious indulgence”), from ab- + ligurire (“to be lickerish or dainty”), from lingere (“to lick”). (Wiktionary)