Category Archives: Language

TGIF: That Gerund Is Funky (July 4)

TGIF: That Gerund Is Funky … In the news this fortnight: a tweety faux pas from a shadow chancellor; an English invasion (linguistically) of India; a renowned school’s embarrassing spelling error; the Irish roots of American slang; Kelsey Grammer talks grammar on Twitter; learning languages in your sleep; and just what language did Jesus speak?

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British shadow chancellor Ed Balls ballsed up recently when he tweeted a picture of himself in Edinburgh with Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont and deputy leader Anas Sarwar. Sharing the image with his 125,000 Twitter followers, he captioned it: “Good pic from @AnusSarwar.” Ooops!

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Trivago

Someone at Trivago likes words (or languages).

Seen on London Transport in recent weeks:

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In the news (May 30)

Why punctuation matters (Somewhere in America, Memorial Day, May 26)

TGIF: Language in the news and on the web this week includes a spelling bee tie, a poetic birthday celebration in Siberia; some words that mean the opposite of themselves; some foreign words that are untranslatable; voting words into the dictionary; a very fashionable pronunciation guide; and a war against euphemism and cliche.

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Two boys won this year’s National Scripps Spelling Bee. As CBS News reported, “Sriram Hathwar of Painted Post, New York, and Ansun Sujoe of Fort Worth, Texas, shared the title after a riveting final-round duel in which they nearly exhausted the 25 designated championship words. After they spelled a dozen words correctly in a row, they both were named champions.”

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To mark the 215th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin on June 6, one of Russia’s greatest poets, the Siberian city Novosibirsk is going to offer free rides on its underground to anyone who can recite at least two verses from any of his Pushkin’s poems. The BBC reports on this poetic event.

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Here’s one of the reasons I love mental_floss: today it gives us 25 words that are their own opposites – otherwise known as contronyms. “Because of the agency’s oversight, the corporation’s behavior was sanctioned.” Confused? Yeah … That’s what contranyms can do. (And even contranym doesn’t know how to spell itself, let alone decide what it means.)

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Do you think adorkable or duckface should be legitimate, dictionary-worthy words? Well, if you feel strongly enough either way, you can have your say. According to a report in The Economist, Collins Dictionary is going to add a word to its dictionary based on votes collected through Twitter.

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Is your inability to pronounce designers’ names making your life a misery? If so, Harper’s Bazaar has come to the rescue, publishing an A-Z cheat sheet to help you tackle Moschino, Hermes, Miu Miu, Lanvin and more. You never need be embarrassed again when getting your fashion lingo on …

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Bored Panda brings us 30 untranslatable words from other languages – with some attractive illustrations by Anjana Iyer. This picture captures the meaning of the Japanese word bakku-shan, for example, in a way that the English language simply can’t.

Anjana Iyer, from Bored Panda

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Ending on a serious note this week, Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker wrote movingly about the need to speak clearly and directly when conveying hard truths. Commenting after the recent California shooting, Gopnik commended the father of one of the victims for doing just this. “The war against euphemism and cliché matters not because we can guarantee that eliminating them will help us speak nothing but the truth but, rather, because eliminating them from our language is an act of courage that helps us get just a little closer to the truth. Clear speech takes courage.”

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In the news (April 25)

Words, language and usage have been all over the news this week. Read about a nifty word-changing browser extension, India’s election slogans, vocab in the new SAT, a swearing ban in Russia, the demise of cursive script, and more …

The weird word of the week is jobation. See below for its definition.

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“If you’re a cool-headed, fair-minded, forward-thinking descriptivist like my colleague David Haglund, it doesn’t bother you one bit that people often use the word “literally” when describing things figuratively. If, on the other hand, you’re a cranky language bully like me, it figuratively bugs the crap out of you every time.” That’s Will Oremus on Slate’s “Future Tense” blog, in his piece describing the new Chrome browser extension that replaces the word “literally” with “figuratively”on sites and articles across the web, “with deeply gratifying results.”

[This reminds me of one of my favorite Tweeters — Stealth Mountain — who sends a tweet to everyone on the web who types the words “sneak peak”, telling them, literally, “I think you mean ‘sneak peek'” … ]

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The revised SAT won’t include obscure vocabulary words any more, the New York Times reports. “One big change is in the vocabulary questions, which will no longer include obscure words. Instead, the focus will be on what the College Board calls ‘high utility’ words that appear in many contexts, in many disciplines—often with shifting meanings—and they will be tested in context.”

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Is cursive handwriting slowly dying out in America? PBS Newshour looks at the history of “joined-up writing” and asks about the future of this art form. “With young thumbs furiously pounding out abbreviated words and internet slang while texting and with fingers flying across keyboards writing emails, reports and, yes, even news articles, the act of taking a pen and carefully crafting notes and letters is occurring less frequently in the modern world.”

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The BBC looks at India’s colorful election slogans. Yes, they can too.

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The Russian parliament’s lower house has passed a ban on swearing (or what the Americans call cursing) in films, music and other works of art. The BBC reports.

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Ever wondered where the expression “bite the bullet” came from? Or “cold feet” or “go with the flow”? Buzzfeed gives us 36 unexpected origins of everyday British phrases.

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Urszula Clark on the British Council blog asks “which variety of English language should you speak?”. The results of Clark’s research show “how dynamic, fragmented and mobile the English language has become. At the same time, the influence of traditional gatekeepers of ‘standard’ English, such as the BBC, is weakening.”

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Weird word of the week: jobation. Noun: (chiefly British): a scolding; a long tedious rebuke or reproof. “It is difficult for me to justify to myself the violent jobation which my Father gave me in consequence of my scream, except by attributing to him something of the human weakness of vanity. — from Father and Son by Edmund Gosse, 1907.

It’s Shakespeare’s 450th birthday!

Today is Shakespeare’s 450th birthday: Happy Birthday Wills!

To celebrate, Glossophilia first shows you how you can talk like Shakespeare (courtesy TalkLikeShakespeare.org, where you can find many more activities and much more ado about the Bard himself). Then, we offer a selective list of major Shakespeare productions taking place around the world during his birthday year.

How to Talk Like Shakespeare

Instead of you, say thou or thee (and instead of y’all, say ye).
Rhymed couplets are all the rage.
Men are Sirrah, ladies are Mistress, and your friends are all called Cousin.
Instead of cursing, try calling your tormenters jackanapes or canker-blossoms orpoisonous bunch-back’d toads.
Don’t waste time saying “it,” just use the letter “t” (’tis, t’will, I’ll do’t).
Verse for lovers, prose for ruffians, songs for clowns.
When in doubt, add the letters “eth” to the end of verbs (he runneth, he trippeth, hefalleth).
To add weight to your opinions, try starting them with methinks, mayhaps, in sooth orwherefore.
When wooing ladies: try comparing her to a summer’s day. If that fails, say “Get thee to a nunnery!”
When wooing lads: try dressing up like a man. If that fails, throw him in the Tower, banish his friends and claim the throne.

Shakespeare productions around the world in 2014:

New York:

King Lear
Presented by: Theatre for a New Audience
Two-time Olivier Award nominee Michael Pennington plays the title role of Shakespeare’s tragedy for the first time, with director Arin Arbus continuing her string of Shakesepeare stagings for TFANA.
14 March – 4 May at Polonsky Shakespeare Center

Like You Like It (concert)
Tony Award nominee Laura Osnes, Glee star Jenna Ushkowitz, and Dexter and The Following actor Sam Underwood are among the performers who will celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th birthday in a concert version of the award-winning musical Like You Like It, based on As You Like It and set at a mall in the 1980s,
April 23 at 54 Below

Macbeth
Presented by Park Avenue Armory and Manchester International Festival.
Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston make their much anticipated New York stage debuts in the U.S. premiere of the intensely physical, fast-paced production by Branagh and Rob Ashford, which places the audience directly on the sidelines of battle, where blood, sweat, and the elements of nature can be directly felt as the action unfurls across the traverse stage.
May 31–June 22 at Park Avenue Armory

Much Ado About Nothing
Presented by Public Theater / Shakespeare in the Park.
Hamish Linklater and Tony nominee Lily Rabe return to Central Park this summer as the wise-cracking, would-be lovers Beatrice and Benedick in Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy. Central Park becomes sun-drenched Sicily at the turn of the last century.
June 3 – July 6 at Delacorte Theater in Central Park

King Lear
Presented by Public Theater / Shakespeare in the Park.
Revenge, rage, grief and delusion thunder upon the Delacorte as Tony- and Emmy-winner John Lithgow takes the stage as one of theater’s great tragic heroes, King Lear. Tony winner Daniel Sullivan directs
July 22 – August 17 at Delacorte Theater, Central Park

WASHINGTON DC:

Henry IV parts I & II
Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company
With Stacy Keach starring as Falstaff.
March 25 – June 8, Sidney Harman Hall

UK:

LONDON:

Titus Andronicus
Presented by Shakespeare’s Globe.
The full cast has been announced for the return of Lucy Bailey’s 2006 production of Titus Andronicus to Shakespeare’s Globe, The production will feature William Houston as Titus and Indira Varma as Tamora.
April 24 to July 13 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Hamlet
Presented by Shakespeare’s Globe.
This production of Hamlet opens at Shakespeare’s Globe on the 450th anniversary of the Bard’s birth before embarking on a two-year tour of the world (see below).
April 23 – April 26 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (in British Sign Language)
Presented by Deafinitely Theatre.
“Deafinitely’s aim has always been to bridge the gap between deaf and hearing audiences, and the gap gets smaller here. It’s not only a new approach for existing Shakespeare fans; it also provides a great introduction to the playwright, especially for children. Definitely, I’d say, theatre for everyone’.” — The Guardian
June 2 – 6 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

All’s Well That Ends Well (in Gujarati)
Presented by Theatre Arpana.
When Bharatram (Bertram) flees his native Gujarat for Bombay, his mother’s ward Heli (Helena), desperately in love, decides to pursue him. But Bharatram feels differently, and attaches two obstructive conditions to their marriage – conditions he is sure will never be met.
May 5 – 10 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Henry IV Parts I & II
Presented by Royal Shakespeare Company.
The RSC returns to the Barbican with Henry IV Parts I and II. RSC Associate Artist Antony Sher returns to the Company to play the infamous comic knight Falstaff in Shakespeare’s thrilling and comic vision of a nation in turmoil.
29 November – 24 January 2015 at the Barbican.

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON

Henry IV Part I
Presented by Royal Shakespeare Company.
RSC Associate Artist Antony Sher returns to the Company to play the infamous comic knight Falstaff in Shakespeare’s thrilling and comic vision of a nation in turmoil.
18 March – 6 September 2014 at Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Henry IV Part 2
Presented by Royal Shakespeare Company.
King Henry’s health is failing as a second rebellion threatens to surface. Hal must choose between duty and loyalty to an old friend in Shakespeare’s heartbreaking conclusion to this epic pair of plays.
28 March – 6 September 2014 at Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Love’s Labour’s Lost
Presented by Royal Shakespeare Company.
Set in the Summer of 1914, love and merriment ensue in Shakespeare’s sparkling comedy before the lives of the blissfully unaware lovers are about to be utterly transformed by the war to end all wars.
23 September – 14 March 2015 at Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

REGIONAL/ON TOUR:

Henry IV Parts 1 & 2
Presented by Royal Shakespeare Company.
Directed by Gregory Doran with a cast including Antony Sher, Jasper Britton and Alex Hassell, this is an epic, comic and thrilling vision of a nation in turmoil.

Theatre Royal, Norwich 14 – 18 October
The Lowry, Salford 21 – 25 October
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford 28 October – 1 November
Theatre Royal, Bath 4 – 8 November
Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury 11 – 15 November

AUSTRALIA:

SYDNEY:

Henry V
Presented by Bell Shakespeare.
Damien Ryan’s unflinching production will explore war, the eloquence of leaders and the brotherhood of soldiers from every angle. Is King Henry V a courageous leader, a cowardly manipulator or simply a little boy lost?
October 21 – November 16 at Sydney Opera House

ON TOUR/REGIONAL:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Presented by Bell Shakespeare.
Peter Evans will reawaken Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a breathless 90-minute production that amplifies the magic, mirth and mayhem.

CANBERRA 28 August – 13 September at Canberra Theatre Centre, The Playhouse
MELBOURNE 18 September – 4 October at Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse
WOLLONGONG 8–11 October at Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, IMB Theatre

ACROSS THE GLOBE

Hamlet
Presented by Shakespeare’s Globe.

On 23 April 2014 – the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth – Shakespeare’s Globe will embark on a two-year global tour of Hamlet that will take in every country in the world. The ‘Globe to Globe Hamlet’, directed by the Globe’s Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole, will be a completely unprecedented theatrical adventure.

In the news (April 11)

An endangered species?

TGIF: That Gerund Is Funky …

The weird word of the week is incarnadine: see definition below. And in the news this week: a grammatical bank robber; a grammatically incorrect and insolent student; no freedom for the Eskimos; some extinct and endangered names; and some bananarama …

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An English teacher who received a rude, expletive-filled letter from one of his or her disgruntled students took a red pen and returned it with corrections. The closing comment? “Please use your education appropriately. Proofreading takes five minutes and keeps you from looking stupid.” The Telegraph (and lots of other publications) had the story.

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There isn’t an Inuit word for freedom; the closest they come is annakpok which means “not caught”. The BBC included this fact in its freedom season.

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Bananas: did you know that a bunch of bananas is called a hand and that individual bananas are called fingers? I didn’t either … But mental_floss did.

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Do you know anyone called Fanny, Gertrude, Gladys, Margery, Marjorie, Muriel, Cecil, Rowland, Willie, Bertha or Blodwen? Probably not — at least not in the UK — since they are now all “extinct” in that county. None have been recorded in the latest record of births. Clifford, Horace, Harold, Doris, Norman and Leslie are all endangered, so think about them when you’re next naming a baby, if you want to keep those names alive. The Telegraph reports.

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A bank robber in Denver seems to have left his (or her) mark with grammatically immaculate demand notes. Local law enforcement officials have named the suspect (who is still on the lam) the ‘Good Grammar Bandit’. “It’s well punctuated, there’s proper sentence structure, the spelling is correct,” FBI Denver spokesman Dave Joly told ABC News. “He did a nice job.”

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Weird word of the week: incarnadine: adj – 1. flesh-colored; 2. crimson or blood-red.

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.”
— Shakespeare, Macbeth Act II

In the news (March 28)

Cockney rhyming slang courtesy A Salt and Battery on Facebook this week

The weird word of the week is galimatias: see its definition below.

That Gerund Is Funky … In the news this week: a deadly spelling error; sign language in Italy and dogs; the true meaning of grammar; and some ever enjoyable Yank-Brit differences.

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U.S. authorities missed several chances to detain Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he was traveling to and from Dagestan for his terror training, thanks partly to a deadly spelling error. On one occasion, Tsarnaev, thought to be possibly armed and dangerous, was set to be pulled aside for questioning at JFK airport but he slipped through undetected because someone had misspelled his last name in a security database. NBC News reports.

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When most people write about grammar (especially when they’re listing or testing for “grammatical errors”), are they really talking about grammar — or something else? Rob Reinalda sets us straight on Huffington Post. Thank you, Rob; I’m so glad someone finally wrote this important article.

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Deaf dogs are learning sign language in Nebraska, according to Nebraska.tv.

In Italy, where its inhabitants’ characteristic hand gestures and physical gesticulations are almost as important as the language itself — to the extent that they have their own dictionary and every Italian understands their meanings, the local sign language for the deaf isn’t legally recognized. The BBC reports on this strange anomaly.

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Anglophenia gives us five tiny U.S. phrases with opposite meanings in the UK. Like table, and bills …

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Weird word of the week: galimatias. n. nonsense; gibberish; confusing or meaningless talk.

“Easy at first, the language of friendship
Is, as we soon discover,
Very difficult to speak well, a tongue
With no cognates, no resemblance
To the galimatias of nursery and bedroom,
Court rhyme or shepherd’s prose,”

— from W. H. Auden’s For Friends Only

Celebrating the rule of three on Glosso’s 3rd birthday

Today is Glossophilia’s third birthday, and to celebrate, we’re taking a gander at the “rule of three” and its important place in the worlds of writing and storytelling. (Here’s a funny little fact: this is Glossophilia’s 333rd post. And thank you to those who come here often and who keep me supplied with tips and ideas: keep ’em coming!)

The rule of three principle states that anything offered in a package of three is inherently funnier, more satisfying, more memorable, more intuitive, or more effective than something that comes in twos, fours or some other number. There’s a Latin phrase, “omne trium perfectum”, that means, literally, “everything that comes in threes is perfect.” And so it often is when it comes to creative writing and prose: we see it in storytelling, comedy, speech-writing and advertising slogans.

What is the magic of three? Continue reading →

In the news (March 14)

TGIF: That Gerund Is Funky … Words and language in the news this week include a hilarious video about foreign language pronunciation, angst in Germany over an unusual invasion, a slip-up in the supermarket, an interview with Julian Barnes, and an embarrassing spelling mistake.

And find out below the definition of this week’s weird word of the week: engastrimyth … Continue reading →

In the news (Feb 7)

That Gerund Is Funky …

Language and usage in the news this week: an unfortunate subtitle fail by the BBC, an unusual style guide, a Superbowl ad that needed an edit, and further discussion about just how important French really is. Plus, this week’s weird word of the week …

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Oops! In a subtitling blunder, the BBC rang in the Chinese New Year by welcoming its viewers to the “year of the whores”, as The Independent gleefully reported.

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Continuing an ongoing argument about the importance of French and whether it’s a language in decline, Zach Simon in the Huffington Post writes a rebuttal to John McWhorter’s piece in The New Republic entitled, “Let’s Stop Pretending That French is an Important Language.” As Simon points out: “As the 9th most-spoken language in the world, it’s not as though French is going to go the way of Cherokee anytime soon.”

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One of my favorite articles of the year so far is this critique – an amusingly positive one — by The Guardian of Buzzfeed’s style guide, which the internet giant decided to share with the world this week. More on style guides are to come in an upcoming Glossophilia post.

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“Less bottles”? Really? Shouldn’t she have said “fewer bottles”? As Slate reported, Scarlett Johansson’s SodaStream ad could have done with a good edit.

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This week’s weird word of the week:

Callipygian: adjective: having beautifully proportioned or finely developed buttocks. From the Online Etymology Dictionary: “1800, Latinized from Greek kallipygos, name of a statue of Aphrodite at Syracuse, from kalli-, combining form of kallos “beauty” + pyge “rump, buttocks.” Sir Thomas Browne (1646) refers to “Callipygæ and women largely composed behinde.”