Category Archives: Words, phrases & expressions

Mysteries of the vernacular, animated

A trip to the cinema (specifically, the IFC Center in NYC) introduced me to a charming web site / film company that researches and then produces short animated films about the origins of words. You’ll need to go and see a movie at the IFC to catch any of the shorts, but it’s worth the price of a movie-ticket (especially if you enjoy the main feature) for any word-detectives out there.

I discovered the origin of the word “bewilder”: a more complex and interesting etymology than you might think.

http://www.mysteriesofvernacular.com/

 

 

 

Literally, or figuratively?

Has literally lost its meaning, and with it its raison d’etre? As Fowler summed it up in his eloquent way: “We have come to such a pass with this emphasizer that where the truth would require us to insert with a strong expression ‘not literally, of course, but in a manner of speaking’, we do not hesitate to insert the very word that we ought to be at pains to repudiate; cf. VERITABLE. Such false coin makes honest traffic in words impossible.”

Take this Amtrak sign that I saw on a recent rail journey.

What is the word literally even supposed to mean in this context? That “we” (who are we?) are all on a train together? If not a train, what is the ‘this’ we are all in together? If it’s supposed to mean that we as a nation (or the world) are all threatened by terrorism, then that’s not technically (literally) correct, since the world’s population includes those who are threatening us – who are presumably not ‘in this’ with the rest of us. There is nothing literal in this very abstract statement.

Literally, which means the opposite of figuratively, has been hijacked and is now more widely used (in fact, over-used) as an intensifier, for emphatic effect. It often masquerades as its own antonym when it’s tagged to exaggerated or fantastic claims. “I literally died of embarrassment”; “We were literally glued to our seats”.

And more recently – as in the signage above – it has assumed a more lofty role, not as an adverb but as a speech-marker. Beginning or ending a sentence – or even standing alone, stoically and self-importantly – it’s setting the stage for what’s to follow, or taking a bow for what has just been said. “Listen to this: pay attention to what I’ve just said/I’m about to say. It’s important.”

Chris Traeger, a fictional character in NBC’s Parks and Recreation show, is literally inclined.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xjka07o1-0

 

You say beefsteak, I say cherry

 

Let’s face it: Brits and Americans speak a different language. And often, it’s all about size and number …

 

Stone/pebble Rock

 

 

Rock Rock

 

Prawn Shrimp

 

Shrimp Shrimp

 

small (drink) tall / medium (drink)

 

large (drink) grande / venti / SUPERSIZE (drink)

24 degrees (grab the suncream) 75 degrees (grab a sweater)

 

Size 12 Size 10

 

Maths Math

 

Sport Sports

 

First floor Second floor

 

Two a penny A dime a dozen

 

A penny for your thoughts Here are my two cents

 


 

Fancy a cuppa? Take five!

 

And it’s not just size or number; sometimes,  it’s all about the tense:

 

Momentarily (past) Just for a second (past)

 

In a second (future) Momentarily (future)

 


 

 

Hooker, line and sinker: what I learned on a sightseeing cruise

On a Skyline cruise of Manhattan’s midtown harbor yesterday (which, by the way, I highly recommend), we were lucky enough to have as our guide a smart and sassy Irish-New Yorker, Danny, who delivered some fascinating nuggets of NYC information that probably aren’t included on the Skyline script or in any of the history or guide books. Among these gems was a little-known explanation of how the word hooker (as in prostitute) found its way into our language.

 

First, let’s get hooker‘s other meanings out of the way. The OED gives the following other definitions:

1. A small Dutch or Irish fishing vessel.

2. derog. any ship. [Dutch hoeker from hoek HOOK]  [I’m loving the nautical theme here]

3. Rugby: the player in the middle of the front row of the scrum who tries to hook the ball

4. A person or thing that hooks

It’s also defined elsewhere as a glass or drink of undiluted brandy, whiskey, or other liquor, as well as a concealed problem, flaw, drawback, or a catch.

 

Now, here’s what Danny the tour guide told us.

It’s generally understood that hooker (as in lady of the night) dates back to the American Civil War, and the time of a charismatic, hard-drinking major general called “Fighting Joe” Hooker who led and fought some of the key battles of the time in Virginia and Pennsylvania, being defeated ultimately and famously at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. As legend has it, this ladies’ man’s legacy wasn’t just a military one: his reputation as a womanizer led his  band of female camp followers to be known as “Hooker’s Women” – or “Hookers” for short.

However, there are several references to the word hooker that pre-date the Civil War and therefore cast doubt on this particular etymology, colorful though it sounds (and real as Major General Hooker is known to have been). Danny the tour guide took us back to a slightly earlier time and place – to 1830s New York, and specifically an area on Manhattan’s Lower East Side known as “Corlear’s Hook”. This point at the bottom end of the East River  – which was known briefly as “Crown Point” under British occupation during the revolution (shown in the map below), where the river literally ‘hooks’ around the island of Manhattan – was an important landmark for navigators for 300 years, and “as early as 1816 was notorious for streetwalkers, ‘a resort for the lewd and abandoned of both sexes’, and in 1821 its ‘streets abounding every night with preconcerted groups of thieves and prostitutes’ were noted by the ‘Christian Herald'” (from Wikipedia). And hence, as Danny explained it, during the early part of the 19th century these streetwalkers came to be known as hookers.

One of the word’s earliest official debuts in the lexicon was its appearance in the second edition of John Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms of 1859.

Brit-phrase Amerci-phrase

Do these expressions sound slightly out of whack to you? If so, you’re probably an American. If not, you must be a Brit.

  • I can’t make head or tail  of what you’re saying.
  • I couldn’t care less about his beliefs.
  • He takes his disabilities in his stride.
  • I’ve got pins and needles in my legs.
  • That series of lectures is right up my street.
  • Touch wood, I’ll pass my driving test this time around.
  • She placed it smack-bang in the middle of the circle.

 

In this case, if you’re surprised at the outcome you’re probably an American.

  • After my offensive outburst at work, I was given my marching orders.

And if this sounds weird to you, you’re likely a Brit.

  • We’re on pins and needles not knowing who won.

 

And here, if you’re wondering whether tenterhooks are very big pins and needles, or whether A-levels have something to do with camping, you’re probably an American.

  • We were on tenterhooks for days, until her A-level results came through.

 

 

 

 

Schadenfreude and language envy

Thanks to “Avenue Q”, we all know what “Schadenfreude”* means. What a great word it is: it describes something we’ve all felt, and we know exactly what it is. And yet we have no word in the English language to describe that very specific and identifiable experience.

Here below is a list of other words (or phrases) that have no English equivalent. Thank you mental_floss. Trust the Japanese to come up with a simple three words to capture that most poetic sensation upon first meeting someone that the two of you are going to fall in love. And the pragmatic Norwegians have a way of describing any food item that can be put between two slices of bread to create a sandwich. Why didn’t we Brits – masters of the art of the sandwich – think up an English pålegg?

Holes such as these in our vocabulary do suggest that language doesn’t necessarily define or mold thought, as many believe: we don’t always think just within the confines of  the language we speak.  Who doesn’t know that panicky thing you feel just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can’t quite remember? You don’t have to know the Scots’ word ‘tartle’ to know that feeling …

* it’s a German word meaning the feeling of pleasure you get from witnessing someone else’s misfortune

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/102722

 

Earlier this year, Bill DeMain introduced us to 15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent. Now that you’ve integrated those into your vocabulary, here are 14 more.

1. Shemomedjamo (Georgian)
You know when you’re really full, but your meal is just so delicious, you can’t stop eating it? The Georgians feel your pain. This word means, “I accidentally ate the whole thing.”

2. Pelinti (Buli, Ghana)
Your friend bites into a piece of piping hot pizza, then opens his mouth and sort of tilts his head around while making an “aaaarrrahh” noise. The Ghanaians have a word for that. More specifically, it means “to move hot food around in your mouth.”

3. Layogenic (Tagalog)
Remember in Clueless when Cher describes someone as “a full-on Monet…from far away, it’s OK, but up close it’s a big old mess”? That’s exactly what this word means.

4. Rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa)
College kids, relax. There’s actually a word for “to sleep on the floor without a mat, while drunk and naked.”

5. Zeg (Georgian)
It means “the day after tomorrow.” Seriously, why don’t we have a word for that in English?

6. Pålegg (Norweigian)
Sandwich Artists unite! The Norwegians have a non-specific descriptor for anything – ham, cheese, jam, Nutella, mustard, herring, pickles, Doritos, you name it – you might consider putting into a sandwich.

7. Lagom (Swedish)
Maybe Goldilocks was Swedish? This slippery little word is hard to define, but means something like, “Not too much, and not too little, but juuuuust right.”

8. Tartle (Scots)
The nearly onomatopoeic word for that panicky hesitation just before you have to introduce someone whose name you can’t quite remember.

9. Koi No Yokan (Japanese)
The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love.

10. Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego)
This word captures that special look shared between two people, when both are wishing that the other would do something that they both want, but neither want to do.

11. Fremdschämen (German); Myötähäpeä (Finnish)
The kindler, gentler cousins of Schadenfreude, both these words mean something akin to “vicarious embarrassment.” Or, in other words, that-feeling-you-get-when-you-watch-Meet the Parents.

12. Cafune (Brazilian Portuguese)
Leave it to the Brazilians to come up with a word for “tenderly running your fingers through your lover’s hair.”

13. Greng-jai (Thai)
That feeling you get when you don’t want someone to do something for you because it would be a pain for them.

14. Kaelling (Danish)
You know that woman who stands on her doorstep (or in line at the supermarket, or at the park, or in a restaurant) cursing at her children? The Danes know her, too.

Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/102722#ixzz1wYZ7hznP
–brought to you by mental_floss!

What do “Pork”, “Mexico” and “Target” have in common?

 

Not a lot, you might think. But Homeland Security believes otherwise: these are just three of several hundred key words the federal government has identified and is using to monitor social and news media feeds and sites to detect possible terrorism, unfolding natural disasters and public health threats. The Huffington Post was one of the first to report on the publication of this Homeland Security manual back in February.

So when you’re next tucking into your hotdog, planning your trip to Cancun, or loading up your shopping basket in that place with the cute dog ads, think twice about Tweeting or posting this news in too much detail, unless you don’t mind being virtually watched (and you don’t feel guilty about sending the Feds on a wild pork chase). Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words are apparently here to protect us.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/24/homeland-security-manual_n_1299908.html

Homeland Security Manual Lists Government Key Words For Monitoring Social Media, News

Posted: 02/24/12 07:59 PM ET  |  Updated: 02/25/12 11:59 AM ET

Ever complain on Facebook that you were feeling “sick?” Told your friends to “watch” a certain TV show? Left a comment on a media website about government “pork?”

If you did any of those things, or tweeted about your recent vacation in “Mexico” or a shopping trip to “Target,” the Department of Homeland Security may have noticed.

In the latest revelation of how the federal government is monitoring social media and online news outlets, the Electronic Privacy Information Center has posted online a 2011 Department of Homeland Security manual that includes hundreds of key words (such as those above) and search terms used to detect possible terrorism, unfolding natural disasters and public health threats. The center, a privacy watchdog group, filed a Freedom of Information Act request and then sued to obtain the release of the documents.

The 39-page “Analyst’s Desktop Binder” used by the department’s National Operations Center includes no-brainer words like “”attack,” “epidemic” and “Al Qaeda” (with various spellings). But the list also includes words that can be interpreted as either menacing or innocent depending on the context, such as “exercise,” “drill,” “wave,” “initiative,” “relief” and “organization.”

These terms and others are “broad, vague and ambiguous” and include “vast amounts of First Amendment protected speech that is entirely unrelated to the Department of Homeland Security mission to protect the public against terrorism and disasters,” stated the Electronic Privacy Information Center in letter to the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

The manual was released by the center a week after Homeland Security officials were grilled at a House hearing over other documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that revealed analysts were scrutinizing online comments that “reflect adversely” on the federal government. Mary Ellen Callahan, the chief privacy officer for the Department of Homeland Security, and Richard Chavez, director for the National Operations Center, testified that the released documents were outdated and that social media was monitored strictly to provide situational awareness and not to police disparaging opinions about the federal government. On Friday, Homeland Security officials stuck by that testimony.

A senior Homeland Security official who spoke to The Huffington Post on Friday on condition of anonymity said the testimony of agency officials last week remains “accurate” and the manual “is a starting point, not the endgame” in maintaining situational awareness of natural and man-made threats. The official denied Electronic Privacy Information Center’s charge that the government is monitoring dissent. The manual’s instruction that analysts should identify “media reports that reflect adversely on DHS and response activities” was not aimed at silencing criticism but at spotting and addressing problems, she added.

Still, the agency agrees that the manual’s language is vague and in need of updating. For instance, under terrorism watchwords, the manual lists “Hamas” and “Hezbollah” but also the “Palestinian Liberation Organization.” The PLO was once considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government but now that it has a diplomatic mission in Washington and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has met with presidents Bush and Obama, the inclusion of this term could be deemed questionable.

“To ensure clarity, as part of … routine compliance review, DHS will review the language contained in all materials to clearly and accurately convey the parameters and intention of the program,” agency spokesman Matthew Chandler told HuffPost.

The Huffington Post was given a sample of the social media nuggets and news reports picked up by Homeland Security analysts by using its watchword list. An internal report circulated by the agency on Feb. 17 to top officials indicated it had collected reports about everything from hotels in Nigeria increasing security as the terrorist group Boko Haram regroups to the arrest of a Bakersfield, Calif., teen in connection with a bomb plot. Other reports covered subjects including a multi-vehicle crash that resulted in the closing of I-85 in North Carolina, a norovirus outbreak at George Washington University, a suspicious package at an Alabama courthouse and an evacuation of a school in New York City’s Bronx boroughas a result of an unknown substance.

Read the Homeland Security manual here:

Analyst Desktop Binder_REDACTED

Watch a video of Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.), chairing a hearing of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence about the Department of Homeland Security’s monitoring of social media.

Record-breaking words & tongues

Even the most unassuming words can be notable or heroic in their own way. Admit it: you love finding out which words take pride of place in the record books by dint of length or letter order.

And there are some languages, too, that are making their own claims to fame.  Can you guess any of them? (All answers – courtesy Guinness Word Records – are under the picture below.)

1. What is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel?

2. What is the longest English word with letters arranged in alphabetical order?

3.  What is the longest English word with letters arranged in reverse alphabetical order?

4.  What is the longest English word in which each letter occurs at least twice?

5.  What is the longest palindromic word (not necessarily in English)?

6.  What is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels? (my personal favorite)

7.  What is the most common language?

8.  What is the least common language?

9.  Which country has the most official languages?

10.  Which language has the longest alphabet?

11.  What is the most common language isolate (a spoken language that has no discernable origins or commonality with any other spoken language, either current or extinct)?

And finally, without moving too far away from the subject of words and tongues:

12.  What is the heaviest weight lifted by a human tongue?

 

 

Answers:

1.  strengths

2.  aegilops

3.  spoonfeed

4.  unprosperousness

5.  saippuakivikauppias (Finnish for a dealer in lye (caustic soda)) *

6.  eunoia

7.  The most common first language is Chinese, spoken by more than 1.1 billion people

8.  The Yaghan language is an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego. The Yaghan are estimated to have numbered between 3,000 and 10,000 before Argentina and Chile began exploring Tierra del Fuego in the late nineteenth century. Disease, relocation and exploitation caused their population to collapse rapidly, to around 70 people in 1930. Today Cristina Calderón (born approximately 1938), is the only remaining native Yaghan speaker.

9.  The country with the most official languages is the Republic of South Africa with 11. These are: English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi, Xitsonga, siSwati, isiNdebele and Tshivenda.

10.  The language with the most letters is Khmer (Cambodian), with 74 (including some without any current use).

11.  A language isolate is a spoken language which has no discernable origins or commonality with any other spoken language, either current or extinct. Basque is the most common, spoken by the Basque people of the Basque country, northern Spain/southern France. This language is spoken by around 600,000 people.

12.  The greatest weight lifted with a human tongue is 12.5 kg (27 lb 8.96 oz) by Thomas Blackthorne (UK) who lifted the weight hooked through his tongue on the set of El Show Olímpico, in Mexico City, Mexico, on 1 August 2008.

* Some baptismal fonts in Greece and Turkey bear the circular 25-letter inscription NIYON ANOMHMATA MH MONAN OYIN, meaning wash (my) sins, not only (my) face. This appears at St Marys Church, Nottingham, at St Pauls, Woldingham, Surrey and at other churches.

Tautologous pleonasms

Thanks, Mentalfloss, for this great list of pleonasms.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/126901 (see below)

My question is: what’s the difference between a pleonasm and a tautology? Well, a pleonasm is a case of more words being used than necessary; a tautology is using different words to say the same thing. Pleonasm: “a round circle”. Tautology: “he was born on the day of his birth”.

Mr. Jam addresses the tautology epidemic on his hilarious blog:

http://mrjam.typepad.com/diary/2011/02/epidemic-of-tautology-spreads.html

MENTALFLOSS

The word pleonasm describes phrases that use more words than necessary to get across a point. Sometimes a pleonasm is used for effect. Other times it’s just redundant. Here are some examples people use all the time. Add your own in the comments.

Neck image via Shutterstock

1. Nape of the neck. There’s only one nape, and it’s the back of your neck. It’s possible we get confused by the “scruffs” of animals’ necks since there are other scruffs out there. If you’re ever talking about a nape, though, you can drop “of the neck.”

2. False pretense. This is one we all should have known before. Although pretense technically means any “claim or implication,” the vast majority of the time, our usage of “pretense” already implies falsehood. For example: when’s the last time you thought something was both pretentious and genuine?

3. Frozen tundra. “Tundra” comes from the Russian word for Arctic steppes, and tundra is generally characterized by permafrost, frozen subsoil. Technically, there is non-frozen Alpine tundra, so-called from lack of vegetation, not temperature. Still, the vast majority of tundra is frozen. So, whether you’re talking about northern Siberia or poking fun at North Dakotan winters, this phrase is generally redundant.

4. Gnashing of teeth. This one is a symbol of frustration and suffering. But “to gnash” already means “to grind one’s teeth” and has meant that since the fifteenth century. If the only thing you can gnash is teeth, this little turn of phrase is pitch-perfect pleonasm.

5. Head honcho. “Honcho” is a relatively new addition to English, coming to us from Japanese around the time of World War II. In Japanese, hancho means “group leader,” so American servicemen picked the word up in normal conversation. However, since “honcho” (with the anglicized spelling) already means boss or leader, adding the head is just excessive.

6. Bleary-eyed. People wake up bleary-eyed every morning. People get bleary-eyed every day and fuel those 5-Hour Energy commercials. “Bleary” already means dulled or dimmed in vision. No other part of you can be bleary at all. Other things can be bleary, like a foggy mirror, but if you’re bleary, you don’t need to add the part about your eyes.

7. Veer off course. There’s no other place a person can veer. “Veer” means “to change direction” or “to go off course” no matter what. In fact, it’s meant that since at least the 1580s. Because the prepositional phrase is unnecessary, English speakers have probably been overstating their veers for centuries.

8. Safe haven. “Haven” is an old word. And several dictionaries still list its literal meaning first: “harbor” or “port.” But since the 13th century, English speakers have primarily used the figurative meaning: a place of safety and refuge. So, unless you’re telling someone about an especially non-threatening harbor, you can leave off the first part.

9. Ford a river. This one isn’t nearly as common as the others. But from time to time, one hears about fording a river. “Ford” as a verb means “to cross a river or stream” coming from the noun “ford” for a shallow place in the water. In theory, one could ford a lake, but no one ever says that.
* * *
Prepay in advance? Tired cliché? Give us your best pleonasms below.

Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/126901#ixzz1v7x8nWIB
–brought to you by mental_floss!

 

Guess the contranyms (and the word with many meanings)

 

It’s a wonder that anyone learns English – with all its strange spellings and pronunciations that defy all the rules, and its huge vocabulary of words with multiple and subtle meanings – not to mention some regional accents that can make it almost impossible to decipher. (I’m a Brit, and I can’t understand a Glaswegian talking fast.)

And not helping the cause are those evil identical twins that can trip up even the natives: the confusing contranym. As defined by Wikipedia, this is a word with a homograph  (a word of the same spelling) that is also an antonym (a word with the opposite meaning). Incidentally, even the word contranym has at least three synonyms (“auto-antonym”, “antilogy” and “enantiodrome”), an alternative spelling (“contronym”), and a poetic nickname after a Roman god (“Janus word”); just as the Eskimos need lots of words for snow, so do we English-speakers need many words to name our many words … The only way of determining a contranym’s meaning at any given time is by its context: the more scant or murky the language surrounding it, the more likely it is to cause communication havoc. At least Mandarin gives its synonyms (and contranyms) musical clues (ie. different tones assigned to different meanings) to help move the conversation along; we Brits have to rely on our linguistic prowess to get our point across.

Below are some of the more common examples of contranyms. I thought of a slightly obscure one today that I had never realized before was a contranym (even though I’ve been using both meanings for as long as I can remember). Here’s a clue: the name of this blog …

And I wondered on a recent morning commute whether there’s another contranym coming down the pike: right now the second meaning is in its colloquial infancy, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see this definition getting a dictionary entry in the not-too-distant future. The clue for this word is what I was doing when I started wondering about it …

While we’re on the subject: when you suggest something to your teenager and she tells you she’s “down”, or that your idea is “sick”, rejoice! Contranym slang is the new teen-speak!

And finally, back to the words with many meanings: can you think of an English word that has up to 26 meanings as a verb (two of which are admittedly obsolete) and 29 meanings as a noun?

~~~~~~~~

bound (bound for Chicago, moving); bound (tied up, unable to move)

cleave (to cut apart); cleave (to seal together)

buckle (buckle your pants — to hold together); buckle (knees buckled — to collapse, fall apart)

citation (award for good behavior); citation (penalty for bad behavior)

clip (attach to); clip (cut off from, excerpt)

cut* (get into a line)  cut* (get out of a class)

dust (remove dust); dust (apply dust — fingerprints)

fast (moving rapidly); fast (fixed in position)

handicap (disability, disadvantage); handicap (advantage given to a competitor to equalize chances of winning)

left (remaining); left (having gone)

moot (arguable) ; moot (not worthy of argument, purely academic)

oversight (watchful control) ; oversight (something not noticed)

overlook (ignore, miss, fail to notice); overlook (look down upon, afford a view of)

 

* American usage