Studpidity
Sometimes happy accidents create brand new words that fill and hitherto unnoticed gap. Such is the case with “studpidity”.
Read more...
My Vulgarity Conundrum
I love words. I love all words. They tie us to a common anchor of communication. And yet, some words are despised. Not because of anything intrinsic–they are just sequences of letters/sounds, after all–but because of societal taboos. It’s been an interesting personal adventure.
Read more...Are We Losing Fewer?
I’m seeing it more and more: “less” being used in places where “fewer” should be. I can understand the occasional misuse, but I’m seeing it throughout the Internet and in some magazines and newspaper articles as well as advertisements. We may have transitioned from misuse of “less” being bad grammar into the realm of it being a change of word use.
Read more...Grammar Myths – Let Bygone Rules Be Gone
Is it no wonder that I love playing in the fields of the English language? Grammar Myths.
Read more...What should we call the decade that started in the year 2000? – Slate Magazine
I know a lot of people couldn’t care any less, but it’s just this sort of thing that keeps me awake at …
Read more...
It’s Called READING a Book For a Reason
Some things just smack my gob. In a recent blog, Literary Agent Nathan Bransford poses the question: Does listening to an audiobook count as reading? Here’s what I think.
Read more...
Why I Write
Following my post, TTSCC Scenes I’d Like to See (Part 5) – Veritas, I received an email from a casual lurker (their words) asking why do I post these scenes? Did I expect to be “discovered” or something?
Read more...
Thinking About “New Boobs”
On her profile on a popular social networking site, a 20-something actress/writer/humorist/cool person directed her friends to get more info on her “new book, new shows, new movie, new boobs”. Needless to say, that’s been quite the attention-grabber. I mean, who doesn’t want to know more about the new book, the new shows, and the new movie? Even so, I think I’m going to go down the road less traveled and concentrate on the “new boobs”.
Read more...
Trying To Make English Easier
Every generation finds English being tested by the young (and smart-asses, let’s be fair). It keeps the language vibrant. Plus, English does have bits that could deal with some tweaking. Though I’m no longer young (but I am the other thing), I’d be remiss in not mentioning some tweaks of my own.
Read more...
Smilin’ and Grinnin’
I find one of the most confounding things in language right now is how people use the words “smile” and “grin”. It doesn’t happen often, but we seem to be at a stage where how people use words in practice is at odds with how they are defined.
Read more...
A Pox on Collective Nouns
I have a major peeve with soccer announcers…not football/fútbol announcers, but soccer announcers (you know, the American kind). Almost every soccer match I watch is infected with a grammatical irritant that I’ve tried to scratch, but the itch persists. What bug is annoying me this time? The inappropriate application of verb agreement with collective nouns.
Read more...