"No matter how cynical I get, I can’t keep up.” — Lily Tomlin
If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought – George Orwell
. . . but have you seen this commercial yet? Jesus. I remember how shocked Donna and I were when we saw our first Ultra Brite commercial . . . remember the toothpaste that gave your mouth “sex appeal”? That was in the late 60s or early 70s, back when you couldn’t say the word […]
Some time ago, on my other blog, I expounded on “internet” versus “Internet.” This is what I said: Yeah, I know we’re supposed to capitalize “internet.” Some people even capitalize “web.” I won’t do it. Is internet capitalized because it’s relatively new? What about telegraph, telephone, and television? Did they capitalize those words when they were […]
These days I’m running the gauntlet of writers and publishers. Does running the gauntlet make you cringe? God, it does me. But not the writers and publishers of One Bullet Away and Cobra II: the Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. In the first, which I recently finished, the writer runs the gauntlet four […]
As in: the preverbal nail in the coffin. Other examples, picked up here and there: Living in Georgia is the eternal pit of the preverbal Hell The preverbal hell on earth End up in the preverbal dog house I’m tempted to classify “preverbal” for “proverbial” as an eggcorn, but on second thought it’s more of […]
When I lived in Glasgow, Montana, there were two towns on the road to Great Falls, Havre and Chauteau. Pronouncing them correctly marked you as an outsider, pitiful and beneath contempt. Havre was “Haver” and Chauteau “Shotto.” Watching the Olympics, I can’t help thinking of Melpomene Road in Tucson, locally pronounced “Mel-po-mean.” Of course it’s […]