Talking to the men of ISIS
Read it.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Language and grammar
And Brian Beutler and his ilk are de facto rabble rousers
Take a look at this excerpt from a piece by Beutler in TNR about the racial situation in Ferguson, Missouri [emphasis mine]: You’ve probably seen the statistics by now. Ferguson is about two-thirds black. It’s police force is nearly 100 … Continue reading →
What is the opposite of “legal immigrants”?
“Undocumented” ones. The transformation of our language from meaningful to propaganda on the issue of new arrivals to this country is pretty much complete. One would think the opposite of “legal immigrant” would be “illegal immigrant.” But “undocumented immigrant” seems … Continue reading →
Male upspeak…
…is on the upswing. I’ve noticed it among the young. I’m a woman, but I’m not an upspeaker. That’s because I’m old. And very opinionated. Polite, but opinionated. And I don’t like upspeak, in men or women.
Continue reading →Jonathan Chait on Eric Cantor’s defeat: undocumented
I was wondering what the left would have to say about it all—mostly, how the attack on Brat would start to be framed—and this article by Jonathan Chait was instructive but unsurprising in that regard: Brat’s a “Rand-loving right-wing crank.” … Continue reading →
The Bergdahl memes emerge
It became clear as soon as the background information about Bergdahl began coming out that the left would say the right was swiftboating Bergdahl. After all, as I wrote previously here, “swiftboating”: …has become a synonym for “a political low … Continue reading →
Baffled By the Lyrics
Surely you remember the Manfred Mann mid-70s hit “Blinded By the Light.” It’s a pretty nifty song, with an earworm-inducing hook. But the rest of the lyrics are unintelligible. It doesn’t really matter, because it’s so catchy. But no, that … Continue reading →
The boy she loves is a Romeo
Want a break from politics? Let’s take a look at that 1965 song “Back in My Arms Again,” one of my favorites by the Supremes. Note how subtle and classy the sexuality of their performance is compared to today’s pop … Continue reading →
You had me at hello
I remember reading decades ago about how quickly we judge people when we first meet them. Yes or no, stay or move on? This 1986 book said the judgments all happen within four minutes, but my impression is that it’s … Continue reading →
All Things Scottish
After I posted that video about voice recognition systems and accents, a reader kindly sent me a link to this one: The Scots accent is inherently funny (is that un-PC to say, or is it okay because they’re white?) because … Continue reading →
Maureen Dowd…
…probably should not venture into the world of Yiddish. Oy, vey! It will only give her tsuris instead of nachas. Note to MoDo: not all “kve” words are alike.
Continue reading →Churchill and speechmaking
Last night when I was engaged in not watching Obama’s SOTU speech, I was thinking of the antidote: Churchill. I even wrote a couple of notes for this post. And funny thing, today I see that commenter “Beverly” had the … Continue reading →