Contrary conversationalists
Do you know people like this? I certainly do. Sometimes I fear I am one, although I really don’t do it all that often. I hope. [Hat tip: Maetenloch at Ace’s.]
Continue reading →Category Archives: Language and grammar
Republicans fear Obama’s eloquence? Excuse me?
Sometimes I wonder where Peggy Noonan has been for the past few years. Back when she was Reagan’s speechwriter, she seemed to have her finger on the pulse of something. But “out-of-touch” is too mild a term to describe this: … Continue reading →
Obama: it seemed hot to me
Obama’s speech on economics yesterday was remarkable in that it failed to impress even the sycophants at MSNBC: And Dana Milbank of the WaPo was not the least bit happy with Obama, either: I had high hopes for President Obama’s … Continue reading →
Obama & Sons
That is, Daughters. Obama’s slip of the tongue—saying “my sons” when he has daughters—seems very odd indeed. Does he have sons we don’t know about? Or perhaps he always wanted sons, and this is in the nature of a Freudian … Continue reading →
Friend or pho?
I had some pho last night. You know, that Vietnamese noodle soup that everybody seems to love. While talking with a friend of mine, though, she told me that my pronunciation—as in “foe”—was incorrect, and that it’s actually pronounced more … Continue reading →
Winning the lottery and sherbert
Here’s a nice story about Louise White of Rhode Island, an 81-year-old lady who just won a 336 million Powerball jackpot. Not surprisingly at her age, Ms. White chose to receive the money in a lump sum of $210,000,000 rather … Continue reading →
Heartlandgate, memos, and writing styles
What does Heartlandgate prove about AGW? Absolutely nothing. But it does say something about what AGW’s more fanatical proponents are prepared to do in furthering the cause—at least, what one of them, Dr. Peter Gleick, a noted freshwater scientist and … Continue reading →
Spambot (and word) of the day
Flighty bot: That is because I am a bit of a fliberttygibbet Although spelled incorrectly, this is charming to me because it reminds me that there exists a delightful word, “flibbertigibbet,” which I’ve neither heard nor thought of in many … Continue reading →
More spelling confusion
It’s time for another grammar rant, to go with my “it’s vs. its” harangue. But this time we will deal with “who’s” and “whose.” On the face of it there’s no reason to confuse the two—“who’s” follows the classic rule … Continue reading →
Spambot of the day
This one came with an Ugg boots URL. It was nowhere near this short in its full manifestation; the following is merely an excerpt. The original went on for at least thirty more lines, all of it nonsense but all … Continue reading →
A soda by any other name…
…would taste as sweet. The survey that demonstrates this is not especially scientific, but it’s fun. Growing up in New York, the operative word for carbonated beverages was “soda.” Later I learned that in the midwest “pop” was much preferred. … Continue reading →
Undocumented
Throughout this WaPo article, illegal aliens are referred to as “undocumented workers.” Has this become official WaPo policy? If so, it’s evidence of the further decline of the American MSM (as if we needed any), and of theWaPo’s contribution to … Continue reading →