Some of these are my pet hates. Why can't they get the apostophes correct?
Here's a sample of the wonderful cartoons ....
Click here to see the remainder ... http://bit.ly/7u6X2E
For those of you who enjoy word puzzles, we have a selection from the Anagram Hall of Fame.
Internet Anagram Server = Isn’t rearrangement rave?
Elvis = Lives
Listen = Silent
Clint Eastwood = Old West Action
A Telephone Girl = Repeating "Hello"
Western Union = No Wire Unsent
The Country Side = No City Dust Here
The eyes = They see
The Cockroach = Cook, Catch Her
This is just a selection of the anagrams collected. You can view the complete list on the Website.
A wide-ranging collection of odd words and trivia about language. Try the history of "dord" on page one, and then try to stop browsing through the rest. Thanks Sneedle Flipsock
From Stephen Downs' OLDaily: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lakoff
When I was a child I learned that there were six colours in the spectrum. I even learned a little rhyme to help me remember. Red and orange, green and blue, shining yellow, purple too, all the colours that we know, live up in the rainbow. Somewhere along the line, someone added a colour: indigo. Ask me today what colour something is and I'll probably use one of the words in my rhyme. Indigo? Never use it, never even see it. Do I need the word for the colour to exist? Do I need to have learned the concept to distinguish indigo objects from others? This short article, unattributed but reading a lot like George Lakoff, suggests that concepts can exist even if the words don't. By Unattributed, The Economist, August 19, 2004
Ever watch a colleague take credit for your idea, been accused of being emotional, taken jokes too personally or been interrupted frequently in a meeting?
Most women will nod yes to such scenarios, say the authors of "Code Switching: How to Talk So Men Will Listen," a new book on communication, or the lack thereof, between men and women.
Men and women communicate differently, say authors Claire Damken Brown and Audrey Nelson, in ingrained styles learned from birth and deeply embedded in the workplace structure.
They propose "code switching," which they describe as using knowledge of more than one culture and language to communicate.
http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSN0749127520091008
These two verbs are too often confused, even by experienced writers. Perhaps the confusion stems from the acceptable use of either in certain contexts. We either convince or persuade someone of the value of a proposition or of the goodness of a certain action. But the two verbs part ways when we try to make them lead into complementary infinitives with to...it works with persuade but does not with convince.
We can convince a person that a statement is correct; we can convince him of its correctness; but we cannot convince (though we can persuade) him to believe it or to act on the belief. In all the examples here, the use of convince is incorrect:
· It was thought to have convinced a considerable number of independents to vote for the less experienced candidate.
· He said that the chairman had been convinced by the reporter to open the doors on the meeting.
· She tried to convince Williams in the interview to apologize to the fans and especially to the line judge.
· We made very attempt to convince the electorate to approve the measure, but without success.
All these examples should use persuade (or prevail upon) where they use convince.
This was one of the amazing weekly grammar tips from Proofread Now http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/6b1ba81c3ad24ab09316e5ce4695fe78.htm
Words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within. -Alfred, Lord Tennyson
It's a verbal virus that's spreading unchecked on TV, radio and in print.
Want to sound certain? Want to remove all doubt? Want to be a commentator on TV?
Absolutely.
It has become the standard reply to every question or comment. It clings like lint to our conversations.
Are we in a recession senator? "Absolutely not."Was Michael Jackson a musical genius?"Absolutely." Want syrup on those pancakes?Absolutely.
It's even reached the highest office in the land. When President Obama was recently asked by a Pakistani journalist if he read Urdu poetry, he said: "Absolutely."
We hear of videos that go viral. But why has this word, absolutely, taken off?
Watch: The words you love to hate »
Phraseology
Thousands of Bizarre Origins, Unexpected Connections, and Fascinating Facts about English's Best Expressions
by Barbara Kipfer
Phraseology is the ultimate collection of everything you never knew about the wonderful phrases found in the English language. It contains information about phrase history and etymology; unusual, lost, or uncommon phrases; how phrases are formed; and more than 7,000 facts about common English phrases.
Find out more or buy the book at The Book Depository or Amazon.
From Stephen Downs' OLDaily:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lakoff
When I was a child I learned that there were six colours in the spectrum. I even learned a little rhyme to help me remember. Red and orange, green and blue, shining yellow, purple too, all the colours that we know, live up in the rainbow. Somewhere along the line, someone added a colour: indigo. Ask me today what colour something is and I'll probably use one of the words in my rhyme. Indigo? Never use it, never even see it. Do I need the word for the colour to exist? Do I need to have learned the concept to distinguish indigo objects from others? This short article, unattributed but reading a lot like George Lakoff, suggests that concepts can exist even if the words don't.
