Category: Uncategorized
Book Fraud
These people are more brazen by the day. Here’s someone repackaging and selling a book which can be had for at no cost from the Internet Archive, which is undoubtedly where they got it.
Drinking your words
My latest column in the Malaysia Star. … A recent New York Times article about Pu’er teas reminded me that I’ve been meaning to talk a bit about the names of food. The article explained that the tea was thought to reduce cholesterol and cure hangovers, so the Pu’er name had become immensely powerful in…
The names of wines and cheeses
I will be leading a class about the names of wines and cheeses this Friday, January 23, at Murray’s Cheese on Bleecker Street in New York City. There’s a fee, but it includes lots and lots of cheese and wine samples. Skip dinner!
Bailout, the Word of 2008
This is my latest column in the Malaysia Star. … This year, the American Dialect Society selected “bailout” as its word of 2008. That means it was the one which the society’s members felt was the most relevant to the events of the year. Earlier in the year, the editors and lexicographers at Merriam-Webster, one…
American Dialect Society 2008 Word of the Year is “Bailout”
In its 19th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted “bailout” as the word of the year. In the specific sense used most frequently in 2008, bailout refers to the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry. Presiding at the…
Early nominations for the grandaddy of all 2008 word-of-the-year votes are released
The product of one of the other hats I wear: … [ The short URL to this post is http://americandialect.org/woty2008/ ] Early nominations for the American Dialect Society’s 2008 word of the year vote are now available, including three batches from society members who specialize in following language trends, and a list of the most-nominated…
Buzzwords of 2008
My fifth annual “buzzwords of the year” article has been published by the New York Times. I’ll also be fielding questions about buzzwords, and about language in general, on the Times’ Ideas blog.
What is this shit?
My latest column in the Malaysia Star is about the word “shit.” This paragraph is the key one: [Shit] is, I believe, ready to be heard unbleeped (uncensored) on the government-regulated airwaves in America. It is also ready to be printed in mainstream periodicals without fear of outrage, without being remarked upon, or without being…
The American Dialect Society seeks 2008 word-of-the-year nominations
The American Dialect Society is now accepting nominations for the “word of the year” of 2008. What is the word or phrase which best characterizes the year 2008? What expression most reflects the ideas, events, and themes which have occupied the United States and its residents? Nominations should be sent to woty@americandialect.org. They will be…
First Haircut
Guthrie, at 19 months, got his first haircut today. He now knows Vito the Barber by name. He was very good, though a little nervous. His papa held him in his lap the whole time. You can see the little rat’s nest in the back that had to go. Like I said, he was very…