Month: October 2007
Meatbeard, scud, jacket
Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: meatbeard n. a person’s double chin. scud n. the small and very hot “bird’s eye” chili pepper, also known as the “mouse-dropping” chili. Usually said to be nicknamed after the Scud missile. jacket n. Richard Allsopp’s Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage defines this as “the child of…
A blog as a single web site entry
I’ve got very few language peeves, but I’ve been sitting on one of them until I’m ready to burst. It’s this: the use of “blog” to mean a single entry or post to a blog web site. As in, “Today’s blog is going to be short, but I’ll write a longer blog tomorrow.” Examples are…
Ten-days, ghosting, pogo-sticking
Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: ten-days n. in Trinidad and Tobago, a temporary job. ghosting n. leaving candy at someone’s door, knocking, and then running away before they answer. pogo-sticking n. on the Web, going back and forth from a main page to various sub pages in search of information, usually as…
Bryan Garner: making law and language more comprehensible
Despite its ridiculously hagiographic overtones—”leading lexicographer of our time” and “greatest living lexicographer” are just two of the preposterously unverifiable statements in the article, and the first one is in the headline—I recommend taking a look at this interesting D Magazine article about Bryan Garner, author of Garner’s Modern American Usage and editor of Black’s…
Flexting, couch homelessness
Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: flexting n. flirting via text messaging. couch homelessness n. not having a home of one’s own and taking temporary shelter with friends or relatives.
The hackneyed headline triple play
The headline Wired Youth Aim to Stir Peers and Sway Poland’s Vote contains three of the most hackneyed words used by lame headline-writers in North America: “aim,” “stir,” and “sway.” All it needs now is “spark” and “controversy” and it’d be a grand champion.
Minigarch, bitza
Recent interesting catchwords from Double-Tongued Dictionary are: minigarch n. a powerful person who is rich but not extravagantly so. From mini ‘small’ plus -garch from a misdivision of oligarch, which comes from the Greek oligoi ‘few’ and arkhein ‘to rule.’ bitza n. a thing that has a mixed heritage or is made of an other…
Wristcutters, A Love Story: upbeat, quirky, classic
I want to direct your attention to Wristcutters, a wry, sharp film starring Patrick Fugit, the kid from Almost Famous. It was produced (with others) by my friend Tatiana Kelly. After it made the rounds of the film festivals last year, I feared the little gem would be lost before they could pick up some…
Paycheck game, pull, deconstruction
Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: paycheck game n. in American college football, a sporting competition between a strong, favored team and a lower-caliber team (usually from another conference), for which the favored team pays the underdog a substantial fee. Also called a bodybag game or a cupcake game. pull v. to participate…
Pass the trash, ibby-jibbies
Recent interesting catchwords from the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: pass the trash v. to repeatedly reassign bad teachers to different classes or schools. A synonym for trade turkeys and dance of the lemons. ibby-jibbies n.pl. a variant of “heebie-jeebies,” meaning extreme nervousness or “the willies.”