Category: Uncategorized
Fong kong, scaracter, bolt-on
Recent interesting catchwords from Double-Tongued Dictionary are: fong kong n. in South Africa and Zimbabwe, a product from Asia, usually believed to be shoddy and cheap. The expression seems to be used both as a count and noncount noun. A similar term is zhing zhong. scaracter n. an actor at a Halloween-themed amusement park or…
Recent Catchwords: prairie whale, full Ginsburg, halitophobia
Recent interesting catchwords in the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: prairie whale: n. a hog. So-called because its fat can be used for things usually done with ambergris. full Ginsburg: n. being a guest on all five major American Sunday morning television shows in a single day. Named after William Ginsburg, Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer, who, on February…
Recent catchwords: tulies, poli-fluential, generation Q, skittles room
Recent interesting catchwords on the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: tulies: n. the boondocks or the middle of nowhere. Out in the tules/tules means “out in the boondocks” or “far away.” Another spelling is “tules,” plural form of “tule,” pronounced TOO-lee, which is a type of Californian bulrush and the origin of the term. The expression is…
Recent catchwords: trade turkeys, camp leg, lasagna gardening
Recent interesting catchwords on the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: trade turkeys: v. phr. to swap bad teachers between schools. “Turkey” is a long-standing slang word for something or someone that performs poorly. A synonym for “trading turkeys” is dance of the lemons. A related term, also mentioned in the article cited here, is rubber room, where…
Early nominations for word of the year: wide stance, toe-tapper, and snus
Two days ago I spoke with Becky Boone of the Associated Press in Idaho about two terms that have come out of the bathroom sex scandal surrounding Senator Larry Craig. She managed to get out of me that they will be among my nominations for “word of the year” when the American Dialect Society holds…
What the F***? On Swearing
The publication of Steven Pinker’s book The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature means he’s been showing up all over the place as the author of popular articles on language. The latest one to come across my inbox (and I see them all, every one, as long as they’re online) is…
Recent Catchwords: hose-dragger, grunter-hunter, heritage callout
Recent interesting catchwords in the Double-Tongued Dictionary are: hose-dragger n. a nickname for a firefighter. grunter-hunter n. a pig-hunter in Australia. heritage callout n. a design that references a particular ethnic, racial, or national group, such as traditional Native American patterns on products targeted at Native Americans.
Free linguistic articles from Cambridge Extra at Linguist List
I’m not sure how I missed this, but Cambridge University Press and Linguist List have teamed up to create a new, free online publication called Cambridge Extra. You do have to register to read it. The debut issue is visually quite ugly and seems to be merely a repackaging of linguistic content from various Cambridge…
Translating “wheeze” in Spanish affects asthma treatment: sibilancia, ronquido, or something else?
Jennifer 8. Lee writes in the City Room blog of the New York Times that difficulties in choosing the correct Spanish word for “wheeze” are making it difficult to treat asthma in Hispanophones. Be sure to read the comments, where Spanish-speaking doctors chime in with informed opinions (alongside the usual half-assed comments from anyone with…
Recent Catchwords: o-beer-time, butthurt, way back, huacha
The most interesting recent catchwords in the Double-Tongued Dictionary were: o-beer time: in the Philippines, an instance of or an occasion suitable for drinking, similar to “beer o’clock” and “beer thirty.” butthurt adj. angry, indignant, offended, or outraged. way back n. the backmost area of a station wagon (British: estate car), usually used for portage…