Blog love

One of my freelance editors' groups sent out a link to this blog post. What a fantastic idea! Imagine reviewing books by editing the first page as you would if you were a book editor. I completely agree with the concept that you can tell a lot about a book from the first page.

In order to accurately have an opinion on the controversial 50 Shades of Grey, I actually went out and bought the book so I could see for myself what all the hullabaloo was about (yes, that is spelled correctly - I checked the OED). My opinion? The book is badly written. The editing is even worse. But it's the kind of book that captures your attention (or, in my opinion, it mimics the flow of good reading so you don't want to put it down because it encourages you to keep on).

I've subscribed to the blog because I'd love to read more posts like this. Great concept, well written and worth a giggle or two.

The Red Pen of Doom impales Fifty Shades of Grey

Logolepsy...and other wonderful words

I came across the most beautiful collection of words and their meanings while browsing Pinterest this evening. I just had to share. My favourite is the following:

 

 

If you have any interest in words at all, head over [here] and pick out your own favourites. They aren't all necessarily English but the sentiments (and even just the sound of some of them) are exquisite.

Trending English: changes so subtle you hardly notice they're happening

I love it when people other than myself notice small trends in language. Mentalfloss.com has done a good job here with four subtle changes in English. There aren't things the average language user would pick up on but definitely something language practitioners should keep an eye on.

Read the full story: Four changes to English so subtle we hardly notice they're happening

English spellings

One of my favourite things about language is etymology. I love finding out where words come from and how they came to mean, and be spelled, the way they do today.

My former editor posted this link on Facebook about words that are spelled weirdly and how they got that way. It makes for an interesting read... if you're into that sort of thing.

11 weirdly spelled words and how they got that way

Via mental_floss.com

Monday Pun-day

Here are a couple of puns to get you through Monday. Enjoy!
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A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, UCLA.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate.

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

The batteries were given out free of charge.

A will is: a dead giveaway.

If you don't pay your exorcist, you can get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you a-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.

When you've seen one shopping centre, you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

In a democracy, it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your count that votes.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

He had a photographic memory, which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture: a jab well done.

Top tips for subeditors

There are few things in life that give me as much pleasure as reworking a piece of writing so that it's more succinct. I love making sure that a piece is constructed in such a way that the message is clear, the tone is perfectly suited to the audience and it's both technically and contextually correct.

When I come across a piece - such as the latest post on Grubstreet in which deputy chief sub for City Press, Krash King, is interviewed - that highlights the joys of editing, I'm enthralled. It's been a crazy busy day at the office and taking the time to remember why I do (and love) my job makes a huge difference.

"Tweet" makes it into the Oxford Dictionary

The word "tweet" meaning “to make a posting on the social networking service Twitter” (verb) or “a posting made on the social networking service Twitter” (noun) has officially made it into my go-to dictionary the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), according to GirlGuides.co.za.

Read the full story and see why this is a unique exception. 

"Tweet" makes it into the Oxford English Dictionary

Slashing the status quo

I've accepted that English is dynamic; constantly evolving. Lately, I've noticed a change in certain punctuation practises. There's a great article on chronicle.com about the changing usage of the "slash" - not just as a punctuation mark but also as a word.

My favourite change is the introduction of the term "slashers". It's used for people who may have more than one occupation. For example, chartered accountant / musician (or, if you're one of the kids mentioned in the article, chartered accountant slash musician).

I'm seeing more of this in the media space and especially on Twitter where biographies are almost always a "slash up" (yes, I just made that word up) of what you are to different people: journo slash blogger; marketing executive slash mommy to three; or even daughter slash mom slash sister slash jack-of-all-trades slash household executive. That one's my favourite.

Check out the full article here: Slash, not just a punctuation mark anymore

The right to be forgotten

It's a lovely sentiment. In today's world of digital news, it's almost impossible to erase yourself from history. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn - they all make sure that the one time you posted something silly is forever retained in the archives of the interwebs.

As they say, the internet never forgets.

In South Africa, negotiating the world of social media for journos can be tricky. As far as I know,  there aren't any actual laws that regulate online media, although almost all of my breaking news is consumed via my social media networks.

Grubstreet has posted a brilliant piece on what SA journos and media can expect to happen over the next few years in the courts as precedents are set and legislation catches up with the ever-changing world of digital media.

Willem de Klerk sets out five principles to keep in mind when using social media. It's a bit wordy but well worth the read. Just make sure you check out both posts and click through the links to other articles and examples of some social media policies. See below for links to both parts.

Part One

Part Two

The psychology of names

I found this article on The New Yorker about the psychology behind names. I love the description of a study asking people to decide on the names of certain shapes. The whole thing is worth a read though.

The surprising psychology of how names shape our thoughts

English is not static

English is dynamic; it changes and adapts. It's often influenced by social context and a writer's ability to flex and change language rules can sometimes be what sets them apart. Granted, we're not all Shakespeares, who was renowned for making up words when he couldn't find the ones he wanted.

Working for different publishing houses has shown me that some rules can be taken with a pinch of salt. Some copy-editors are pedantic about orphans and widows. Others abhore contrations. Personally, I almost always change "which" to "that".

I recently came across an article on some rules that may be overlooked in today's world of words and language.

I'm not sure I agree with all of them and to this day my mom still corrects my preposition positioning with her hypocritical: "You can't end a sentences with with!"

Read it. See what you think. Do you have any additions or specific rules you just can't break?

The old "new" rules for language - by Tiffany Markman

Why grammar rules, OK!

I recently posted on the how being a grammar pedant (or grammar nazi if that's your preferred term) is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not a bully and I don't think I criticise unnecessarily. I think there are numerous reasons to check your spelling, have someone proof your work and to take note of specific grammar rules.

Luckily, I'm not alone.

Have a look at this article: Why grammar rules, OK! by Lee Helme.

In my mind, nothing discredits a brand more than a spelling error.

Subbing sports

In my experience, sports journos are some of the world's worst language users. And that was before I realised the difficulties in subbing work in different countries. With different jargon for different sports, I pity the person whose life is dedicated to solely subbing sports pieces. I, at least, get to mix it up a bit with lifestyle and news pieces.

Here's what the BBC's Tom Geoghegan had to say on the matter.

"In the six" and football's other strange Americanisms

I shot the serif

I found the image below on Pinterest and it tickled my funny bone. It also got me thinking about serif and sans serif typography. Personally, I'm more of a serif kinda gal but preferred the term sans serif (it appeals to the francophile in me).

From what I was taught, serif meant "with feet" and sans serif ("sans" being French for "without") obviously meant the opposite: "without feet". Apparently the etymology of the word is debatable with various sources accrediting the Dutch, French and even the Japenese or Chinese with the term. The best round up I could find was on this blog: I love typography

Illiterate or lazy?

I recently came across the following article on how people who are commonly referred to as "grammar nazis" behave on the internet.

Literacy Privilege: How I Learned to Check Mine Instead of Making Fun of People’s Grammar on the Internet

It certainly made for an interesting read. The author is a recovering grammar pedant who realised the error of her ways after being asked to help develop an adult literacy programme. Illiteracy is an ongoing problem and living in a country like South Africa, where our education levels are some of the lowest in the world, no-one can argue that sometimes access to education is a problem.

It's quite simple, really. There are a number of reasons why someone may struggle with things like spelling, grammar and punctuation. They may not have had access to education. They may, as this article point out, have a learning disability. For someone who struggles with dyslexia, the things that make my blood boil and make me want to drive a pencil through someone's hand may quite simply seem impossible. 

Except, they're not. I understand people with learning disabilities. I know that it is no reflection on someone's intellect or ability to comprehend things. I sympathise and feel grateful that I am not one of these sufferers. But, I do think that in this day and age, this is not an excuse.

Latin phrases everyone should know

My love for language doesn't just stop at English. I have a passionate love affair with most languages and Latin has always been a favourite. Not that I know much about it other than when it overlaps with modern English. Here are a few Latin phrases that everyone either already does or probably should know.

Caveat: There is a spelling error in the above graphic. I am aware and yes, it does bug me.

When English teachers snap

New dictionary entries

Some of these are so brilliant. I love the play on words.

Adult: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

Beauty parlour: A place where women curl up and dye.

Cannibal: Someone who is fed up with people.

Chickens: The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead.

Committee: A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.

Dust: Mud with the juice squeezed out.

Egotist: Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation.

Handkerchief: Cold storage.

Inflation: Cutting money in half without damaging the paper.

Mosquito: An insect that makes you like flies better.

Raisin: Grape with sunburn.

Secret: Something you tell to one person at a time.

Skeleton: A bunch of bones with the person scraped off.

Toothache: The pain that drives you to extraction.

Tomorrow: One of the greatest labour-saving devices of today.

Yawn: An honest opinion openly expressed.

Wrinkles: Something other people have, similar to my character lines.

Did you know?

There are 923 words in the English language that break the "i before e" rule. Only 44 words follow rule.

This is according to the the BBC's QI television show in which a fan generated the figure according to a Scrabble wordlist.

The Oxford Dictionaries website of Oxford University Press states "The rule only applies when the sound represented is ‘ee’, though. It doesn’t apply to words like science or efficient, in which the –ie- combination does follow the letter c but isn’t pronounced ‘ee’." (Source: Wikipedia)

Basically, there are far too many exceptions to this rule to make it an actual rule. I still find myself reciting it when using words like "receive" and "perceive". But, yes, I think this one is going the same way as the dinosaurs.

Correction: yro'ue

A friend posted this on Facebook and just had to tag me in it, of course.

Save the thesaurus!

When I was a kid I always used to call the thesaurus a theasaurus...it sounded better to me. My mom used to laugh and say that it wasn't a dinosaur. This image reminds me of that.

Etymology: the evolution of expletives

Swearwords, cuss words, dirty words...whatever you call them, they've been around a lot longer than you think. Some of today's most popular expletives have been in use since the 16th century. Melissa Mohr recently wrote an article on how some of the swearwords we use today came about. 

Read through the original article here:

The modern history of swearing: Where all the dirtiest words come from 

Be sure to check out the bits at the end and find out what "larking" and "tipping the velvet" mean.

Your versus you're

Gary the grammar cactus

Obsolete words

A friend posted a link to this article on 18 obsolete words that should never have gone out of style. I've re-posted my top ten. Check out the original post for the full list.

I'm allergic to grammatical errors

I love Cyanide & Happiness. It's a brilliant web comic. Between that and xkcd, I can keep myself entertained for hours. It makes a great break when you've spent the day read and rereading other people's work. Every now and then you just have to laugh.

One of my freelancer groups posted the following comic about grammar allergies. I can relate.

Word aversion

Some friends of mine have noted a particular aversion to the word “moist”. It's not something I share but decided to do a bit of research and found the following.

Word aversion: “a feeling of intense, irrational distaste for the sound or sight of a particular word or phrase, not because its use is regarded as etymologically or logically or grammatically wrong, nor because it’s felt to be over-used or redundant or trendy or non-standard, but simply because the word itself somehow feels unpleasant or even disgusting.” - University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Mark Liberman

Lessons in punctuation from The Big Bang Theory

So true...

Contradicting contranyms

I recently stumbled upon the word “contronyms” — words that are their own opposites or antonyms. The contronym (also spelled “contranym”) goes by many names, including “auto-antonym,” “antagonym,” “enantiodrome,” “self-antonym,” “antilogy” and “Janus word” (from the Roman god of beginnings and endings, often depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions). 

Words that are commonly misspelled

When I read this and I'm like "YES!" and then I see the word "behavior" and a little part of me dies inside...

Quote

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3