Crowdsourcing

When I found out about a petition against crowdsourcing translations, I thought, "Oh great, another unfair labor issue." Then I had to make sure I knew what crowdsourcing was, because it's used in both positive and negative ways, especially now that it's been used a lot in the design profession.

Crowdsourcing is, according to Wikipedia (which seems like a successful crowdsourcing project): "the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing them to a group (crowd) of people or community in the form of an open call." So it's like outsourcing, though most of the time companies don't want to pay for the crowd to create something.

Basically, there are a lot of people who are very worried that crowdsourcing is killing their livelihood, just as outsourcing has done. But it's inevitable, especially because the Internet is everywhere and there are a lot more options. Why pay someone when you can just post a request online and a bunch of people will respond and work together to create what you want? It's just another example of L.I.F. "Life Isn't Fair".

French Thanksgiving Quiz

Today is Thanksgiving, and I've been informed that we're going to be eating a lot of delicious food (I'm going to my sister's house to celebrate). I got some French wine for the occasion, and interestingly enough, I found a French Thanksgiving vocabulary quiz. American Thanksgiving is not connected to the French, so it's sort of odd that someone would create a quiz for the holiday, but who cares--I love languages and Thanksgiving, so it works out for me :D

There are 50 questions, but you can take shorter versions of the quiz. I took it and got a "pas mal" so maybe my French isn't as bad as I thought. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

What "pissed" means in American English

I'm sure there are tons of people defining the word "pissed" online, but I'd like to add my take here, because recently I exchanged emails with a Brit who needed some clarification.

To Americans, the word "pissed" means really angry. Like "I'm so pissed that jerk got the job I wanted!"

But to Brits, "pissed" means drunk. It never means drunk to us. We simply say "drunk". Or if we're not at the drunk level, we say "tipsy" or "buzzed". And if we're very drunk, we say "wasted".

So when a Brit asks me if they seemed "pissed", at first I think I made them angry, but then realize they're talking about drinking too much.

Why use "some"?

I've noticed that people use the word "some" quite often when they offer statistics. For instance, I was watching a documentary, and the narrator said, "There were some 30 million gallons of water." That doesn't sound like "some" to me--that's a lot!

I know that they don't literally mean "some" as in "not many", but they don't need to use that word at all. Why not say, "There were 30 billion gallons of water."

If you listen to various narratives, news reports, or commentaries carefully, you'll hear people use the word "some" when they're about to offer information. And you'll also notice that it's not necessary. I wonder when this trend started.

Some language excitement

I've been using the Cyberduck ftp client, and I want to donate something, so I went to the donate page. He asks for either financial donations, or a purchase from his Amazon wishlist, so I went there, and saw that it's in German!

Okay, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is to me because I always go to the English Amazon site, and that's just normal for me. But to see "Wunschzettel" and all the directions and listings in German is just exciting. So is the explanation:

Ein Wunschzettel ist eine persönliche Liste all der Dinge, die Sie oder Ihre Firma gerne hätten und die wir auf unserer Website für Sie anbieten. Freunde, Verwandte und alle anderen, die es gut mit Ihnen meinen, können damit das perfekte Geschenk für Sie finden.

But what's weird is that when you click on the "wunschzettel" link, the url is www.amazon.de/gp/registry/wishlist, ie, it's the extension ".de" instead of ".com", but the rest is in English: "registry/wishlist".

I wonder if German speakers are bothered by the fact that their url is in English instead of their language. Maybe there are some indignant people out there nodding their heads right now.

Flash torch?

Well I guess I keep learning new English words from British TV because I was watching another episode of Inspector Lewis last night (which makes that two nights in a row of Lewis enjoyment) and Lewis' sergeant said "flash torch" instead of the American English word "flashlight".

I've often heard Brits say "torch" when referring to "flashlight" but I hadn't heard the word "flash torch" until last night. Honestly, I think that using the word "torch" for a battery-operated item seems odd because a "torch" has a flame, so it needs no batteries. Like the Olympic torch. If an American used the word "torch" for a flashlight, people would think they're really weird, or at least a British wannabe. And "flash torch" sounds almost sci-fi.

Do the Brits come from such an ancient civilization that they had to refer to a modern device using an older term? It's like technology evolved and someone said, "Hey, let's just call it a torch--we don't have much time to think of something else!" If only they could've looked to us Americans to provide a good word for it. Then they wouldn't be walking around using elemental concepts for evolutionary instruments.

A language lesson from Inspector Lewis

I was watching the excellent Mystery series Inspector Lewis, and he actually taught us something about British English: he said the word "colleague", and then said that people in the north use the word "workmate" instead.

Thanks Inspector! I had no idea. No wonder they use that word a lot in the British press.

This is authentic?

Food companies must think consumers are really stupid because they use words such as "gourmet" and "authentic" to convince people that their products are the "highest quality", even though their ingredients tell a different story. Such as this company: they say that they've been offering "authentic foods since 1908".

Take a look at these ingredients from one dinner. Do they seem "authentic"? And have they really been using these ingredients since 1908?

Enchiladas: Tortilla: Corn flour (ground corn, trace of lime), water. Filling: Water, dehydrated cheese powder (corn syrup, American cheese [milk, culture, salt, enzymes], food starch-modified, whey, partially hydrogenated oil [coconut and/or soybean], salt, butter [milkfat], nonfat milk, buttermilk, disodium phosphate, sodium caseinate, mono & di-glycerides, citric acid, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium citrate, dipotassium phosphate, natural flavor, natural and artificial colors [annatto, paprika, FD & C Yellow #5, FD & C Yellow #6, Beta Carotene], and carrageenan), Cheddar Cheese: (cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes, annatto [color]), modified food starch, imitation cheddar cheese (water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, casein, modified food starch, contains 2% or less of: salt, kasal, sodium citrate, lactic acid, cellulose powder, sorbic acid [to preserve freshness], artificial flavor, artificial color), contains 2% or less of: dehydrated onion. Red Chile Sauce: Water, shortening (beef fat and cottonseed oil, BHT added to improve stability), Bleached wheat flour enriched (niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), flavorings including paprika, contains 2% or less of: modified food starch, chili powder (chili pepper, salt, spices, garlic powder), dehydrated soy sauce flavor (soy sauce [soy bean, salt, corn syrup], yeast extract and partially hydrogenated soybean oil), salt, beef base (salt, soy sauce[Naturally fermented wheat & soybeans, salt, maltodextrin and caramel color], maltodextrin, yeast extract, dextrose, modified food starch, caramel color, dehydrated onion, silicon dioxide, corn oil, natural flavor), lactic acid, guar gum. Beans: Water, pinto beans, contains 2% or less of: shortening (beef fat and cottonseed oil, BHT added to improve stability), salt, flavorings, modified food starch, chili powder (chili pepper, salt, spices, garlic powder). Spanish Rice: Cooked rice (water, rice), water, tomato paste, bell peppers, contains 2% or less of: flavorings including paprika, modified food starch, salt, dehydrated onion, vegetable oil (canola and/or soybean), sugar and citric acid. Topping: Imitation Cheddar cheese (water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, casein, modified food starch, contains 2% or less of: salt, kasal, sodium citrate, lactic acid, cellulose powder, sorbic acid [to preserve freshness], artificial flavor, artificial color).

Freelance worker

I was talking to someone about what working "freelance" means, and I found a good definition at About.com, which lists four categories: Independent Contractors, On-Call Workers, Temporary Help Agency Workers, and Workers Provided by Contract Firms. I think the "independent contractors" definition is good for a freelance worker, and the source is reliable (the IRS):

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service defines the role of independent contractors this way: "A general rule is that you, the payer, have the right to control or direct only the result of the work done by an independent contractor, and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result."

Also, freelance workers have to pay all their taxes, unlike part-time workers, whose taxes and social security are partly paid by the employer. And part-timers have to show up at certain times and the employer controls them more.

Many people freelance, but definitely more people would love to have a decent full-time job where they don't have to worry about getting work. But a lot of people are finding out that it's hard to keep such jobs now.

another meaning for PR

When I think of "PR", I think of "public relations" or "Puerto Rico", but I just found out from an American who recently spent some time in Singapore that "PR" means "permanent resident". So when a Westerner is seen frequently walking around Singapore or regularly goes to stores or restaurants, people will ask him if he's a "PR" or just visiting. I've been to Singapore, but I guess I wasn't there long enough to be asked this question. But then again, I don't know if there are as many Western females there as men, since I think it's more common for guys to marry the women from there and stay.

Taking a staycation

I'm going to take a staycation by enjoying a summer break in Chicago. I think that's a great word to express staying at home to vacation. And apparently it's a 21st century word, according to a travel article:

A Nexis search reveals that the first published use of staycation (as far as Nexis knows) was in the Myrtle Beach Sun-News on July 11, 2003. In a story entitled "Sports World Doesn't Stop for Vacation," Terry Massey uses the term to describe nine vacation days spent at home in Myrtle beach watching sports on television and preparing a nursery for a new baby.

I just realized that I should contact Mr. Massey to find out if he created that word, and what he thinks of it. So stay tuned--I'll probably do an update if I can get a hold of him (and if I'm not too lazy to do it :D)

A really long word

Word Lily has a post about a really long word, which is the name of a village in Wales:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

It's obviously the longest name in Britain, and I'm sure it's one of the longest in the world.

You can hear a pronunciation of the word here and learn about the history of the village at their official site, where they say that the name "was invented by a cobbler from Menai Bridge."

Play date

If I had a lot of time, I'd want to look up the origin of the term "play date" (or playdate--I'm not sure of the spelling). I'd also research the first usage of that word, which probably comes from an article or book about parenting.

When I was young and played with other kids, we never called such times "play dates"--we just went to kids' houses to play. Now when I talk with parents or kids, they'll tell me that they have a play date with someone instead of saying that they're going to play with their friend.

When I looked it up in Wikipedia, there was one sentence that was a sad commentary on modern life (they said "Playdates are a late 20th century innovation"):

the work schedules for busy parents, along with media warnings about leaving children unattended, prevent the kind of play that children of other generations participated in.

It reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a mother, who said she and her husband chose to live in a small town far away from Chicago because their kids can ride bikes and do other things without worrying about bad things happening. It's just sad that the sickos have to ruin kids' play time and some people are so busy they have to provide a formal word for something that kids naturally do.

Interesting discussion going on

I'm going to do a more decent post tomorrow, but for now, I'd just like to point out the interesting discussion that's going on at my friend Silas' [guest] post Foreign terms as convenient euphemisms. Feel free to join in.

More whilst usage with globalisation

A translation company asked me if they could submit something to my blog, and what I received seemed to be a self-serving piece which essentially was advertising the importance of their company. So I decided not to post the whole "article" here, but I did notice their use of "whilst", which Americans never use.

They started their promotional piece with: "Whilst there may be around 7,000 distinct languages in the world today, many of them descend from the same roots and therefore have many similar characteristics."

They used the word "whilst" later on, then concluded their ad with the word "globalisation." Note the spelling: Americans often use "z" instead of "s" in such words. Even now, my computer is telling me that "globalisation" is spelled wrong.

So an attempt to advertise a company has become an opportunity for me to point out the differences between British and American English :D

A yeoman compliment

Someone gave me a compliment, saying that my effort on a project was "yeoman's work." At first, I didn't know what they meant by that comment, and assumed it was a compliment, but to make sure what a yeoman was, I looked up the word in my European history book (which I ended up reading, which is why I didn't post this earlier).

For some odd reason, it wasn't there, even though yeomen were part of European history (!), so I looked it up online, and saw that it comes from the Middle Ages, and though back then it was a British landholder, guard, official, or attendant, it has become an adjective to commend someone on good, hard, work.

I think that's the first time that understanding a compliment required research.

The Hague is Den Haag to me

I grew up hearing about The Hague, and to me, it was always "The Hague" because I speak English and that's obviously its English name.

But when I was traveling in Asia, I met a Dutch guy who kept talking about "Den Haag", and I had no idea what he was talking about until someone gave me the English name: The Hague.

A lot of people probably know the Dutch name, but I didn't, plus I had spent a while in Japan, so the priority was to learn Japanese, not Dutch.

But what's weird is that ever since I met that Dutch guy, now whenever I hear "The Hague" in a news report or whatever, it sounds unnatural because I've gotten used to its "native" name. And what makes it more odd is that I've only spent one day in the Netherlands, and have never studied Dutch. So why does "Den Haag" stick in my mind, even though I only talked to that Dutch guy once?

When mom became mum

I came upon an article in the Daily Mail (which seems chock-full of gossip and trashy news that probably gets them a lot of readers thus advertising money) about typical over-exposed, self-indulgent American actors who have been together for a record-breaking few years.

I noticed in the article something that is definitely more British than American: the use of the word "mum" instead of "mom": "My friends were always a little bit older and when I was young, I spent a lot of time with my mum and her friends."

I doubt he really used "mum" because we *never* use that word, unless an American is a British-wannabe or has spent a lot of time over there and it's slipped into their language use. So they probably changed it for their British readers.

Nog

I was just in a grocery store looking for some unhealthy stuff to eat on a freezing winter night, and I noticed that they still have egg nog. It was obviously leftover from the holidays, but it didn't expire until February, so I decided to get some.

Because egg nog is too fatty for me, I looked at the lighter versions, and saw a "light egg nog", and then saw a non-fat egg nog that was just called "Nog".

That's so cute--I guess they're being honest because if they're offering a fat-free version, then perhaps the inclusion of eggs would disqualify it from being fat-free. So "Nog" is a good shortcut.

When is "old fashioned"?

I just took a swig of some "gourmet soda" manufactured by a drugstore chain in the US. It's so gourmet, it has such fancy ingredients as artificial flavor, sodium benzoate, carmel color, and citric acid. Yeah, it's "gourmet" all right.

But that's not what I noticed: it has the word "old fashioned" to describe what kind of root beer it is.

So now I'm wondering, what is "old fashioned"? It's 2008, so is that like 100 years ago, or 50, or more? And have they only been using such a phrase in the 20th and 21st centuries? I wonder if they used "old fashioned" in the 18th century, or earlier in England (since they've been around a lot longer than the US).

Fired vs laid off

There seems to be some disagreement on the meaning of "fired" and "laid off".

I thought that people are fired when the employer doesn't think they're doing a good job, but people are laid off when there's not enough money to pay them. I thought it was just another meaning for redundant. But someone told me that when people are laid off, it means that they might be hired back. So when there's no chance of being hired back, then they're fired.

Anyway, there have been reductions in staff everywhere, and that often happens in radio, in good and bad economic times, because it seems that media companies are always getting rid of people. Today I saw three people kicked out due to financial reasons, which is really sad, because the two I knew (I didn't really know the third) were really good at what they did.

So since they don't have a chance of being hired back, they've been fired, even though it was because of finances. Or maybe it wasn't, because one person was replaced with someone who was cheaper. So that position was necessary after all.

Overkill

Companies have really gone crazy with the "gourmet" concept, but I've found proof of overkill: the combination of "premium" and "gourmet".

The example I found was a "Premium Gourmet Syrup" which seems so unappetizing, they're probably using "premium gourmet" to convince us that it's palatable. It's pumpkin flavored, and what's pitiful is that it's been out on the counter for months--ie, it's not fresh for the current fall season.

There's also French on the label to assure us that it is truly "gourmet", but the company is located in Florida. And here are the "gourmet" ingredients: sugar, water, pumpkin flavor, spice flavors, and salt. When I see "flavor", I assume it's artificial, because if it were real, they'd make a point to state that.

Yet another desperate attempt at hypinng up quality.

Had went

I've noticed a development in English (at least in the American version), and it's that people will combine the simple past tense of "go" (went) with "had". I have no idea why this has happened because I remember people just saying "went", as in "I went to his house."

Now I often hear people say, "I had went to his house" when they're telling a story. Why are they making the past tense more complicated than it is? Are they trying to sound fancy? What they're doing is combining the past perfect with the past tense, and if I were to point it out to them, they'd have no idea what I'm talking about.

Cuisine

I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but there are a lot of dumpy places that call themselves "Cuisine" (ie, a dinky restaurant that is "Thai Cuisine" which has just a few tables and chairs surrounded by peeling paint and cracked floors). For once, I saw a true hole in the wall that said "Food": it's on the corner of Chicago and Orleans in Chicago, and I actually ate there once, and I'm surprised it hasn't been condemned--it looks as if it never left a South Asian busy street. It said "Indian and Pakistani FOOD", not "cuisine".

For some reason, I guess such places think that putting the word "cuisine" after the food description will make potential customers think that they're going somewhere special, and I'd be surprised if they really thought that.

First and foremost is redundant

I heard someone use the phrase "first and foremost", which it reminded me that it's redundant. Sure, they have different meanings, because "foremost" suggests strong emphasis while "first" is at the front of the list, but putting those two words together isn't necessary.

I know it's an idiom, but still--when people use that, it seems like they're just filling space.

Get your [blank] on

It seems like a lot of people are using the phrase "Get your [insert word] on," and I'd like to know what the origin of that phrase is.

There seems to be much use of the phrase "Get your game on," but is that the original phrase? If not, what is? How did this whole thing start? I'm guessing it started in a more obscure subculture and has spread uncontrollably to the mainstream, to the point where even advertising is saying "Get your chocolate on" or whatever.

So if anyone out there knows the answer, please let me know so I can post it here.

Didn't recognize Ethiopian

I screwed up today: I saw someone drinking a Coke with a non-English script on it (I think it's an Olympics-related series), and I couldn't figure out what it was. I thought it was Burmese, but the Coke's owner said it was Ethiopian. Which I should've recognized, because I did a post a while ago about how pretty Ethiopian was. I'm going to attribute that mind slippage to lack of sleep and a full plate of non-language things to do :D

Swag and signage

I've noticed that there are some words that people use in such a way to show that they're trying to be cool and/or important by using them.

Two words that people seem to try to elevate their status with are "swag" and "signage."

In some places, I've either seen people post the word "swag" online or use it in conversation, as in "Get your swag here" or "Be sure to check out the [insert group] swag". They give a kind of emphasis to that word because it seems like they want to appear as "clever". Because the words "t-shirts" or "hats" are just too ordinary for them.

About signage: I have seen people who want to be more important than they are say, "We need to put the signage there" or "What about the signage?" As if it's too much for them to just say "signs"! Are signs so significant that they can't use such a common word, but have to complicate it by saying what they perceive as a fancy version of "signs"? Is "signage" really that special?

There are other words I've noticed, but I have to start writing down my observations on a pad or something because I can't remember them right now. But they're out there!

You'll never see this in an American email

I saw this beginning of a sentence in a Brit's email, which I have never seen in an American one, and which I probably never will see: "Whilst I think of it..."

Americans NEVER use "whilst". That sounds like a very old word, and I seriously wonder when the last time that word was used in the good ol' US of A. Maybe it's never been used. It's just so different from what we say (we say "while").

Whilst sounds so fancy and formal, but it's used in everyday British English, I think, which makes it very interesting to see in an email.

What's the difference between a nerd and geek?

Sometimes at work I stop and think, "This is so nerdy" and share that observation with some coworkers who also do nerdy work, and agree that radio can be quite nerdy because we have to deal with audio and obscure information (especially in talk radio). When I used the word "nerd" with a couple of engineers (one who has pens in his pocket sans pocket protector), they got all annoyed and said, "We're geeks, not nerds." Which made me wonder what the difference is between a geek and a nerd.

They said a geek is someone who is intense about a subject, but other definitions I've read say the same thing. And the other day, a couple of nerdy types told me that a geek is a practical nerd, but a nerd is intellectual: ie, a nerd might know the layout of a starship, but a geek would know how to build one.

I like that definition, but I prefer the sound of the word "nerd" better, so that's what I use. What's funny is when I'm discussing Japanese or ideas or language or audio with someone who's also into such stuff, and I'll stop and say, "This is so nerdy," and then they'll give me an example of something else they're doing that's nerdy as well.

I found a test which I took, and I'm mostly nerdy, with some dorkiness and geekiness mixed in. I think at this point, my work life is definitely nerdy, and my non-work life is mostly that as well. Which means I'm quite different than what I used to be.

A British email

I got an email from a guy who created My Language Notebook, which is a free program "to keep and organise your notes when you are learning a language." I haven't been able to use it yet because I have a Mac, but it looks like a nifty app.

When I saw the word "organise" in the description, I knew the creator was British because he used "s" instead of "z" (we Americans write "organize"). So I asked him, and he said he is from England, so I was right about that, and I thought that was the end of my questions.

But then he said he'd been to the U.S. where he "had a top time", and signed his email "Have a top one". So I just had to ask where such a use of "top" came from, because I'd never heard it before. This is his explanation:

Top is more of a Manchester word originally, but it was adopted by a lot of people in about 1990 at the height of the 'Madchester' movement. Most of my mates have been saying it ever since.

"My mates"--another British term. Which means his email exemplifies British English, which is interesting to me :D

Impact is a verb

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "Impact has been used as a verb since 1601, when it meant 'to fix or pack in,' and its modern, figurative use dates from 1935." But for some reason, I thought it wasn't a verb, because people used to say (or so it seems) "it had an impact on..." instead of "it impacted..."

I guess it's because I'm one of those people who's been affected by "its frequent appearance in the jargon-riddled remarks of politicians, military officials, and financial analysts." I had a loathsome job where a boss kept using that word, and I thought they were trying to sound "modern" and "slick" because they were about appearance, but apparently they used the word correctly.

Check out the usage notes for contact: it was originally a noun, and "was initially frowned upon" when used as a verb. Which means that "impact" is legit, while "contact" is newly legit.

It still sounds negative

There's a billboard in my area that advertises an airline, and it says that people will leave "disgruntled" but arrive "gruntled."

They're playing with words, but it still sounds negative: "gruntled" still has the sound of dissatisfaction about it, so I don't think that ad campaign is going to work.

Like and go

Someone sent me a link to an article about the ugliest two words which the editors of the Webster's New World College Dictionary say are really annoying: "like" and "go." When I was younger, I used those words a lot when I was quoting myself or someone else in a conversation (example: I go, "How can you do that?" and she's like, "Because I want to.").

They also have a list of other annoying words, including the "Most cheapened cherished word: Awesome; a C+ on an algebra test is mediocre, not awesome. Dude."

I remember when "awesome" became popular in the 80's, especially with the whole Valley Girl thing (there are still valley girls because the San Fernando Valley around L.A. still exists). I agree it's been cheapened: the Grand Canyon used to be awesome, and other stuff was "cool" or whatever, but now everything is "awesome." And I'm guilty of using that word too, though I sort of joke around with it, or I use it in a light way.

Mysterious d

I was reading an interesting article in a British newspaper, and the woman featured in it mentioned a "Liverpudlian accent", which made me do a double-take: I figured "Liverpudlian" represented the adjective of "Liverpool", but it seemed odd because they threw a "d" in there. Why? Can't they say "Liverpulian"? It sounds weird, but Liverpudlian reminds me of "Lilliputian" for some reason.

(Side note: when I was reading the article, the woman seemed American, due to her drive, straightforward manner, and the fact that her wedding planning business was successful, and I was right--sort of: she spent many years in the U.S. when she was growing up, so no wonder I sensed the American "vibe". I'd love to hear her accent :D)

Insurance

Even though I'm a native English speaker, I always assumed that people pronounce the word "insurance" like "in-SUR-ance". But my husband and some other people say "IN-surance" (ie, the stress is on the first syllable instead of the second).

I looked it up at Merriam-Webster and expected them to have just "my" pronunciation, but they have both! Check it out--they have audio samples of each.

So the question is: is there a "correct" way to pronounce it, and if not, then why are there two ways?

Mother lode

When I saw the phrase mother lode, I realized that I hadn't seen it before. For some reason, I thought "lode" would be "load", that it was one word rather than two, and that the meaning implied "huge". Instead, it means "the principal vein or lode of a region" and "a principal source or supply."

Actually, "lode" is an odd word. It's cute, but it's also has a clumsiness about it. Like "lobe".

MMORPG

I was reading some stuff at a message board, and someone posted the acronym MMORPG. I found out that it means massive[ly] multiplayer online role playing game.

Wikipedia says it's "massively," but a popular MMORPG site and other sites say it's "massive". I don't know what was used first: "massive" or "massively", and I don't know what's "correct." But it's the closest we've come to a holodeck.

still here!

I guess it's been so extremely freezing in Chicago (ie, 4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is -16 Celsius) and my schedule has been full with radio stuff, translating, and teaching, that I forgot to do a post within the past few days, even though I have plenty of stuff to write about.

Such as a nifty word that I see often but forget the meaning of: quixotic. I like the way it looks and how it sounds, and the meaning is hopeful, in a quirky, crazy way: "foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action"

The connotation isn't positive, but it can sometimes be refreshing in certain contexts.

Have you?

Here's something that Americans never say: "Have you any plans?" It's a British expression, which seems to be derived from German, since German often begins with, "Haben Sie..."

It's too bad Americans don't say, "Have you..." because it would be easier to teach that than "Do you have..." For some reason, the word "do" at the beginning of a question seems to confuse people who are learning English. I think it's because it's too complicated. "Have you" is easier.

Whenever I hear Brits say "Have you..." it seems so formal, but that's because "Have" sounds more formal than "Do".

Flammable or inflammable?

Sometimes I have to translate a word that means "flammable" from another language, but when I look in a dictionary, the word can also be "inflammable." What's the difference? None!

We'd assume that the prefix "in" makes it a negative, as in "incorrect" or "incoherent", but it doesn't. According to The Word Detective:

In the beginning, there was "inflammable," a perfectly nice English word based on the Latin "inflammare," meaning "to kindle," from "in" (in) plus "flamma" (flame). "Inflammable" became standard English in the 16th century. So far, so good.

Comes the 19th century, and some well-meaning soul dreamt up the word "flammable," basing it on a slightly different Latin word, "flammare," meaning "to set on fire." There was nothing terribly wrong with "flammable," but it never really caught on. After all, we already had "inflammable," so "flammable" pretty much died out in the 1800's.

After World War Two, safety officials on both sides of the Atlantic decided that folks were too likely to see "inflammable" and decide that the word meant "fireproof," so various agencies set about encouraging the revival of "flammable" as a substitute.

I think that was a good decision because few people know Latin concepts (not even moi). It's not like they say, "Oh, that's based on the Latin word "inflammare!" They just want a quick understanding, no extra analysis.

County of Orange

Every time I see this image of the Orange County sign, I think it's so cute. "County of Orange" sounds so formal and even French-like, because French uses "de" between a noun and adjective or to indicate possession or when describing things. "County of Orange" also sounds important, because let's face it: a county named after a fruit doesn't command respect.

Tarmac

I've been helping someone with English and American culture (shameless plug), and we read an article about a plane accident, which had the word "tarmac". If you think about it, it's sort of a weird word to use for a place where airplanes sit before they get on the runway to take off. What's puzzling is the source of it, and that it's a trademark. Usually I don't think of words coming from trademarks, but according to The Word Detective , it's:

short for "tar macadam." John McAdam (1756-1836) invented the "macadam" type of road pavement made of crushed stone, which resisted the rutting formerly plaguing highways in England. "Macadamizing" was later further improved by the addition of tar as a binder, resulting in the "Tarmac" process still widely used today.

Who would've known a commercial application would become a common, though odd-sounding, word.

Streaming rice

I was at a tiny Thai restaurant today, which would probably be characterized as a "hole in the wall," and on the grease-stained paper menus I saw the word "streamed rice" instead of "steamed rice". I guess their rice is online as well :D

Chicagopedia

The Chicago Sun-Times is such a cool paper. Actually, their print edition isn't that exciting, but their website is easy to navigate and is informative. They also have some great columnists over there and investigate interesting issues.

A language-oriented project they've been posting this year is the Chicagopedia, which is a list of Chicago-related words.

I should be helping out with that column, at least by answering contributors' emails and helping compile the list. I wish I had some contacts over there, or would get "discovered" since I *am* a Chicago-dwelling language gal :D

Jolly

I was just watching the British version of "Antiques Roadshow," and one of the appraisers said "jolly". I don't think I've ever heard an American say "jolly" unless they're talking about Santa, and in that case, they're using the word to describe his personality, as in, "Santa is very jolly."

But it seems like the British use "jolly" to mean "very", as in, "jolly good," a phrase that is probably used often over there. It's actually a phrase that non-Brits use to portray Brits, as if it's representative of how they speak.

Bidun

I checked out inakayabanjin (who rarely posts) and learned about bidun, which comes from "Bidun jinsiya (or bidoon jinsiya)...an Arabic term meaning 'without nationality'."

over-using "the"

There are, of course, languages that don't use the word "the" or any articles, so sometimes I see over-compensation for that lack. For instance, there used to be a sign at a Japanese bookstore that said, "Please don't bring the cart into the store." They misused "the" by putting it in front of "cart," as if the sign is looking at your particular cart and pointing at it, telling you not to bring your specific cart into their store. I was there yesterday and saw that they replaced the sign with something more simple, such as "no carts!" below very flowery, polite Japanese requesting that no honorable carts be allowed inside.

So I guess they're like other folks I've seen, over-using "the" to make up for the lack of articles in their own language, as if they're trying to catch up.

The cake picture

There's a picture of a cake going around the Internet with the words "under neat" to represent "underneath." What happened was that a person in Little Rock, Arkansas ordered a cake from Wal-Mart, and he told the Wal-Mart employee to write something "underneath" something else. But the employee misunderstood what he said, and wrote his words not just literally, but spelled incorrectly.

I discovered that the source of the picture and the story is an email that was written to snopes.com (scroll down to see the picture and the email). I can't post anything from there because they have a strict copyright rule (I even asked for permission to reproduce the story but they said no). But I just wanted to clear up any online misunderstandings, because there are a lot of people out there who don't know that the origin of the story is Snopes.

Para para

I was just chatting with an online pal, and he said "para para" when he was giving me some advice about a situation. It is a Hebrew expression, and I got the following definition from an online Hebrew slang guide:

Literal translation: Cow, cow

Meaning: Doing one thing at a time, step by step

Example: "We've got a lot of things to deal with here so let's just work through it para para".

He also said that "para para" comes from a folk tale, but I don't know what it is. Maybe after he finds out from his Israeli friend, I'll do a follow-up post.

Fancy street

California has given their towns and streets some great names, and so far, I like this one the best in San Francisco: Divisidero. It sounds like they're trying to make the idea of "dividing" sound fancy.

It's sort of like their name for the port area: Embarcadero, as if they're trying to dress up the word/concept "harbor". Though I think that the English word "embarking" sounds quite fancy on its own.

Period piece

I often hear the phrase "period piece" on home designing shows. When we hear it, we assume fancy-looking 19th century furniture, but really, what does it mean? I looked it up, and it's described as "A piece of furniture, etc dating from, and in the distinctive style of, a certain historical period."

Isn't *every* part of history a "certain" historical period? Right now we're in the 21st century, so couldn't a 20th century piece be considered "period"? Or even a piece of furniture created yesterday?

I'm may be persnickety about it, but if you really think about it, it's an undefined phrase that has emerged with certain assumptions.

I seen

I was just in a store and heard a woman tell someone, "I seen him do that." It's like she's getting seemingly complex grammar partially right: she means to say "I've seen him do that." But if she wants to be grammatically correct without creating such a long sentence (though correct grammar is probably not a concern of hers), then she can also say, "I saw him do that." I don't know why she'd want to say, "I seen him do that" when she could use the same amount of words to say it correctly. It's odd, but common. The woman was happily oblivious about her lack of understanding--she was walking along, talking about some guy she "seen" do something. Oh well.

Cliches

Someone sent me a very good column in Newsweek about cliches. You'd think the author is an English professor, but he's a bioethics professor, which means he has a big brain--he's been able to ace science *and* language/writing. I usually meet people who are more literature-oriented or science/tech-oriented, but there don't tend to be a lot of people who are good at both.

One thing the prof complains about is a "common mistake" that his students make that "involves 'literally.' I often hear people on election night say, 'He literally won by a landslide.' If so, should geologists help us understand how?"

I agree! "Literally" means that something is quite exactly like something else. I should write down all the times I've heard people say "literally" when they actually were speaking metaphorically. I remember seeing a comedy sketch on Mad TV where a woman overused the word "literally". It was funny, but it certainly hasn't decreased people's use of that word in daily speech as well as in the media.

Hutch

Sometimes when I'm watching a home design show, I hear them use the word hutch to describe a cabinet-type piece of furniture that goes in a kitchen or living room. I think it's a decorative, storage-type thing.

Well, whatever it is, I don't like the word. It sounds ugly and clunky, and I'm surprised that interior designers want to say it. There's nothing about it that's sophisticated or stylish. It implies something crude. I'm sure one day they'll realize that, and they'll come up with a fancier word for that piece of furniture.

Trying to sound fancy

I was at the Art Institute, listening to someone talk about Leon Battista Alberti. He was Italian, so his last name should be pronounced "Albertee". It's quite straightforward.

But the person lecturing, who I've heard speak before, is the type who wants to appear "sophisticated", almost to the point of being sort of snobby and pretentious. So I shouldn't have been surprised when she went from pronouncing Alberti's name the right way, "Albertee" to the wrong way, "Albertay," but I was. After all, she knows a lot about art and culture, and it's very hard to get such a job at the Art Institute--it requires lots of knowledge and education. I don't know why she changed the pronunciation of his name, but it sounded ludicrous, and obviously incorrect. I think she was trying to sound fancy, but she ended up sounding wrong. She was trying to puff herself up while letting people know that she was important, but it made her look silly.

I don't know if other people recognized the mistake, but I did, and I'm not impressed.

Abbreviation list

I'll probably post more sources of abbreviations, but I found this one when I was looking for the meaning of a French abbreviation: a list that seems to be intended for Britannica, but is helpful even if you're not using their sources or books.

Manse

I was reading a bio of Gordon Brown and saw that he lived in a manse when he was growing up.

Of course, since I'm not a Brit nor fully knowledgeable of every word in the English language, I had to look that word up, which is "from the late 15th century" and comes from the "medieval Latin mansus 'unit of land'. A manse is "a house provided for a church minister" or "a large, stately house." Since Brown's dad was a minister, then the first definition refers to his "manse."

Anyway, it's a new word I learned, one which I'll probably never use.

Raisin's

Someone gave me a box of chocolate covered raisins, and I couldn't believe there was a typo on them: instead of having the word "raisins" on the box, it said "raisin's". Attention world: plural words are not formed with apostrophe s; you just have to add the "s"--that is all. Why do so many people nowadays make such a mistake? I can understand if people who are spelling-challenged add an apostrophe out of ignorance, but a company? Don't they have proofreaders?

The company that created the chocolate covered raisins is World's Finest, which creates various products for fund raising. It says on the box, "fund raising since 1949." So in all those years, they never learned that the plural form of "raisin" is "raisins" and not "raisin's"?

If you ever see these things, check it out: they're called "Fund Raisin's". As in "the Fund Raisin's proofreader was absent when this candy was packaged."

Unless they're making a play on words. Like they're saying that they're "fund raising" and wanted to be cute by deleting the "g".

Bling

I went to someone's place in a very upscale part of the city, where one of the pillows had the word "bling." Then I heard a suburbanite use that word, which made me wonder where it came from.

It's from a trashy hip hop song from the late 90's. The song is so disgusting that I don't want to post it here, so I'll just link to the lyrics.

What's weird is that a lot of milktoast people are using it, who live far away from the dysfunctional ghetto culture that is glorified musically (and visually) in our country and throughout the world. Which makes me glad that I haven't used that word yet--it's derivative of nothing I respect.

Company

I had no idea that the word "company" comes from the Latin "cum panis," which means "with bread."

I found a very interesting resource online that mentions "cum panis": a book from 1872 called An English grammar and reading book for lower forms in classical schools. It lists two words in its glossary that come from "cum panis":

companion: a sharer of food, a comrade, fellow-traveller, partner

company: association, a number of partners

Now I'm thinking of looking more into Google books because you can download that one and others for free. Very cool.

Chuffed

I learned a new word today, which Americans never use: chuffed, which means "very pleased." It's a British word, of course.

Cute words

Here are some cute words that I see around Chicago: "polskie filmy." I think the meaning is evident: Polish films. I see those words on signs at video stores in Polish neighborhoods. Actually, the Polish community is so large in Chicago, people say it's the largest population outside of Krakow. I think what makes those words so cute is the "ie" at the end of "polskie" and the "y" at the end of "film". They look diminutive. In English, the word "film" sounds so serious compared to "filmy." It's just so cute, like, "Oh, look at that little filmy--so cute. That little polskie filmy." And then you just want to pinch its cheek.

Vestal

Someone assumed that since I am a "linguist", I'd know the meaning of "vestal"--they wanted to know why they're called "vestal virgins."

Well I didn't know the meaning of vestal, so I looked it up:

a virgin consecrated to the Roman goddess Vesta and to the service of watching the sacred fire perpetually kept burning on her altar

So now you know. Now you can impress your friends with obscure language knowledge :)

(And for the record, I'm not a linguist--I'm just into languages. For some reason, people think I'm a linguist. I don't know why. Maybe it's because there aren't a lot of non-linguist language lovers out there.)

Pure laine

When I was in Toronto, I picked up the latest copy of Toronto Life and read an article about the popular columnist Jan Wong, who got into a ton of trouble for using the phrase "pure laine" in analyzing the reasons for murders in Quebec. The article is worth the read because you can learn a lot about the Canadian print media and about Quebec's politics, in addition to arrogance, fear, and hate.

I'd never heard of that phrase before, though I knew that "laine" is French for "wool." From the context I deduced that it means those who are "purely" French, and found out that it's "a politically and culturally charged phrase referring to the nationalist myth of a 'pure French race' being the original ancestors of the French-Canadians."

Vitamin C

I was talking to a fluent English-speaking German about Vitamin B (the German phrase that people use to describe good connections), and he suggested that English speakers say "Vitamin C" because C stands for "connections" (while of course the B in German represents Beziehungen). I have yet to hear English speakers use that phrase, however. But it's a good idea.

Pop

Sometimes I watch home design and clothing design shows (the kind that give people advice on what to wear) and I often hear the designers and commentators say "pop" as in, "This pillow makes the red in the couch POP." And the way they say it, it's as if they've never said the word before and want to experience the excitement of it. Why? Is it because it's a trendy design word, and those people want to be fashionable in words as well as things? Or is it because of the sound of it, which lends itself to its emphasis?

"The scarf makes the color of your eyes POP."
"The curtains make the blue in your carpet POP."
"My head is going to POP from saying POP so much."

Vitamin B

I've resumed corresponding with Nev recently (a German-speaking Brit I've mentioned before) and was telling him about situations where people are given certain jobs just because they know someone (ie, they're incompetent but are given the job anyway), and he said that having contacts is called Vitamin B in German:

Vitamin B (VEET-ah-meen BAY) is good connections (gute Beziehungen) to influential people, an expression that came out of World War II and food rationing. Vitamin B2 (BAY-tsvye) is even better connections.

I also found some interesting historical information about it as well:

East Germany had a command economy, in which virtually all decisions were made by the governing communist party, the Socialist Unity Party (SED). The system of planning was inflexible and eventually caused ruinous economic conditions. Power, influence, and personal connections (Beziehungen, or “vitamin B”) drove economic decisions, and all groups, including trade unions, were expected to collaborate to achieve the SED's economic objectives.

I need more Vitamin B, for sure.

Integrity

Here's another word that I often want to use but always forget: integrity. When I see someone or a group that I respect, I want to say, "They have integrity" but I forget what the word is. So I use other adjectives that don't come close to describing what I'm looking for. And it's very frustrating, which is why I'm posting it here--as a reminder.

The last often-forgotten word I posted was tedious, and since then, I haven't forgotten it, even when I've had to do tedious work. So now I think, "Wow, this work is tedious" rather than saying "This work is...I forgot what word I'm looking for, but it's like nitpicky and boring, but there's a better word for it."

Well, tonight was a situation that I want to end: I was thinking of Rush, and how they work hard to create quality music and don't have typical "rock and roll" or trashy lifestyles, and wanted to say that they have integrity, but I drew a blank. So I said, "They have, you know--it starts with an 'a'," then thought that maybe the word I'm looking for is "ethical," but that can't be right because ethics are about honest values, and I don't know if they have that. So then someone reminded me that the word is "integrity."

However, the definition mentions "moral" in one of the meanings: "firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values" though I don't think of "moral" when I think of all folks who have integrity. But it's good to see "artistic values" mentioned, because that's what I often think of.

So now that the word is posted here, I won't have to search for it again.

Tell-all origin

I watched "Mommie Dearest" today. I had never seen the movie, though I read the book back in the late 80's, and it was quite tragic. What's sad is that people didn't believe that Joan Crawford could be so abusive, and they essentially implied that her severely abused adopted daughter was lying. She and her brother were victims--he obviously never got over it (he was abused more severely than she was) and after he led a screwed-up life, he died in his early 60's a psychologically and economically broken man.

What I discovered is not just that "Although 'tell-all' books regarding celebrities are somewhat commonplace now, Mommie Dearest was the first book of its kind" but that the term "tell-all" originated when the book was published.

I read the transcript of a Larry King interview with Christina Crawford, the author of the book and other books about abuse, and saw this:

KING: Did you ever feel there is a part of me here that is doing the tell-all?

C. CRAWFORD: That -- that phrase was coined after the book, so that was never my intention. The one thing that surprised me...

KING: You mean, tell-all resulted from your book.

C. CRAWFORD: Yes.

KING: The term "tell-all?"

C. CRAWFORD: Yes, yes. The one thing that surprised me was that so many people who knew did not understand that I was speaking as the victim and the survivor.

The King interview is really good--I recommend reading it if you want some more info about her and her upbringing. I'm tempted to read the revised edition of the book (with 100 extra pages), which was published on the 20th anniversary of the original release.

Etc etc

Sometimes I see a sign with a list of things the place has to offer, and instead of saying "etcetera" or "etc." once, they say "etc etc" - in other words, they say "etc" twice.

That is redundant. Etc means essentially "and more", so if they're repeating the word, they're adding to the concept of more. More is more, you don't have to repeat it.

I think when people double up "etc" on a public sign, they're doing it out of naivety. Some people will purposely repeat the word to emphasize the abundance of something, so I'm not talking about them. They are knowingly "misusing" the word to illustrate a point. But I think when people think they "should" use two etc's, they really don't understand the meaning of that word.

How a word looks

I saw a sign today as I was driving along, and it had a word whose meaning seemed to reflect how it looks and sounds. Or do I just think that way because I know the meaning of the word?

When I see the word "strict," for example, the s-t-r combination makes it sound like a serious word, like someone means business. But it could be that I know what kind of effort it takes to make that sound, which implies seriousness.

I wonder if speakers of other languages notice this about their own languages, at least those folks who don't use scripts such as Chinese characters or kanji.

Tedious

This is a word I should know, but for some reason, it often escapes me. Someone mentioned their work being "tedious," and it occurred to me that I often forget to use it. So if I'm doing work that requires concentration, is detail-oriented, and not very exciting (ie, it numbs the brain), then I should use that word. But for some reason, I'll say that such work is "nitpicky" when what I mean is tedious, implying that it's very detail-oriented and tiny in its goals.

However, when I saw the definition as "so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness," I realized that it's not exactly what I've meant to say, though if I'm doing such work it does become quite boring, as in the example they provide: "the deadening effect of some routine tasks." So actually, since I've seen that definition, I've realized that yes, the work I sometimes do is truly tedious because by the end of it I want to scream and run around and get away from it to loosen my brain.

I've certainly not thought of their other example, "a boring evening with uninteresting people," as tedious but rather as a simply uninteresting time. I think if I were to get to the point of a social function being "tedious," then I better check my ego to make sure it's not outgrowing the room.

Bitter gall

I was reading Proverbs 5 and saw the phrase "bitter as gall," which made me wonder what the heck "gall" was. It seems that it's bile, but initial definitions, at least in my copy of Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, describe "gall" as "something bitter or severe" or "bitterness of spirit." Which is odd, since the proverb compares bitterness with gall. So what's originally written as a noun becomes an adjective, using the comparison to become the definition itself.

Manglish

Linguistics & Language had a guest blogger who talked about the blend of Malay and English called "Manglish". Here are some examples:

“Why you so likedat wan?” - Why are you like that?

“I dunwan to talk you anymore.” - I am not going to talk to you anymore.

“You say correct anot?” - Do you agree with me?

“Die-die I oso want.” - No matter what, I also want (something).

But most significant is our ‘lah‘. We use lah to emphasise our point.

Come lah!
Let’s go lah!
Eat lah!

She uses also uses Manglish at her blog.

There are a lot of such blendings throughout the world, including Spanglish here in Chicago, and Japlish, which my friends and I dabbled in when we were in Japan--the mixture is hard to avoid the longer you're exposed to more than one language.

Franglais

I saw this at Arrogant Polyglot

Not lay

What's wrong with the quote below?

Firefighter: I saw him laying facedown
Firefighter saves 8-year-old -- the 2nd rescue of his career

When Chicago firefighter John O'Brien got to him, 8-year-old Max Crawford was in a heap on the floor at the end of his bed, his little nose black with soot. He was barely breathing.

"I [saw] him laying facedown on the carpet," said O'Brien, who crawled through thick smoke in an early Friday morning fire on the West Side to find Max, who was wearing his PJs.

It's the verb: lay. I often hear people say, "I need to lay down." I want to ask, "Lay down what?" because "lay" is supposed to take an object. The correct word is "lie", as in, "I'm so tired, I need to lie down." So the firefighter should have said, "I saw him lying facedown." But he was too busy being a hero, saving someone's life to worry about grammar :)

(seen in a Sun-Times article)

Isochronic

I came across the term "isochronic recurrence" and since I've never gotten deep into linguistics, I had no idea what that meant. Then I found a pretty decent definition of a related word, isochrony: "A sequence of events is called isochronous if the time separating each pair of successive events is strictly equal." And, interestingly though not surprisingly, "The absence of isochrony is called anisochrony."

Now I'm trying to understand what the heck mora means. I read about it, but can't figure out what they're saying. But it sounds interesting, like lots of other language stuff out there.

Markhong

Bruce lives in Markham, which is in Ontario, and sometimes says he's from "Markhong". Since I'm not from Canada, I didn't even think to ask what town that was--I just assumed it was a real town.

But he says that he's merged the two words "Markham" and "Hong Kong" because there are many Chinese immigrants from there, and while it's hard to pinpoint a specific article (unless I spend a lot of time researching it) that describes that situation, then the Pacific Mall could be proof of it: it's the largest Chinese mall in North America.

Tonne

Sometimes I chat with Bruce--he's a Canadian, so he uses British spellings, including "tonne," as in, "I have tonnes of work." It makes it sound so fancy. We simple Americans keep it short--we say "ton". So if I write that "I have tons of work" it really looks as heavy as it sounds. But "tonnes"--come on--that implies white gloves.

Blogovial

I spotted a new word that Language Hat (aka The Great One) used: blogovial. I'm posting it here for posterity, because it just might spread, and as of now, it's not anywhere else online. I guess it means that a blog exists, because he says, "the blogovial existence of..."

So a new word: blogovial.

Eurotrash

Jon Konrath (great read) mentioned the word "eurotrash," which made me wonder what it exactly means. Sometimes I hear people use it, and never ask them why they're using it or what they're talking about.

I checked out the Urban Dictionary to see what people have said, and there are a lot of definitions over there.

Here are some blunt ones: "Pretentious, narcissistic, metrosexual Europeans" or "inept and often uneducated europeans who waste their families' money in exotic places that want nothing to do with them but need the money."

And a seemingly positive one: "ultra-urbane sophisticated inimitable style which others try to copy"

A friend of mine tends to agree with this definition: "A derivative of the phrase 'white trash,' Eurotrash refers to Europeans who have become subservient to low-end American cultural ideals."

So what does it mean, really?

Often times

Maybe I'm paying attention more, but it seems that people are saying "oftentimes" more often.

For instance, some would say, "Oftentimes, I think about my mom."

Isn't that redundant? "Often" takes care of that concept, so the addition of "times" is really integrated within the meaning of "often."

It's so unnecessary, it stands out when people use it, and then they just keep on talking as if it's not a big deal that they are being redundant.

Also, why is the official spelling one word? It seems like it should be two words: "often times." But that's a secondary concern because I hear people say it more than they write it.

Goo is cute

I was looking up a French word, and came across the word "substance gluante" which means "goo."

The English word "goo" is a lot cuter than "substance gluante." The French word sounds so grown-up and serious. I like "goo" a lot better.

leaped or leapt?

I was reading a column by Toby Young, and he said, "I leapt on my bicycle." Which made me wonder what the difference is between "leapt" and "leaped." I figured it's a British thing to put a "t" at the end of certain words, and I think I'm right because I found a list of Spelling differences between American and British English:

Generally, the rule is that if there is a verb form with -ed, American English will use it, and if there is a form with -t, British English uses it. However, these forms do not exist for every verb and there is variation.

The British use of "t" at the end of words reminds me of German because they have plenty of verbs that use a "t" at the end. Which makes sense, because old English is scarily similar to German.

The list I found is a part of a List of American vs. British Spelling, where there's lots of good stuff, including Common Words in American and British English, and related links.

Pile

In an episode of Inspector Lynley, he and Havers went to his family's estate, which she called a "pile." Then he told her not to use that word.

Okay, I'm American and have never lived in England (though I visited there), so I don't get what "pile" means. Plus, I don't even quite understand if what she was saying was rude, thus if he was letting her know that it was offensive.

According to my edition of the Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, pile is "a lofty or large building or mass of buildings: the noble pile of Windsor Castle."

Sounds harmless to me. But maybe in modern British English, it has negative connotations.

Not undersold

Sometimes I hear the line, "We will not be undersold" to advertise a sale. For instance, I might hear an ad for a carpet store, and they'll say what types of carpets they have, the discounts, etc., then they will proudly declare: "We will not be undersold."

I've never really understand this statement. What does it mean, exactly? They want to get rid of their inventory, but why do they have to phrase it like that? It sounds like some kind of legalese. Do they think that we really care whether or not they'll be undersold? All we care about are good prices for quality products--it's the company's problem if they have to get rid of their products.

Maybe, a long time ago, someone once came up with that line and said, "That sounds Important--let's use it" and then other companies decided to say the same thing because they wanted to sound important, too.

Well, they're just selling stuff--they're declarations are not for posterity.

Loaf ward

I've been reading about the history of lords in England, which was sparked by yesterday's pondering, and saw that the word "lord" comes from an ancient compound:

hlaf weard, literally 'loaf ward'--the guardian of the stock of bread in a household. Since this was usually the master of the household, the word came to mean specifically that in Anglo-Saxon (in the somewhat reduced form hlaford). Hlaford was used by Christian missionaries to translate the Latin word for 'master'...

and the ancient word "[reflects] the Germanic tribal custom of a superior providing food for his followers."

I was also wondering how the Labour party deals with lords, and while I haven't fully come to understand how someone becomes a lord (besides inheritance of title), I did find out that in 1999 "The Labour government...banished the hereditary peers from the House of Lords."

That's some serious history-making! I wonder how the lords are dealing with it now?

Google as verb

Sometimes, it's illegal to make google a verb:

Google…has fired off a series of legal letters to media organisations, warning them against using its name as a verb...

Isn’t that a bit...uptight? Or does their legal team need something to keep them busy?

Google won a place in the Oxford English Dictionary, while "to google", with a lower case "g", was included last month in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

They should be glad they got into those esteemed dictionaries! And people often use their name, so it’s constant marketing. What’s next…arranging meetings with babies to tell them to stop saying "goo goo" incorrectly, in case their wails sound too much like "goo-gle"?

It’s the same dilemma that Kleenex and Band-Aid have had: people often call any type of nose-wiping tissue "kleenex", and bandages are often called "band-aids." I hardly remember what the proper name is for those things: Brits say "sticking plaster" (or just "plaster"?) and Americans say "adhesive bandage" (officially), though I’ve never heard anyone say that. We usually say "band-aid." Sorry, Johnson & Johnson. I don’t know how that spiraled out of control.

Fa'afafine

This is why I like to hang out with interesting people: my friend who lived in Samoa told me about fa'afafine:

In families of all male children (or where the only daughter was too young to assist with the 'women's' work), parents would often choose one or more of their sons to help the mother. Because these boys would perform tasks that were strictly the work of women they were raised as if they were female. Although their true gender was widely known, they would usually be dressed as girls.

As they grew older, their duties would not change. They would continue performing 'women's' work, even if they eventually married (which would be to a woman).

What's interesting about this cultural characteristic is that many cultures throughout the world are male-dominated, and women are treated more as objects or servants, but in Samoa, being a female is just another option.

Twee

Sometimes when I see something or think about a particular situation, I tell myself it's "twee." That's not an American word--it's British: "It means excessively or affectedly quaint, sentimental or mawkish, sometimes coupled with words like nauseatingly."

Tonight I was walking around with a couple of friends who were discussing ancient Greek (!) and I saw something that I thought was "twee." Then I wondered why I'm using British words in my head, when I've never lived there (though I visited) and know only a couple of British people who I not only rarely see, but who've never used that word around me.

I love it: twee! It's such a cute word, and so effective! So maybe one day I'll say it out loud--I'm sure other Americans will wonder what the heck I'm saying. Then I can snobbily explain to them, "Oh, it's British. Are you from the States?"

Fret wankery

I saw someone say online that they don't like guitar solos that are "fret wankery." But what does that mean? Does that mean aimless playing, without focus or style? Like a garbled mess? So, for instance, someone is just playing a bunch of notes that don't amount to anything meaningful?

Methinks

I mentioned the word behooves, and how it's odd that people are using it today--hundreds of years after it was common in the English language.

Here's another word that I see people use, just in written form, usually in comments in blogs: methinks.

Now what is up with that? "Methinks that he should have a different policy." Why not say "I think"? Is it so difficult to do that, or do people want to sound clever? I can see a dude type out "methinks," then stroke his scraggly beard, like, "That was a good one. Let's see what they think of *that*," and then chuckle to himself before he downs another Pepsi.

Like "behooves", methinks comes from Old and Middle English, and it shows up in Hamlet:

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

Well, that's fine for Shakespeare, but come on, do people really have to resort to his language when they're telling someone they're wrong in a flame war?

Behooves

This word sounds weird and is archaic, but I've heard people use it. Why? Why resurrect such an odd word? I have a hard time listening to someone after they say, "It behooves us to take this into consideration." It just sounds so prissy and proper, as if we're living in Victorian England (though the word is a lot older than that):

Middle English behoven, from Old English behOfian, from behOf
transitive verb : to be necessary, proper, or advantageous for
intransitive verb : to be necessary, fit, or proper

I wonder if German has a variation of this word, since Old English sounds similar. I don't know German well enough to be able to pluck it off the top of my head. All I know is while people, especially Americans, are speaking in a straightforward style, the use of this word is like a stuffy anachronism.

Girl Friday

I've been working crazy hours, but I don't have a regular schedule. One week might look quiet empty, but then, at the last minute, I'll be given a lot of hours in the radio world or translating projects from elsewhere. When I was talking to a friend about my radio situation, he said it sounds like I'm a "Girl Friday" because they give me a bunch of diverse tasks.

Being the nerd I am, I looked the term up, and saw it means:

"An efficient and devoted aide or employee; a right-hand man." Friday is a character in the novel Robinson Crusoe. The protagonist Robinson Crusoe rescues a young native man, and calles him 'man Friday' because he met him on a Friday. 'Girl Friday' is a term, now frowned upon, for a resourceful female assistant, made popular by the classic 1940 comedy adaptation of 'The Front Page' (His Girl Friday) starring Rosalind Russell as an ace reporter and Cary Grant as her cynical editor and ex-husband.

Robinson Crusoe? I had no idea (obviously--otherwise I wouldn't have looked it up). Here's the excerpt that includes the Friday name:

...after this, made all the Signs to me of Subjection, Servitude, and Submission imaginable, to let me know, how he would serve me as long as he liv’d; I understood him in many Things, and let him know, I was very well pleas’d with him; in a little Time I began to speak to him, and teach him to speak to me; and first, I made him know his Name should be Friday, which was the Day I sav’d his Life...

If anyone wrote like that today, they would be so rejected, so fast, and if somehow it made it to print, it would bomb big-time. Just look at this "exciting" description below the title, which was in the first edition of the book, on the first page:

THE| LIFE| AND| STRANGE SURPRIZING| ADVENTURES| OF| ROBINSON CRUSOE,| Of YORK, MARINER:| Who lived Eight and Twenty Years,| all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the| Coast of AMERICA, near the Mouth of| the Great River of OROONOQUE;| Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where-|in all the Men perished but himself.| WITH| An Account how he was at last as strangely deli-|ver’d by PYRATES.|

The suspense is killing me! It sounds like a scientific journal. Is anyone awake at this point?

Farming data

I think what's frustrating about modern jobs, at least in a technologically-advanced society, is the amount of data that has to be organized (and analyzed, if you're lucky). So the result is an entire day spent in front of a computer in a cubicle in a climate-controlled environment with windows that can never open (if you're lucky enough to be near a window).

I'm not in that situation, but I have been, and when I was looking for non-teaching jobs, it seemed that a lot of them were like that. Just look at the job descriptions in the classifieds, and you'll see a lot of organizing of data. Boring. Which is why a lot of people go online to get away from the monotony.

I call it "farming data". Of course, there is farming data out there, but that refers to data about agriculture. My term "farming data" makes the "farming" a verb instead of a noun.

Think about it: if you're working in a cubicle or alone at a desk, aren't you given tasks that require you to farm data? It's inescapable today.

PC madness?

Brainy Mad Minerva sent me an article about Spanish groups saying

...that definitions relating to them in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy are outdated and demeaning. Their complaints have created a heated dispute with the compilers of the latest version of the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española — equivalent to the Oxford English Dictionary — who have dismissed the concerns as political correctness gone mad.

Is that true? Here's what offends them:

Sinagoga (synagogue) A meeting for illicit ends

Gitano (Gypsy) One who practices deceit or who tricks

Marica (ladybird or slang for gay man) Effeminate, weak man

Ajamonarse (to become like a ham) Used to describe how pregnant women increase in size

Gallego (Galician) Dumb, stupid or deaf, in Costa Rica and El Salvador

Charhouse

Sometimes I see a sign outside a restaurant that says "Charhouse." What is that? I'm wondering if it's a midwestern thing, because when I did a search for it online, a bunch of Illinois restaurants popped up.

There's a pitiful sign on my way to work that says "Charhouse", but it's in disrepair and is a putrid yellow and brown. The sign says they're remodeling, so that announcement along with the sickening style implies that Charhouse is a disgusting word.

Well, not really, but it doesn't conjure up images of refinement and beauty. I've never been to a Charhouse, but maybe I should check one out. I'm sure there's lots of flaming meat there and greasy potatoes.

Data or datum?

"Data" is the plural form of "datum," but I don't hear people say, "The datum shows that..." (datum is singular, thus an "s" is needed), though I do hear people say, "The data show that..." (data is plural, thus there is no "s" there).

Most people say, "The data is..." which is grammatically incorrect because "data" is plural and "is" goes with a singular subject. It just sounds better, which is why it's more common.

So should grammar matter in this case? Picky editors will change it, but it's jarring to read or hear. I'm sure people who hear the "correct" version think it's incorrect. So for instance, someone might be watching a scientific show and hear an expert say, "The data are..." and wonder why such an educated person is misusing that word, when they're really being grammatically correct.

Data has become a victim! (or more correctly: Data have become victims!)

the States

When I was in England a long time ago (it seems), I noticed Brits kept saying "The States" to refer to the U.S., as in, "When I was in The States, I went to New York" or "People in The States like hot dogs" or whatever. All right, so British people, at least, like to say The States instead of America or the U.S. or the United States. Fine.

But it sounds weird when an American says "The States." It's as if they're trying to sound European, like, "I'm too sophisticated to say America or the US--I live in The States, in The States we jog, there are many people in The States." As if they used to say "America" or whatever, and then they went to Europe and heard people say "The States" and then thought, "Oh my, I'm so provincial--I better say The States from now on. I don't want to be like the other hick Americans." So now they say The States, and they're proud that they've become more worldly.

If they were to go to Japan, they'd hear アメリカ [Amerika] even though the "official" name is 米国 [beikoku]. I've gotten so used to hearing アメリカ [Amerika] from Japanese people that I started using that word myself. But then I met bitter Latin Americans who said that the U.S. isn't America, but the United States. I hope they wouldn't have a heart attack in Japan if they were to hear "America" everywhere.

So now I say "the U.S." to avoid offending or pissing off anyone. Except when I'm speaking Japanese. But I have to make sure we're alone.